Mick Hartley

Remember those distant days, pre-Iraq, pre-Afghanistan, when the Right was all about realpolitik – "he may be a bastard, but he's our bastard" – and the Left was all about idealism and promoting universal values? Here's Chris Phillips at CiF, on Syria's President Bashar al-Assad:

When Syria's international relations were at their lowest point, following the withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005, Assad did not fold under pressure. In defiance of US criticism, he continued to facilitate the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, provide arms and support for Hizbullah and Hamas, and further ties with Ahmedinejad's Iran. Calculated but intelligent, such moves ensured that Syria remained a key player in the region's geopolitics, and provided the Assad regime with at least some diplomatic leverage having just lost its prized Lebanon card.

Not every CiF article, of course, necessarily follows the Guardian line, but this strikes me as fairly uncontroversial stuff for CiF nowadays. The tone of admiration for a smart political operator is hard to miss. And what were those "calculated but intelligent" policies again? Facilitating the Sunni insurgency in Iraq (arming al Qaeda and its offshoots to terrorise Iraq's civilian population), providing arms and support for Hizbullah and Hamas (organisations dedicated to the elimination of Israel), and developing closer ties to Ahmedinejad's Iran (ditto, amongst much else).

Though major steps have been made, to truly be rehabilitated Syria needs to make serious progress with Israel and that still depends on who will succeed Bush and Olmert. Fortunately, as an unelected dictator, Bashar al-Assad can afford to wait and see. In the meantime Syria finds itself in a stronger position than it has been in years and its president is proving surprisingly skilled at foreign affairs. From the disastrous policies that led to the 2005 Lebanon crisis and withdrawal, Assad has used opportunism, calculation and grit to claw Syria back on to the international scene.

Fortunately, as an unelected dictator… Oh yes. But at least he's a skilled operator.

Not many comments – it's not really a CiF commentator-type article – but already some classics, including this, prompted by the information that Bashar was developing ties with Qatar:

[I]'m sorry to see that Bashar al-Assad is selling out his principles to Qatar. A once proud leftist country is becoming a Vassal for Gulf Oil interests.

And:

As a son of a president, President Bashar al-Assad proved to be more capable and worthy of his name than George W. Bush.