O Baathists,
I address you with my second message, and the country is on the verge of a radical change that puts an end to a corrupt and tyrannical system that has deviated from all the national, political, party, and ethical values that Syria has known since independence.
I address you with this message to urge you to determine your choices in this historical stage that the nation is going through. You have two options: the option of the nation and the people, and another option that aligns you with tyranny and corruption.
Do not be deceived by those in power who claim that the party is the leader of society and the state. You know well that those who rule the state are the inherited family and its security apparatus. The role of the leadership institutions in the nationalist and patriotic party is merely to cover up deviations and mistakes. They have only two slogans: “With our souls and blood, we sacrifice for you, Bashar, and before him, Hafez,” and another phrase, “You are the inspiring leader, Your Excellency, Mr. President.” Who among you believes that this handful of climbers from the destitute in the nationalist and patriotic leaderships holds any decision-making power? Who believes that Abdullah Al-Ahmar, Zuhair Masharqa, Mohamed Saeed Buhaitan, Naji Al-Atri, and the rest of the leaders have any say in the administration of the state?
Ask yourselves, Baathists, are you satisfied with the widespread corruption in the state?
Are you in agreement with the paralysis in government agencies and institutions?
Are you comfortable with the repression practiced by the regime against citizens?
Are you content with the economic policies that have weakened and crippled the country?
Ask yourselves why the situation in the country has reached this state of collapse and the erosion of national unity.
Ask yourselves in what decision or principle of the party does President Hafez al-Assad bequeath the monarchy to his son, who acts and rules with this monarchy like feudal lords of the Middle Ages?
Are you responsible for the impulsive and adventurous political decisions that have caused significant damage to the country? Are they the result of the party’s leadership or the actions of an heir who doesn’t grasp the danger of what he is doing to the country?
Have you, Baathists, questioned why the occupation in the Golan Heights persists while the south of Lebanon is liberated? Can a regime laden with corruption and injustice, acting as a despot towards its people, looting their wealth and resources, be capable of liberation?
Do you not realize, Baathists, that the practices of the regime have led to the erosion of national unity and the growth of diseases harmful to national cohesion?
Can a people progress and rise when imprisoned by a security system that cripples its potential and capabilities?
Can a people face dangers under a system built on a culture of death, either by death or imprisonment, which is worse than death?
Have you wondered why General Mohammad Imran was assassinated in Tripoli, why Professor Salah al-Bitar was assassinated in France, and why the wife of Professor Issam al-Attar was assassinated in Germany? Why was Salah Jdeed sentenced to death, along with his comrades, party leaders, without trial?
Ask yourselves why thousands of Syrians have been killed without trial, some within prisons and others outside.
Have you wondered why all means of repression are used when a political critic speaks out against the situation? Meanwhile, those who rebel against the regime and gather military forces around Damascus are rewarded with hundreds of millions of dollars from the people’s funds.
Have you, Baathists, wondered why General Ghazi Kanaan was killed, one of the military figures who contributed to implementing President Hafez al-Assad’s instructions to transfer the ownership of the farm “Syria” to his son?
Ghazi Kanaan was killed because he knew the facts behind the assassination of the late Rafik Hariri. He also knew who killed Lebanon’s former Mufti, Sheikh Hassan Khaled, Sheikh Sabhi Al-Saleh, Professor Kamal Jumblatt, and those who attempted to kill Dr. Hassan Al-Rifai. Additionally, he held secrets related to the scandal of the Citybank, and had files on several officials close to the decision-making center involved in drug trafficking.
Baathists, whether military or civilian, I call on you to bear your national responsibility, align with the people, and contribute to uprooting a regime that has become a significant threat to the country’s future, national unity, security, and stability.
I am well aware of the magnitude of fear that the regime has instilled through its security apparatus, but I assure you that the head of the regime and his associates are more afraid because they know what they have done, and they know that accountability is imminent.
Come forward, Baathists, military and civilian, in working to save the nation and liberate the people from the prison the regime has placed them in. The nation is a trust on the shoulders of all the sincere, so preserve it. Our people deserve Baathists to take action to save it, thereby achieving a national accomplishment and restoring the party’s respect that the regime has undermined.
Be courageous in choosing freedom, dignity, and national unity. Trust that the corrupt and oppressors are cowardly and cannot withstand the resistance of the fighters among our people.