Could still prove useful to the west. As a murderous bosher are i suspect in some measure is always trying to live up to the image of his father. The latest wave of terrorism in europe the refugee crisis in europe instability in the middle east and new tensions with russia can all to one extent or another be traced back to assad. Can be quite charming hed be a good kind of a person you would want to have a dinner party going back i did not see any evidence. That Bashar Al Assad could become the premier war criminal of the twenty first century. Is assad really a tyrant or simply a modern political leader is he a friend or a foe so far the west has not been able to decide one reason for this is that assad is a master at concealing his real intentions you have to put your seat belts on all the other way. For me for the you know its. In two thousand and nine two years before the syrian uprising began a french t. V. Crew accompanied assad and his wife as they drove to a concert in damascus would have a go to my way to the front of. The only drive myself but its very un security no no it is a secure because if you look at the roof and open the window fifty three hoping you include. Otherwise you would be living in a living in a cage nobody wants to live in a cage. Bashar was never supposed to become president he graduated from medical school in one nine hundred eighty eight and later did postgraduate work in ophthalmology a hospital in london. His wife graduated from Kings College london and worked for several years as an investment banker bashar brother basile the heir apparent was killed in a car accident in one thousand nine hundred four syrian president hafez assad started preparing bashar to succeed him. The elder assad died in june two thousand bashar took center stage at the funeral ceremony he was elected president the next month at the age of just thirty four. But shar was reputed to be much less ambitious and charismatic than his older brother. Assad was an air force officer who came to power in a coup detat in one thousand nine hundred seventy he imposed a brutal dictatorship that would rule syria for the next three decades political opponents were executed or imprisoned. Assads funeral was attended by numerous World Leaders and diplomats. These included delegations from syrias traditional allies. Iran. And russia. Western officials attended as well and established their first contacts with the new president syria had been a key player in the middle east for decades particularly when it came to Regional Peace negotiations and fighting International Terrorism. But only one western head of state attended a sons funeral french president Jacques Chirac. It would have holes but friends of the little leaders decided that if they showed syria some respect they might be able to influence its policy on lebanon you know the whole story of the wooden bowl appear after assads older son died french politicians try to figure out how to deal with bashar with the. Jury was an ophthalmologist by training but it had no experience as a political leader or an unknown quantity but if no one knew whether he would be up to the job the above. So you know if it. Married his wife in two thousand the new president sought to portray himself as a modern western style leader perhaps this reserved and well educated young man would introduce political and Economic Reforms in syria and increase the countrys ties to the west. In public assad usually appeared cordial even in difficult circumstances because he realized that he must win western support but his primary goal was to maintain his grip on power and that meant dealing effectively with the Ruling Baath Party a secular and Arab Nationalist organization syrias political establishment was watching him closely and many doubted his capabilities. Michelle was not a born leader and had no particular interest in politics and. Everyone noticed that he was very polite and sometimes more than necessary. And many thought he was too young to take on all that responsibility. But exceeded his critics expectations he promised to liberalize syrias economy and to implement some limited democratic reforms as it was. Believed that western countries would be more willing to support him if they saw him as a reformer and indeed in two thousand and one he received his first invitation to visit a western country friends. His hosts encouraged him to move ahead with his proposed reforms and he paid attention to this advice. After the september eleventh attacks in the u. S. The west focused its attention on how to fight the spread of International Terrorism but. Assad and his powerful Intelligence Network could play an Important Role in that effort. Bashar as we say was trying to make lemonade out of ones and to demonstrate that they could play an important and effective role in helping the United States in the west and one of that was what we needed all the help that assad could give us his operatives could infiltrate certain organizations because he knew the but the capacity been a top european looking french agents who didnt speak any arabic would never have been able to do that job. Gave us access to some of these dangerous groups oh this is an illusion i should think of the move my beliefs. But this relationship came to an end in two thousand and three when the u. S. And its allies invaded iraq which borders syria to the east side found the presence of allied troops on his doorstep unsettling he took measures to undermine american influence in the region while at the same time maintaining his role as an ally in the fight against terrorism. Bashir. Starting in two thousand and three when george bush was president assad ordered his Security Forces to assemble groups of jihad his troops which were then sent