While it appears the promise of democratic reform in Lebanon may be waning, members of the U.N. for once appear to be unified to do the right thing and will threaten Syria with isolation if it doesn’t totally withdraw from its neighbor. Robin Wright’s excellent story in the Washington Post explains:
They’re very, very worried about being isolated,” said Theodore H. Kattouf, former U.S. ambassador to Syria. “Syria’s economy is weak. It has a strong overlay of socialism and the limited capitalism is beset by cronyism and corruption. In the past, Syria has always had an economic savior, be it subsidies from the Gulf, free oil from Iran in the 1980s, large payments of gratitude from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for [military] participation in the first Gulf War [against Iraq], incredibly cheap oil from Saddam Hussein. So there was always someone to bail out Syria. Plus, there were all the years of cheap military equipment from the Soviet Union.
“When you look around now, who will bail out Syria’s economy? The impact of isolation would further weaken a weak economy, lower living and thereby increase popular discontent,” he added.
Sounds like President Assad is running out of escape hatches.
