Why the Syrian Regime Will Abide By the Cease-Fire This Week

Exactly, Helga.

Like those that preceded it, this truce will not be honored. From the perspective of the regime, it does not feel (yet) that it has to abide by a mechanism that normalizes the current status quo, or by any mechanism that does not restore the status quo ante. Even if the uprisings are led by Mother Teresa and those seeking only love and democracy, or by millions of Syrians seeking to restore the Golan from Israel's clutches, or by millions of anti-imperliaslt and anti-Qatari and KSA Syrian rebels, or millions of pro-Hizballah Syrians, or millions of Syrians who oppose the US foreign policy and atrocities in the region, or millions of simply perfect marxist feminist anti-imperialist Syrians that are even more radical than the anti-imperialists who also criticize the opposition, the regime will not tolerate it. It will not tolerate even so much as serious discursive criticism if it emanates from Syria.

It's not a puzzle.

Why? are you serious? Actually, tt's a fair question (and it is not confined to Syria, but the formula differs across cases). I have to answer at length at another time. It's certainly a mixture of the regime's assessment of its own relative power domestically, regionally, and internationally, as well as the manner in which it has created a zero-sum relationship between itself and society since the late 1960s and early 1970s.

This is not new. It's simply more intense and more drawn out, as well as no longer only a domestic affair.

At this point, the biggest and most tragic victim is the Syrian people themselves. And Syria, as a country (no matter what transpires or how this ends), will also be paying a very high price, for years to come.

All those who wish to emasculate Syria and its potential role in the region are very happy now, including those who present themselves as proponents of democracy and human rights.

It is also not a puzzle that the Syrian regime, historically and now, is ultimately responsible for all this, no matter how "un-pure" the uprising and the players involved have become (domestically and externally).

Dear Conrad, the post is deliberately empty. Please see comments above yours.

Jadaliyya Editors.