Damascus Spring

With the current happennings in the Middle-East, and the politiking taking place around the world regarding the future of peace and stability in the region, I thought it wise to publish this letter from the Prisoners of Conscience in Damascus less we forget the true purpose of our mission. From the Prisoners of Conscience in Damascus Central Prison Al Adra We are prisoners of conscience and opinion in Damascus Central Prison, lawyer Anwar Al Bunni, writer Michel Kilo, Dr. Kamal Labwani, activists Mahmoud Issa, and Faek Al Mir, and Professor Aref Dalila who could not be reached as he spends his sixth year in solitary confinement. After the sentencing of lawyer Anwar Al Bunni on 24 April 2007, we would like to say thank you and greet our families, friends, and all the people, groups, committees, organizations, associations, parties and political assemblies of Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians in Syria and the Arab world. We thank and greet the official representatives, countries, media and webs

Today as delegates from 40 different nations convene at Annapolis, MD for a Middle-East peace conference between Israel and its Arab neighbors, a mid-level Syrian delegation headed by deputy foreign minister Faysal Mekdad drags its tail among the conferee’s begging for attention. A Jerusalem Post article yesterday said “Neither President Bush nor Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice will mention Syria or the future of the Golan Heights in their speeches Tuesday, Channel 10 quoted a State Department official as saying Monday”. So as expected in his opening remarks at United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, President Bush deliberately failed to mention any Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations which have been the aim and the holy-grail for the Syrian regime acceptance of the invitation to Annapolis. Instead President Bush used the occasion to stress the United States commitment to back the nascent democracy movement in Lebanon represented by the March 14 forces led by Sa’ad Hariri to s

The schism in the Administration foreign policy over Syria portrays the overall division in Congress over the wisdom of the policies of President Bush who have committed his administration to implement his new vision in creating the New Middle-East where the promotion of democracy, freedom and the rule of law are the cornerstone for the region long term stability and the world security. One camp led by Vice President Dick Cheney, still believe in the ideals which instigated the war in Iraq and led the President and Congress to carry out the military adventure to topple one of the most atrocious dictators the world has known. The other camp, led by the newly reformed Secretary of State Condoleza Rice who is seeking new pragmatic channels in diplomacy to achieve the Administration objectives. The schism in the ideologies of course, seem to manifest itself on how to deal with an authoritarian regime like Syria without committing another disastrous military adventure in the region that wou