Mohamad Chatah

….A Stairway to Hell

Today Tremseh, tomorrow ........?

In Lewis Carroll’s fantasy novel “Through the Looking Glass” the Red Queen explains to Alice that in her wonderland she has to run faster and faster just to stand still.

What is happening in Syria is no fantasy but that’s exactly what the regime seems to be doing. Using increasing force to kill more people. And if using force doesn’t seem to be working, well, it uses more force to kill yet more people. What does the regime achieve? More borrowed time for the regime, at best. But in the process many more bereaved but angry Syrians bent on revenge.



A few months ago the Assad regime seems to have decided on an outright military solution to its predicament. Basically, to end the widespread rebellion by brute force. Once it took that decision the regime left itself with no choice but to continue its viscous campaign. And continuing meant having to push harder and harder against an ever growing capability and determination on the part of the rebellious population. To relent even partially from this brutal offensive risked a quick collapse of the regime’s house of cards. It had to run faster and faster to simply stand still. But the speed will reach its limit and the cards will fall.


Most of the world is observing as this tragic but heroic drama unfolds. Lebanon is more than an ordinary observer. Most Lebanese are watching with a lot of admiration for the Syrian people, but also with a lot of concern about the way an embattled and desperate regime may use its Lebanese backyad in its war for survival. Will the regime, which is digging deeper and deeper in its futile attempt to get out of its hole, also try to dig sideways to broaden the conflict into Lebanon ( in bigger and more blatant ways than it has so far)? Time will tell; and for the Syrian regime time is certainly running out.