Here’s Reuters footage of Syrian President Bashir Assad addressing his lackeys on Sunday, in a rare appearance on an opera stage, hopefully his last:
Video: counter-revolution is acted out on the stage of Damascus Opera House
January 10, 2013 by
blog | AJBlog Central | Contact me | Advertise | Follow me: 
I wonder if our newfound Syrian friends with their AK47s, rocket-launchers and bombs will even know how to spell opera let alone find the opera house unless it is on their “Places to Bomb” list.
Some of these regimes appear very odious to us thousands of miles away through the tinted glasses of watching our news. From his point of view Assad is defending his country’s government from a foreign sponsored civil war. We would see this situation very differently if it were a different country in the region to which we felt more friendly disposed – say Israel, Turkey or Saudi Arabia. We need to be cautious and discerning about what chaos and carnage might be round the corner when the Old Guard goes and the new teams take over. They might be even more unappealing, as seems quite probable in Syria as it has been elsewhere in the region already. I can’t see a new fundamentalist Islamic coalition placing opera, culture, education and freedom for women very high up their priority list.
Sage words indeed, Tony.
I often feel that the correct decision is to do exactly the opposite of what Mr Anders Foggy Rasmussen is advocating – in any situation.
The Reuters caption says he was “mobbed”, but it looked like a mob which was very friendly to him.