Since biblical times, the Middle East has been rife with violence and civil injustice, but lately the people have been rising up against those who have been subjugating and exploiting them.
First we saw Hosni Mubarak’s almost 30-year regime in Egypt come to an end after mass protests called for his resignation in February 2011.
Civil War Threatens Syria After 90 Killed In Massacre
Then we saw flamboyant dictator Muammar Gaddafi eliminated after the Battle Of Tripoli last August.
Now it is time for the maniacal Bashar al-Assad to be terminated. The man has led attacks on his own people resulting in infanticide. An estimated 9,000 people have died since the uprising began in March of 2011. That’s almost three times the amount of people who died on 9/11. Evil of this kind needs to be eradicated immediately.
For those if us that are unfamiliar with the orchestrator of this genocide happening in Syria, here are some interesting facts pertaining to the monstrous al-Assad.
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His Father’s Rise To Power:
His father Hafez al-Assad was born to an impoverished family, who belonged to the mystic and eclectic religion of Alawi.
He rose through the ranks to take control of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath party in The Corrective Revolution in 1970, thus declaring himself president.
His family has been in control ever since.
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Medical Aspirations
Bashar originally wanted to become a doctor. He studied medicine at Damascus University.
Once he graduated, he began working as an army doctor at the biggest military hospital in Syria “Tishrin.”
It’s ironic someone who spent so much time in his life trying to preserve life could be responsible for so much death.
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His Brother’s Keeper!
Initially Bashar had no political or military aspirations.
It wasn’t until his father’s other son and initial protégé Bassel al-Assad died after crashing his Mercedes into a roundabout in January of 1994, that Hafez started to groom Bashar for power.
Bassel was documented as being an altruistic, honorable, and equitable man. It’s quite possible that the political and social landscape of Syria would be almost diametrical if Bassel had not tragically died.
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The Internet!
The only political experience al-Assad had before becoming President was head of the Syrian Computer Society, which introduced the Internet to Syria in 2001.
He now uses the Internet as a tool to further subjugate his people.
In 2007, a law required internet cafés to keep track of all comments users post on chat forums.
He has also filtered and blocked out websites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Wikipedia Arabic, and have placed people under arrest and tortured them for accessing these websites, and giving opinions opposing the regime.
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Beef With The Pope!
When Pope John Paul II visited Syria in 2001, he requested an apology to the Muslims for the medieval crusades.
Given that al-Assad is an Alawite, a religion that intertwines doctrines from both Christianity and Islam, his request for an apology is quite peculiar.
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The Anti-Semitic Thing!
He has criticized Israeli treatment of Palestinians, comparing the suffering to that believed to have been endured by Jesus Christ.
Assad claimed that the Jews:
“tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.”
He has claimed that the statements were not anti-Semitic, claiming Jews were responsible for Jesus’ suffering, “these are historical facts that we cannot deny.”
He claims that he is not anti-Semitic, but his open support for anti-Israeli organizations says otherwise.
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Money Laundering
Bashar has a reported net worth of $550 million, but Syria is notorious for corruption and money laundering.
Before he came to power it was estimated that $2 billion per year was laundered through Syrian banks. The corruption was exposed in 2003 when the Lebanese Al-Madina bank collapsed.
It was shown that the bank was used to launder kick back money from the illegal gaming of the UN’s oil-for-food program. An estimated $1 billion was laundered through the banks with 25 percent going to Syrian officials. Among the recipients was al-Assad’s brother Maher.
That sort of corruption remains prevalent in Syria.
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The Assassination!
In 2005, many media outlets have argued that Syria was responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Bashar has maintained his innocence. However, because of the accusations, Syria’s presence in Lebanon, and Syria’s open support of anti-Israel efforts, U.S sanctions have been placed on the country.
Imagine these were your children being bombed, your brothers and sisters being tortured, your parents being killed in front of your eyes. You have a voice; use it to force the U.S to forcibly remove al-Assad from power.
We’ve spent the last 11 years fighting over oil and political control; it’s about damn time we start fighting for freedom.
