In Ruins, Syria Marks 50 Years of Assad Family Rule

On November 13, 1970, a young air force officer from the coastal¹ hills of Syria launched an operation to overthrow² the country's government. Hafez Assad and his supporters were successful. They took control of the government in a bloodless coup³.

Fifty years later, Assad's family still rules Syria. Yet the country is in ruins from 10 years of civil war. At least 500,000 people have died in the fighting. The conflict has displaced half of Syria's population. Large areas are lost from government control. But the son of Hafez Assad, Bashar Assad, has unquestioned rule over what remains⁴.

Both father and son have used the same tool to stay in power: repression⁵, violence and rejection⁶ of compromise.

"There can be no doubt that 50 years of Assad family rule, which has been ruthless...and self-defeating, has left the country what can only be described as broken, failed and almost forgotten," said Neil Quilliam. He is an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, an independent policy center based in London.

Ruthless but brilliant

After taking power in 1970, Hafez Assad established a single-party police state – one like that in the former Soviet⁷ Union. He moved members of his Alawite sect⁸ into positions of power. The Alawites are a minority in Syria, where most people are Sunni Muslim.

Assad also turned Syria into one of the most powerful countries in the Middle East. In the Arab world, he gained respect for his refusal to negotiate on the Golan Heights, an area that Syria lost to Israel in the 1967 war. In 1981, he supported Iran in its war with Iraq while most of the Arab world supported Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Assad later supported the United States-led efforts to liberate⁹ Kuwait after Iraq's 1990 invasion.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton remembered meeting with the Syrian leader several times. "He was a ruthless but brilliant man who had once wiped out a whole village as a lesson to his opponents," Clinton wrote in his book, "My Life."

Clinton was talking about the 1982 massacre¹⁰ in Hama, Syria. That is when Syrian security forces killed thousands to crush an overthrown¹¹ attempt led by the Muslim Brotherhood¹². The massacre left hatred¹³ that fueled another rebellion against Assad's son Bashar years later.

The Assad family's survival, says Sam Dagher, comes from refusing to accept any criticism from within and a willingness to "wait your enemies out." Dagher is an expert on Syria. He wrote the book "Assad or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust¹⁴ for Power Destroyed Syria."

Bashar Assad's rule

Bashar Assad, a British-trained eye doctor, first appeared to be a reformer after the death of his father in 2000. He opened up Syria and gave political activists¹⁵ some freedom.

But following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Bashar Assad quickly changed. He opposed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq because he believed his country would also be invaded. He let foreign fighters enter Iraq from Syrian territory and became an enemy of the U.S.

Assad was forced to end Syria's control of Lebanon after the Syrian government was blamed for the killing¹⁶ of Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister. Yet Assad strengthened his country's ties to Lebanon's Hezbollah.

But it was the Arab Spring protest movement that frightened Assad the most. It reached Syria in March 2011. At first, he ordered security forces to put down the peaceful protests. But the demonstrations¹⁷ grew, and some members of the Syrian military began to side with the protestors.

With his army nearing collapse¹⁸, Assad opened his country to military forces from Russia and Iran. Syrian cities were destroyed in bombing raids. He was accused of using chemical weapons against his own people and killing or jailing thousands of critics. Millions of Syrians fled to Europe or other areas.

Assad said the country's war was a choice between his rule and Islamic extremists, including the Islamic State (IS) group. Many Syrians and some European states believed it was better to have Assad than to have IS.

Still, Sam Dagher said the war changed Syrians in permanent ways. The collapse of the economy has affected¹⁹ everyone.

"A whole generation of people has been awakened²⁰ and will eventually find a way to take back the country and their future," he said.

Of the father and son, it is Bashar Assad who will be remembered as the most oppressive, said Neil Quilliam. His name and actions will be remembered as the "willful destruction of a great country and the brutalization of a beautiful people," he said.

Words In This Story

coup - n. to oust²¹ a government and take over by non-democratic means

doubt – n. uncertain something is true

ruthless – adj. without restraint

fellow – n. someone who is paid to study a subject at a university or research center

sect – n. a group

brilliant – adj. extremely intelligent

massacre – n. killing many people

brutalization – n. something done with great cruelty

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

3 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

6 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

9 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

10 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

11 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

12 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

13 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

14 lust   

n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望

参考例句：

• He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
• Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

17 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

18 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

19 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

20 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。