Et tu, Abdallah?
April 5, 2006
We may be accustomed to the phenomenon that turns seemingly neutral people into regime apologists when they accept a governmental position, but I admit I was unpleasantly surprised by the following quote, not having expected such an exaggerated degree of compliance from a so-called reformist:
"I may not be keen on early morning arrests, but this regime was being threatened."
Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Abdallah Dardari
I've given enough interviews to know that words can sometimes be taken out of context and that only live television or radio interviews (or signed articles) can truly reflect a position, but in this case there is more to substantiate the initial statement, and he can't have been misquoted in every sentence. Indeed, Dardari continued by saying: "The survival of this regime and the stability of this country was threatened out loud and openly. There were invitations for foreign armies to come and invade Syria. So you could expect sometimes an overreaction, or a reaction, to something that is really happening."
No, Abdallah, none of the people arrested in Syria were inviting foreign armies to come and invade Syria, and you know it.
