Bashar al-Assad

Bashar al-Assad
Personal life
Date and place of birth	September 11, 1965 (age 55) Damascus, Syria
Parents	Hafez al-Assad Anisa Machluf
Claimed religion	Alawite
Education	Damascus University
Spouse	Asma al-Assad
Children	Hafez al-Assad Zein al-Assad Karim al-Assad
Dictatorial career
Country	Syria
Military service	n/a
Highest rank attained	n/a
Political beliefs	Ba'athist
Political party	Ba'ath Party
Date of dictatorship	July 17, 2000- December 8, 2024
Wars started	Syrian War
Number of deaths attributed	500,000+

Bashar al-Assad (11 September, 1965) is the former president and Socialist dictator of Syria. As a member of the Ba'ath Party of Syria though in his reign some limited free market reforms were implemented. In 2011, the Arab Spring led to widespread protests in his country, which turned into the Syrian Civil War, in which more than 220,000 deaths have taken place.

Politics

The Christians in Syria were much more free before Assad took power, when Protestant Christian Fares al-Khouri was elected prime minister of Syria in 1954. Under Assad Christians are legally banned from becoming the head of state. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, over 60 percent of all churches in Syria that have been destroyed during the war have been by the Assad regime.

After Assad used chemical weapons on his people, President Trump ordered a one-time airstrike against a Syrian air base, firing 60 cruise missiles at it on April 6, 2017. This was the first direct military action the U.S. took against the Assad regime. Trump stood by the decision, calling Bashar Assad a “butcher” and saying: “I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing.”

After the Syrian government again used chemical weapons on its people, President Trump ordered precision missile strikes on certain military installations in the country, in coordination with the French and UK governments on April 13, 2018. According to the Pentagon the following day, the U.S. and its allies launched 105 missiles that successfully hit all three targets and crippled the Syrian chemical weapons program.

In March 2023 Assad granted an extensive interview, wherein he assessed:

“I believe that World War III is underway but it differs in its form...What I mean is that world wars used to be conventional in the past...The armies of several states were fighting against each other...This is also true when it comes to the current situation, but because of modern weaponry, especially nuclear, it is different from conventional war...That’s why wars are now moving toward becoming proxy wars...That’s why [Ukrainian dictator] Zelensky is now fighting a war on behalf of the West, using, of course, its army of Nazis...The same goes for terrorists, they are the armies operating on behalf of the West in Syria and other regions”.

Foreign Relations

Under al-Assad, Syria maintains a close alliance with theocratic Iran, despite his more secular form of governance. Like his father Hafez al-Assad, his relation with Saddam Hussein's Iraq was sour and tense, and after Operation Iraqi Freedom he established good relations with the new Iraqi government.

Al-Assad is very anti-American. Neither George W. Bush nor Barack Hussein Obama have met with him and both administrations have accused him, rightfully, of harboring terrorist organizations such as Hamas (which had its headquarters in Damascus) and Hezbollah. Assad was accused by many of playing a role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Syria is also responsible for allowing foreign terrorist fighters to enter Iraq through their border and attack American troops. He invited terrorists of the Hezbollah to stay in Syria. Assad is also hostile to Israel and Zionism and refuses to recognize the country's right to exist. In 2016 Assad accused Israel of being ‘al-Qaeda’s air force’.

Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an Assad apologist, violating the Logan Act.

Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi traveled to Damascus, Syria in April 2007 to meet with Syrian Ba'athist leader Bashar al-Assad. Pelosi indicated at a press conference that she had carried a message from the government of Israel. "Our message was President Bush’s message," Pelosi told The Associated Press in Portugal. Pelosi told reporters the meeting "enabled us to communicate a message from Prime Minister Olmert".

The Israeli Prime Minister's office stated Olmert told Pelosi that Israel continued to regard Syria as "part of the axis of evil and a party encouraging terrorism in the entire Middle East." The Jerusalem Post reported sources at the Prime Minister's Office said, "Pelosi took part of the things that were said in the meeting, and used what suited her."

The trip was praised by terrorists as "brave". Members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have said Pelosi aligns to their views about terror much better than Bush and Dr. Condoleezza Rice. Khaled Al-Batch, spokesman for Islamic Jihad, which along with Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel since 2005, expressed hope Pelosi and the Democratic Party will pressure Bush to create dialogue with Syrian rebel and Middle East "resistance movements" and prompt an American withdrawal from Iraq.

In the lead editorial of Thursday, April 5, The Washington Post commented on "The Pratfall in Damascus":

HOUSE SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered an excellent demonstration yesterday of why members of Congress should not attempt to supplant the secretary of state when traveling abroad. After a meeting with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Ms. Pelosi announced that she had delivered a message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that "Israel was ready to engage in peace talks" with Syria. What's more, she added, Mr. Assad was ready to "resume the peace process" as well. Having announced this seeming diplomatic breakthrough, Ms. Pelosi suggested that her Kissingerian shuttle diplomacy was just getting started. "We expressed our interest in using our good offices in promoting peace between Israel and Syria," she said.

Only one problem: The Israeli prime minister entrusted Ms. Pelosi with no such message. "What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does not contain any change in the policies of Israel," said a statement quickly issued by the prime minister's office. In fact, Mr. Olmert told Ms. Pelosi that "a number of Senate and House members who recently visited Damascus received the impression that despite the declarations of Bashar Assad, there is no change in the position of his country regarding a possible peace process with Israel." In other words, Ms. Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position but was virtually alone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda. ...

Never mind that that statement is ludicrous: As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush's military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish.

Pelosi was roundly criticized from all quarters for making the trip. The New York Post said, "the sad reality is that Pelosi is sending Assad the same message she and her Democratic colleagues in Congress have sent the terrorist insurgency in Iraq: Just wait until President Bush leaves office and a Democratic administration will hand you what you want on a platter." The Philadelphia Enquirer ran an editorial declaring Pelosi "was nuts" to visit Assad.

Personal life

President al-Assad believes in Shia Islam in its Alawite variant (which is seen by some Muslims as a heretical sect), and Syrian Alawite elites are his base of support. He is married to Asma al-Assad, a former investment banker educated in Britain.

His elder brother, Basil, was killed in a car accident in 1994.