Another Chapter Ends!

I started the Syrian Revolution Digest to prevent the destruction and demise of my country, not to chronicle it. By keeping a certain key segment of the public informed as to what is taking place in Syria, and by circulating my posts by email to key officials, policy analysts, media professionals and human rights activists, I hoped  to apply enough pressure on American and European leaders to have them decide to intervene early on in the situation. I hoped that their timely intervention would prevent the transformation of the peaceful protest movement into an armed insurrection paving the way to a civil war. I have obviously failed. 

My subsequent attempts to mitigate this failure by calling for the imposition of a no-fly zone and for providing military and humanitarian support to moderate rebels have also come to naught. But the battle is not lost yet. More and more influential public figures are emerging every day in support of this position, including people like Senator McCain and former President Clinton. President Obama might still choose to ignore our pleas, and to persist in his catastrophic approach to the situation, but there is little that I can do through this blog to change his calculations. 

So, and rather than insist on engaging in an activity that has lost its purpose for me, I believe my cause is better served if I shifted my focus and remaining supplies of energy elsewhere. 

I know many of my readers have found this blog useful and have come to rely on it as a dependable source of insights and information, to them, I extend my sincere apologies for having to put an end to it at this stage and hope they understand my reasoning and need for doing so. 

I have always been doing much more than just blogging, of course. I lectured, wrote papers and op-eds, travelled, met with officials and advised opposition groups as well as in-country activists on a variety of issues. 

Under the auspices of the Tharwa Foundation, and in cooperation with a number of international organizations, I have also organized a plethora of workshops meant to educate and build the capacity of young activists and emerging local leaders. In fact, I am currently involved in a program along these lines near the Syrian-Turkish borders. Over the next few months, this will continue to be my focus, alongside my wife, who preceded me to Turkey and is much more engaged in connecting with local activists from across the country, and our two children who have changed their entire career paths so that they could one day help in the reconstruction processes in Syria. 

So, as one chapter ends for us, another immediately begins. I just hope I can keep up. But I increasingly feel out of my Aspergian depths at this stage...