Death of the American Way? Kim Ghattas of the BBC is somewhat presumptive when she says:

'The growing unrest in Iraq is a source of worry for all Arab countries, but in Damascus there is also some satisfaction at the failure of the American experiment in bringing democracy to the Arab world. '

Well, it's good to know that Arab countries watch out for their neighbours. How much less concerning it must have been for them when Saddam was killing his own people in their tens of thousands.


She also seems a bit lazy, not to say complicit with the status quo in Syria, when she says:

But one year on, if there is anything that Syrians and their government agree about, it is that the American way is not the way to bring about change.

Especially when, without mentioning the continuing detainment of Syrian Kurds, virtually as a footnote to a long article, she adds:

Last month, Kurds in Syria rioted after several were shot by police during a football match. In the following days, more clashes took place and statues of the late president Assad were defaced in the Kurdish areas in the north-east of Syria.

Which all in all amounts to:

1) The Syrians don't want anything to do with America.

2) The Syrians are generally not very unhappy with their boy Assad, and his dictatorial ways.

3) The Kurds don't (as usual) count, as a group or as Syrians.