Last week a “rescue” conference attended by the Syrian opposition, united in its hatred to Assad and his regime, convened in Berlin. Everyone partook in the conference: Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, who argued that Basher personally gave the order to assassinate Rafik Hariri; the Syrian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, which accused Basher and his father of the murder of thousands of civilians, repression and brutality; Kurdish movements, Sunnis, leftists, Christians, the representatives of other ethnic minorities and well-known exiles – the whole lot.

Just like the case of the Iraqi opposition a decade ago, hatred of the president is their only source of unification. In the Syrian case, however, there is another unifying factor: The hatred for Israel. If we thought that this opposition would be democratic, pro-western, and that it would perhaps reach some peace agreement with us, it seems we were mistaken. Hence, conference participants attacked Assad for not maintaining “Syrian honor” and for not embarking on a war against Israel. In other words, no salvation will be forthcoming from there.

There is a nice Arabic expression which says “calculate your losses before calculating your profits.” The rules of the game in the region have shown us that we should opt for the lighter damage over the heavier damage. When comparing the two options, clearly the damage posed by the Assad family is less than the damage likely to be inflicted by the opposition.

Present-day Syria is a stable country, with a standing army (a relatively weak one) and clearly defined rules. It is far easier for the IDF to fight against a state than against an amorphous terror organization such as Hizbullah. We would be better off with a Syrian army than with entrenched combatants lacking any political responsibility.

We are better off with Syrian stability than with “Iraqization,” Islamic caliphs, growing al-Qaeda strength, and severe instability on the Golan, in Lebanon, and in the entire region.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3451670,00.html