The bombing in Rauda neighborhood in Damascus this past Wednesday, that killed a number of Assad's crisis management team, is hailed as a turning point. The inside job is a clear indicator that rivalries within the regime have brought about a shift in the crisis. For the first time, diplomatic circles are discussing the fact that al Assad is considering his imminent departure. Al Assad requires a "respectful" exit, according to a Russian diplomat in Paris. Discussions, part of the Geneva conference on Syria, have stressed the importance that a transitional period includes an exit plan for the regime.
Few months earlier, discussions between the opposition groups and the regime, via mediating parties like Germans and Russians, considered a transitional government that combines equal representation from the government and the opposition. The time that passed since then proved fetal to this proposition. It seems that the only focus of the regime should be to formulate an exit plan that maintenance the minimum amount of courtesy for al-Assad and his immediate family. Even this proposition might not be realistic after a while.
Deploying the security solution by the regime, coupled by archaic authoritarian terror tactics has backfired and brought down the establishment. Al-Assad lost, and his reputation is forever marred in the essence of this bloody crisis. But this is only half the truth. The other half is that a nation woke up. Syrians, after the demonstrations began in March of last year, were able to express unspoken grievances and sad memories. The right to speak freely and to demand justice proved far more valuable then orchestrated stability. Syria will never be the same.
All hopes are that the transitional period be an inclusive political one.
سوريا حبيبتي .. الحرية و الكرامة
