A Most Valuable Whistleblower by Beirut spring
Abdelhalim Khaddam might go down in history as the man who killed the Syrian Baath.Here’s my favorite new hobby: Watching Syrian “experts” comment on what their previous vice president has just said. Somewhere between their mumbling and their bumbling, you could relish in their impotence to produce arguments against a man who, until yesterday, was considered one of the people you can’t criticize.But rest assured. Their tongues won’t be tied forever. They are just waiting to take their cue from the regime’s lousy spin master who will eventually design an elaborate Khaddam-is-one-of-the-bad-guys story. Something along the lines of being brainwashed in Paris by a Chirac who is too eager to destroy the last bastion of Arabism.Khaddam’s closeness to the Hariris is an established fact; nevertheless, his testimony remains very significant not least because it was the first to come from a Syrian high official. His defection might encourage others to follow suite and might embolden hesitant Lebanese pro-Syrians (like Nabih Berri) to make up their minds. (In a way, Khaddam gave Berri an opening when he said that Ghazaleh Threatened Hariri, Jumblat and Berri).The repercussions remain to be seen, but I estimate that this is indeed a very significant turning point.