to fight in iraq but not one syria even trained some of these fighters from the. To be able to eventually flood the letter that you have you know me but you have assad would pass along the names of these fighters to the americans and it does nothing but one who believes that this intelligence was reliable and i mean it can fill any. But when washington finally realized what assad was up to it sent secretary of state colin powell to damascus to tell the syrian president to stop playing games. But assad paid no attention at the same time he had failed to make progress on the reforms he promised some liberal economic policies were implemented but they benefited mostly assad and his relatives not average citizens. This led to growing unrest about the slow pace of real Economic Reforms there were no political reforms either in fact political repression actually increased. This may be explained by the fact that assad belongs to a minority shiite muslim sect known as allah always. They have occupied the top government positions in syria since hafez assad became president in one thousand nine hundred seventy one and they aim to hold on to that power at all cost. Bashar assad took a hard line against lebanon syrias neighbor to the south former lebanese Prime Minister rafik hariri had long sought to free his country from de facto syrian occupation hariri was killed in a car bomb blast in february two thousand and five some have alleged that the Syrian Government was behind the attack but this has never been proven afterward a number of other lebanese politicians and intellectuals were also assassinated. The sharpest wished him up one day at a past Party Meeting we were discussing economic matters. And suddenly assad walked in and shouted. Hari is an enemy of syria. Hes a puppet of the u. S. And france for the sea. Three days later that was debt. Explosives equivalent to nearly two tons of t. N. T. Were used in the attack twenty two other people were killed in the blast cover every says as a nation sparked International Outrage the Un Security Council approved a resolution sponsored by britain france and the us that imposed some new sanctions on syria. Aris murder also led to a Popular Uprising in lebanon this domestic Resistance Movement combined with International Pressure prompted syria to pull its troops out of lebanon in two thousand and six. Assad seemed to take these events in stride at least in public. But since his relations with the west now lay in tatters he moved his country closer to iran. And he signed a military Cooperation Agreement with russia. Assad turned the situation following her resists as a nation to his advantage. He purged political and military leaders whod been appointed by his father and replaced them with his own people. Michelle said that about how to bashar thought he was more powerful than his father had been caught on to believe that he was second to none and real so that he visually. Most of. In two thousand and seven assad sought to expand his diplomatic contact he wanted to go beyond the alliances with iran and russia. French president Jacques Chirac had cut off relations with him after the attack on hariri whod been a personal friend but in march chirac announced that he would not seek a third term. In two thousand and eight the new french president Nicolas Sarkozy sent his chief of staff. To syria for talks it was the first time in three years that the french government had had contacts with assad. That pulled me off when someone called we met for the first time in damascus us the streets were blocked off with Armored Vehicles and troops. Asaad was trying to expand syrias economy and to normalize the countrys International Relations with the of the he and his wife had been educated overseas and they were tired of being treated as out costs by the International Community as the. Friends demanded that syria recognize lebanon sovereignty assad agreed and a few weeks later he was welcomed in paris and invited to attend a summit of european north african and middle eastern states. Sarkozys sought passant support for his plan to create a Mediterranean Alliance to be led by france and. Assad was treated like an honored guest during his visit he attended the annual busty de military parade on the shuttle is it. An. He joined other heads of state on the reviewing stand. But sarkozys efforts to build a Mediterranean Alliance stalled and assad was still dragging his feet on implementing economic and political reforms at home. His trip to france ended without a single major agreement still needed sarkozy to help him achieve his immediate goal to convince washington to lift the sanctions it had imposed on syria. That france enjoyed excellent relations with the United States told washington about its new contacts with us. And indeed in two thousand and ten u. S. Diplomats traveled to damascus to meet the syrian president. Assad made an astonishing gesture of goodwill he offered to start talks on a peace deal with syrias parched enemy israel the us responded by appointing a new ambassador to damascus the post had been vacant for five years. Ive just not seemed to be winning on all diplomatic fronts. He had now resort relations with russia iran and the west. In early twenty antigovernment protests started spreading across north africa and the middle east the demonstrations soon forced the resignations of tunisias president. And egypt and president Hosni Mubarak i i i. I. I. Met the new u. S. Ambassador to discuss the situation he was very nice i asked the president are you worried that the winds of change will come here. And he said he was not worried he said the Syrian People strongly supported him strongly supported his government was the just two weeks later there was a large demonstration in damascus