To President Assad

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

There is what is known as the logic of power, and what is known as the power of logic; and there is also the logic of history. It has been proven historically that the logic of power is stronger than the power of logic, but the strongest of all is the logic of history, because it is overwhelming, and no human power, however great, can stop it. Momentary and circumstantial powers may try to obstruct it, and they may succeed for a time, but in the end they lose.

The logic of history in the life of peoples means that peoples wage their own battles themselves when frustration accumulates and the paths before them are closed off, until in the end life becomes equal to death. This logic may crystallize quickly as awareness rises, or it may slow as awareness declines. Arab peoples have suffered from a historical slowness because of a low level of practical awareness, but in the end, the theoretical awareness they had stored up about their own conditions found its way into practical translation. Many non-Arab peoples have gone through stages in which they waged their battles and were victorious, despite the force used against them. Millions of people around the world have been killed in the search for life, but the masses stood firm, and armies and security agencies were defeated before them.

It would have been wise for the ruling political leaderships to grasp the strength of the peoples’ will, and it would have been far better and more fitting for them to respond to their peoples’ demands without bloodshed. Intransigence has never been of any use; it has led to bloodshed, ruin, and devastation, and in the end to the ruler’s own defeat. If the ruler had, from the start, dealt with matters open-heartedly and understood the people’s demands, he would either have worked himself to turn the situation around, or would have stepped aside quickly and won the people’s respect. Many are the rulers who refused to properly assess the situation, and who ended up losing and hunted by their own people.

I have offered you my opinion publicly, repeatedly, over the years past, out of my concern for the safety of Lesser Syria (I use this name because I reject the Sykes-Picot agreement) and its great people. But the politicians in these Arab countries think that God has inspired them with all knowledge and understanding, and they do not regard academics as people of knowledge. In short, I say now that all the presidential decrees issued so far in order to reform conditions in Lesser Syria have no practical value, and will not bring about the change the public is calling for.

…if you wanted to achieve rapid change leading to the stabilization of the situation, then what is required is that you first rid yourself of those who surround you, because they are the primary cause of the deterioration of affairs. You began by changing the cabinet, and you know that ministers do not rule and do not draw up policies; it would have been better to rid yourself of the heads of the security agencies first. The great calamity lies in the heads of the security agencies — intelligence, secret intelligence, central security, and police — and it is essential to replace them with other leaders who belong to the people rather than to parties, and then to rid yourself of the deputies of these agency heads, and so on. Then you must take care to change the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Defense, making sure to secure two things in their place: loyalty to Syria, and faithfulness to the Syrian people.

From there you move on to changing the heads of Syria’s major institutions, such as university presidents, the officials of communications and transport bodies, army division commanders, and the heads of newspapers and the various media outlets. Then you dissolve the currently existing unions, dissolve the People’s Assembly, and change the law of political parties and the electoral law. Replacement should not be on a partisan basis, but on a professional one — Syria is full of professional competence and broad expertise. What this means is that changing the regime from within spares everyone pain and grief, and shortens the road.

These are matters that require boldness, particularly since those who surround the president may be more powerful than the president himself. Many presidents know full well where truth lies and where falsehood lies, but they do not dare to confront it, because the institutions that are supposed to serve their policy are controlled by deeply rooted and powerful cliques. But you can now take shelter with the people, who are the strongest force in Syria today. If the people were silent and preoccupied away from public life, it would be difficult for the president to take bold steps; but the Syrian street is now prepared to defend, with all its strength, the changing of the regime.

The key is now in your hand, and the Syrian people will not fail you if they see that the steps of reform are serious, and that they lead to changing the regime into one that provides freedom and reinforces Syria’s commitments toward its own security and the security of the Arab nation. As for delay and weak decisions, they will bring upon Syria nothing but what none of us wish to see.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “إلى الرئيس الأسد” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.