Syracuse, New York - Speaking before students and faculty at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University on Thursday November 17, 05, the Director of Public Diplomacy for Middle Eastern and MEPI Affairs at USAID the Honorable Walid Maalouf reflected the latest attitude of the US government towards Syria by publicly demanding regime change in Syriaan unprecedented demand by any US official.
Mr. Maalouf criticized Assad for failing to address internal reform desperately needed to the Syrian people instead of meddling in other countries affairs noting: "Instead of speaking about social and political reform in Syria and new economic opportunities for the Syrian people, 15 out of 18 pages of his speech were about regional politics and his interference in other countries affairs."
Mr. Maalouf asserted: "Today Syria's Ba'ath is not a regional power and to our knowledge no one in Iraq, the Palestinian Territories, or Lebanon has appointed President Bashar Al-Assad as their spokesman. The time has come for change in Syria." Mr. Maalouf concluded: "There will be no stability in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories until Syrias Baath is restrained by the international community from attempting to destabilize the region through the use of tactics that no one is buying anymore
The Assad Ba'ath is like the Saddam Ba'ath enough is enough freedom and democracy for the Syrian people from the Baath regime is a must."
American Lebanese Coordination Council
Mon, 21 Nov 2005 12:00 UTC
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Comment: We find it strange that members of the Bush administration appear to have no problem with urging the U.S. military to continue the spread of "Democracy and freedom" to other Middle Eastern countries. Have these people looked at the state of Iraq recently? 100,000 civilians dead and the country teetering on the brink of a manufactured civil war, yet rather than condemning such carnage, members of the Bush administration seem to believe that other Middle Eastern people's need to benefit from the wonders of American Democracy.
As we have said before, as time passes, the idea that we live in a world gone mad seems less and less like a joke and more and more like a cold, hard fact.