in a market called althea. It happened very spontaneously very suddenly it wasnt planned and it was immediately filmed by syrians with their cell phones i was. And we sent a message to washington and i said its coming the firewood is very dry its coming. In march twentieth eleven protests expanded young people in daraa aspirate painted antigovernment slogans on walls these included your next doctor meaning assad and the people want the regime to go several suspects were arrested and tortured by police. The was the was. More and more people demanded democratic freedoms the government responded with a violent crackdown against unarmed demonstrators was. American diplomats offered to set up talks between assad and moderate islamist opposition leaders but nothing came of this effort. What they would say is yes we will come to that discussion can you even help us organize that we said we would try but every time we got close to discussion. Syrian secret police would move in and break up meetings or arrest people. At the president ial palace in the hay. Those above damascus a science advisers were divided into two camps those who favored putting a stop to the uprising once and for all and those who took a more moderate approach. Assad had not yet made a decision. He was due to deliver a nationally televised speech on march thirtieth there was speculation that he might finally announce the implementation of the reforms that he had promised for so long and. Who were bad that i dont start met with his relatives and they decided that the countrys security was the top priority and that the military should be used to maintain that security and me and then. Assads mother was said to have advised him do what your father would have done. I dont know facing an extraordinary situation ocon three as always use threatened by conspirators little enough declared war and we will fight back and youll. Be up. To one half of the said message father was a senior military officer before he took over as president if thats what he was a true dictator and he convinced himself that he was a brilliant leader and made himself into a minor data. And then into god himself let us. Say the show to use wonder and fickle bashar did exactly the same he idolized his father and never doubted his legacy that it but shot was convinced that the people had no right to stand up to the government might be serious what are. The confrontation between the government and the demonstrators soon descended into civil war deserves from the Syrian Military organized armed groups of fighters. The government responded to this threat with increasing ferocity. Qatar turkey and saudi arabia all conservative Sunni Muslim States supplied the rebels with money and weapons. Their efforts were motivated at least in part by religion they considered assad a shiite muslim a heretic. Oh out of that its easy because they open their war all over the country i mean its much easier to fight a war along your border. But whenever i saw the president and said were going to be here and were going to fight and were going to be victorious we will prevail no problem no matter how painful it is but at the end we will prevail. By the summer of twenty eleven half of syrias territory was in rebel hands assad brought the full force of the Syrian Military to bear on the conflict and did not distinguish between opposition fighters and civilians his response was condemned by the International Community and the support among western nations that he had worked so hard to achieve was fading rapidly. I have indicated repeatedly that president assad has lost legitimacy that he needs to step down rather than drag his country into a civil war he should move in the direction of a political transition. This syrian helicopter is dropping barrel bombs. Throughout two thousand and twelve asante air force often attacked Populated Areas held by rebels. Thousands of civilians men women and children were killed. Hundreds of thousands left the country and that number continued to rise. Or. This was the start of a refugee crisis that would soon force the west to take action. That. We should not false frances position is clear Bashar Al Assad is killing his own people the sooner he steps down the better good what buffy is going to produce one of you. In. Spring of two thousand and twelve western politicians met at u. N. Headquarters in geneva to try to find a way to end the conflict in syria they sought to create a Transitional Government that would include representatives of the democratic opposition and moderates from the assad regime. But well russia had long been one of syrias key allies but moscow had seen its influence decline as assad turned to the west and now saw an opportunity to restore it. It was clear to us by two thousand and twelve he would only negotiate under pressure we hoped we hoped that the russians would apply that pressure. But russia refused to take part in any negotiations putin intended to hold on to russias naval base on the syrian coast at all cost whats more putin an autocrat himself rejected the concepts of the arab spring and western calls for democratic reforms as threats to the regions authoritarian regimes the negotiations went nowhere so france and the us seize the initiative they offered asylum to democratic opposition leaders and provided financial and military support to the free syrian army. What can we do to accelerate that process. The United States and other governments decided that they would try to coalesce the opposition provide it support so that it was Strong Enough to at a minimum negotiate a transition in syria. But assad vowed to fight on and his refusal to compromise and gave hope to his remaining supporters among the civilian population especially among the alawite