A new Eli Cohen?

From the Arab Times, 26/8/06, by Ahmed Al-Jarallah Editor-in-Chief ...

SOMETIMES some rich political leaders get afflicted by a strange sickness when their brain cannot comprehend ideas and lose track of meanings of words. ....Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak diagnosed such a disease in Syrian President Dr Bashar Al-Assad after hearing the latter’s recent speech when he accused some Arab leaders of being “half-men and decorative leaders.” Responding to Al-Assad’s accusations President Mubarak said “I hold my nerve and I am unflappable in the face of provocation. May God calm those who have lost their nerve, especially as we are facing some challenges which need wise minds.”

After reaching the same conclusion about the Syrian President, Dubai TV gave him a golden opportunity by inviting him to participate in an exclusive program to clarify his speech where he had lost control of his temper and tongue. During the interview, which attracted millions of viewers from Arab and other countries, Dr Bashar worsened his situation by coming up with some lame excuses and using humiliating words to describe the people of Syria .... Al-Assad accused Syrians of not being able to take a firm decision on freeing the Golan Heights, although it has been under Israeli occupation for over 34 years.

The fact that Al-Assad has lost control of his mind was obvious during the interview as he went digressing several times. He focused on results without providing good explanations. Instead of agreeing to comply with UN Resolution 1701 and allow the deployment of international peacekeeping forces along Syria’s borders to prevent infiltration and smuggling weapons into Lebanon, Al-Assad considered the decision an attempt to create animosity between Syria and Lebanon, and an aggression on the sovereignty of two independent countries.

We wonder why Al-Assad should be bothered about the issue of preventing infiltration and smuggling of weapons unless Syria’s borders are open to provide Hezbollah with men and weapons, not to forget Palestinian groups which are implementing his orders and benefit by smuggling weapons. We also wonder why the Syrian President should worry about Lebanon’s sovereignty at this stage. Syria was sucking the blood of Lebanon, which made Al-Assad lose control over his mind and tongue recently, for over 30 years.

Asked why an organized armed resistance has not been established to free the Golan Heights, Al-Assad replied “resistance is a public process and not a state resolution. People may side-step their governments or countries and action this. The people of Syria have not taken any decision to form such a resistance until now.” Al-Assad gave such a vague reply when he or his father didn’t give any opportunity to the Syrians to even breathe freely. During the interview Al-Assad also said his reference to “half-men” was aimed at some segments of the Syrian society and not any Arab leader.

We don’t want to elaborate on the Syrian President’s conduct and replies during the interview with Dubai TV. However, we are afraid there is a new Eli Cohen inside the Syrian regime. (Eli Cohen was an Israeli spy who managed to reach a top position in the Baath Party during the days of the late Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad. He managed to leak sensitive information ...[and]...did a great job in helping Israeli forces occupy the Golan Heights in 1967. We don’t know what the new Cohen, who has isolated the people of Syria from the rest of Arab world, is going to do. [This is clearly a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that mocks the Arab propensity to blame every negative eventuality on Jews - SL]