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Syrian Regime Living on Borrowed Time

(Israel Hayom) Eyal Zisser - The Arab League's protocol of understanding with the Syrian regime, according to which the government will withdraw its forces from cities and allow hundreds of Arab and international observers into the country to monitor the situation, is not worth the paper it was written on. The Syrian regime has no intention of surrendering, moving ahead with reforms, or ending its bloody systematic suppression of the protests until it is satisfied with the results of its crackdown. Assad is trying to buy time by acquiescing to Arab League demands, on condition that the League not turn to the Security Council. But Assad's maneuver will only afford him a few extra days. The Syrian regime is bleeding and its enemies are getting stronger each day. Assad may survive a little longer, but as soon as Syria reaches a turning point - the disintegration of the army, with mass defections of its commanders, or, alternatively, mass protests in the larger cities - the collapse of the regime will be immediate. The writer is Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, and former Head of the Department of Middle Eastern and African History and of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, both at Tel Aviv University.
2011-12-23 00:00:00
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