In his column in the Syrian government daily Al-Thawra, Ghaleb Hassan Muhammad stated that the "American empire" is about to fall, and calls President Bush "the Fuehrer of the 21stt century."
The following are excerpts from his column:[1]
"George Bush, the Fuehrer of the 21st Century, is Falling Victim to the Deadly Disease of Hubris"
"It is important to have power, but it is more important to manage it correctly and [thus] benefit from it. Even a novice to politics and international relations can see very clearly that President Bush Jr.'s escapade in Iraq is a significant turning point that will go down in history as the beginning of the fall of the great American empire.
"Though the entire tyrannical media is mobilizing in a vain attempt to present the events [in Iraq] as the complete opposite [from what they really are], [eventually] it is geography that will [have the last word]. That is what happened to the great Roman Empire, to the British Empire, and to the French empire, in the tripartite attack on Egypt in 1956... This is also what history wrote on the death certificate of the Nazi beast – the Fuehrer – who in his day held every crucial [source of] power, and relied on [this power] as he set out to destroy part of humanity and conquer the rest, so as to turn them into slaves in the service of the 'Aryan übermensch'...
"Yes, that is hubris, the deadly disease of the mighty. And now George Bush Jr. – the Fuehrer of the 21st century – is falling victim to the same deadly disease of hubris. [This is] a failure to use and manage power [wisely].
"When Eisenhower proposed his famous plan for filling the vacuum that formed in the Middle East after the decline of the British and French empires, it was, arguably, a realistic [plan] in terms of the political and international relations [that prevailed at the time]. [Filling the vacuum] is what strong [forces] desire when other [strong forces] withdraw and a vacuum is created. But a small geographic area like the Arab Middle East is one thing, and the whole world is another.
"The vacuum-filling [policy] adopted by American political circles after the fall of the Soviet Union is usually referred to by the political-strategic term of "The American Century." This term obviously implies that the 21st century will be American in every sense of the word – [in the sense of] military hegemony, economy, culture, and so on.
"As everyone knows, the archipelago of vacuum that remained following the fall of the Soviet Union and the socialist order stretches from the Baltic Sea through Eastern and Central Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, and all the way to the border of China.
"This archipelago is undoubtedly [a microcosm] of the world. Imposing the American hegemony over the world necessarily means taking control over international decisions and turning the countries of the world into employees of Uncle Sam carrying out his policies. Of course there are employees [who are more important and those who are less important], since it is unthinkable for a country like France to be on par with Karzai's republic [i.e. Afghanistan].
"Even If It Takes a Long Time, and [America] is Strong and Ruthless, the People Will Rise Up Again Like a Volcano... and Reduce the Invaders to Remnants of Ugly Images"
"Many think that it was the support [given by] most Western countries to the American administration in its 'holy war,' or 'crusade,' as Mister George Bush himself called it, and the neutral stance adopted by many countries, that encouraged the 'American Fuehrer' to make the mistake that may be his last...
"Once again, geography and history will [have the last word]... Even if it takes a long time, and the enemy is strong and ruthless, [eventually] the people will rise up again like a volcano or like a flood that will reduce the invaders to [nothing more than] remnants of ugly images in the memory of the locals.
"When we shift [the camera] from the scene of events, namely from Iraq, to the U.S. [itself], we will see [America's] defeat in this war even more clearly. The American people's objection to the war, which is growing every day, is the most resounding proof of the crisis in which the American administration, and the neocons in the White House, find themselves. As long as the decision-makers refuse to acknowledge this reality, and as a result fail to deal with it wisely and without [spewing] political and ideological rhetoric, America will be facing a great catastrophe.
"More than one Western analyst has assessed that the goal of the American administration in this war was to tighten the siege on Syria and Iran and to isolate them completely, with the excuse that they are meddling in the affairs [of other countries in] the Middle East, from Palestine and Lebanon to Iraq... This administration, or rather the [few] sane people still left in it, will discover that Syria's and Iran's intervention is the only thing that [can] save them from meeting their political and strategic death in this region."
[1] Al-Thawra (Syria) October 17, 2007.
