bashar really has his fan club, like hillary clinton and whoever put together this site, describing him as "a younger, more moderate, more progressive Arab voice."

As one of the self-styled, “next generation” of Middle East leaders, like King Abdullah of Jordan, Bashar, with his technological X-Box savvy and love of Phil Collins, has managed to weather the domestic and regional storms thus far.  One of the youngest Middle Eastern leaders in power, he is likely to be around for a long time, and he along with his smokin’ hot wife is certainly going to be changing the landscape of the region.

i must say that the phil collins thing should have made us all see that bashar el-assad is a monster, even with his smokin wife. soon, perhaps, he will himself be smokin. he's earned it.