In the Lion's Den_ An Eyewitness Account of Washington's Battle With Syria - Andrew Tabler [49]
In conclusion, the president seemed to fire a warning shot over the heads of those who might cooperate with the United States in its efforts to promote “reform” in the region.
I call upon you to exercise your role in a courageous and responsible manner by pointing out both our limitations and our achievements, by addressing the shortcomings we suffer from as well as the successes we enjoy, and by being as honest as possible in your discussions and proposals about the concerns and aspirations of the public, bearing in mind that every decision you take and every recommendation you make should express only our internal needs, regardless of any consideration which aims at pushing us in directions which harm our national interests and threaten our stability.
Much more interesting than the speech was what was going on around me in the Syria Today meeting room. Hugh and the Los Angeles Times correspondent understood less Arabic, so they relied on the translation services of Syrians in the room. As the speech continued, a sort of struggle emerged between Hugh and the Syrians present that spoke volumes about the speech’s content. One of them began translating the speech word for word, which Hugh and the Times correspondent wrote down studiously. After only a few moments, they stopped their attempt at simultaneous translation and went silent, switching to summaries of a few words following what seemed like each of the speech’s main sections.
“Why aren’t you translating?” Hugh asked, visibly annoyed. “This is a major address by the president.”
The Syrians did not immediately answer, continuing their brief summaries. At a certain point, one staff member stopped and looked at another staff member, who in turn began translating word for word. After a few moments, another Syrian began to summarize as well. Hugh, even more annoyed, asked both of them why they were not simultaneously translating the speech.
“There is nothing of substance to translate,” one of them said, clearly disappointed. “There is nothing.”
Assad’s address was followed by speeches from the heads of each of the parties of the National Progressive Front (NPF), the body of ten loyalist “opposition” parties formed in 1972 under the umbrella of the Baath Party. As each leader delivered their speech, praising the Baath Party and its role in society, we speculated on the outcome of the conference.
“There is not going to be much,” I said. “Political reform will be limited, outside pressures do not affect internal reforms, and individuals are the problem and not the Baath Party. He didn’t even mention trade.”
“See?” one of the staff said. “Nothing.”
That evening, I invited a group of correspondents to dinner at the Damascus Journalists’ Club, an institution sponsored and supported by the Journalists’ Syndicate of the Baath Party. It is a place with cheap beers, good mezze (oriental salads), and grilled meat and chicken—the staple main course in Damascus. Sitting around the table were three correspondents from the New York Times and one each from The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Associated Press, and Reuters.
After only one day of covering the conference, all were at a loss as to what kinds of stories they would be able to write with such little information. They had filed stories that day, outlining Assad’s speech but describing it as falling short of expectations.
Throwing back whiskeys and Barada beer (Syria’s staple brew, which is reminiscent of weissbier, or wheat beer), the group shared their frustration about not understanding exactly what the conference was all about. A few hours and many more drinks later, we decided to head home. The bill for food and drink for eight people came to a whopping one thousand Syrian pounds (nineteen US dollars)—while we might not have understood the Baath Party, we sure enjoyed some of its subsidies.
I awoke at 7 AM the following morning, June 7, wondering how we would be informed of what was going on in the conference’s different working committees. I hurried to my desk and tried to connect to the Internet