I frequently receive letters from readers of Syria Comment to post anonymously. Almost always, I decline. SC would quickly become inundated if I did. It is not SC's purpose to become a posting board for letters to the president. This letter was sent to me by a good friend, to whom I owe a favor and whom I respect a great deal. I could not say no. It is also representative of many of the letters I receive and is thus representative of one type.

Here is the note that introduced the letter:

Josh, a friend of mine sent me this letter to be posted on Syria-comment. He prefers not to disclose his name. If you think he should, I will let you contact him directly. 

I wrote to my friend to ask if I could use their name as the person who forwarded it to me. Here is the reply:

The minute my name will be mention, they will come and ask me who is this friend???? etc….. I don't want any problem.

You know it is sensitive when it comes to the President, even if I find this letter to be full of hope and lots of complements to our president, but nevertheless, you remember the joke: they cut and they count later. Cheers. 

With that, I publish the following letter from anonymous.

Letter to our President
By Anonymous
June 8, 2007

My President.

It is been now several weeks and Damascus is still having big celebrations for the election: dancing, singing, posters everywhere, party tents on every corner of Damascus celebrating for the Syrian President. I did ask myself:  why are we spending all this money and energy for a leader when the majority of the Syrian people believe that he is a good leader and already have confidence in him?

Why, in the week of exams, are students stressed with studying not able to sleep as Damascus turned to a city of noise with no consideration of
anybody, even hospitals or schools? I did vote for the President.  I like my President because he represents the young, open generation.

I like the idea that he opened banks, liberalized the economy and increased trade. I commend my President’s initiatives for Peace, and I appreciate his efforts to make the city a better and prettier place.  I like the fact my President has surrounded himself with good economic advisers who are
respected as good citizens.

So, why waste all this money and energy for the election? Even if I had a choice between many candidates, I would never pick an Islamic extremist, or a communist.  I would never vote for a corrupt official.  I would never vote for one of the rich businessmen who will only use the office to make more money.

If I had the ability to choose between several candidates then definitely I would choose my President.  He went to school with my generation and he shared our same childhood experiences. He traveled and saw the western world, and he supports the ambitions of women, the minorities, plus he
champions music and arts.

I support my President for marrying an honorable human being who is devoted to charity and nonprofit organizations in Syria.  I like my President
calling for peace, in nominating good ambassadors who love Syria and make us, as expatriates, proud when they defend our beloved country in the
western media.  I will support my President in making all political trials open, allowing any citizen to attend without any harassment.

I support my President in opposing the war in Iraq. I support him for encouraging the Syrian people to open their houses to the Lebanese refugees
during the last Israeli bombardment in Lebanon.

Now, we all showed much love to our President, and support, and of course love to our Syria, so it is time to start the agenda for the next seven
years. Thus, I would ask all those who opened the celebration tents and spent all this money to go back to work, make more investments in the country and hire more young people, train them and give them the skills they deserve to make Syria competitive.

We do need to go back to work, study, and make our days at work productive, to be better citizens and take care of our city like we care for our homes.

We need our President to examine our Multi-Party Law and make it happen.  We should also cancel the Emergency Laws, because we showed to the world that with all the pressure we went through recently, Syrians still showed loyalty, sincerity and love to Syria.  So why do we need these Emergency Laws?

We need our President to release the political prisoners, as Syria will look better and stronger if we cultivate a society with different points of view
and different ideas, all expressed with a love for our Syria. We need our President to crack down on corruption, to increase salaries of government employees so that they will be less tempted by corrupt practices to make ends meet each month.

We need our President to keep hiring qualified people around him, and fire the corrupt ones, to hire Ministers who have good track records and who will keep improving.  And Ministers should be fired if they act not for the benefit of the Syrian people, but for the benefit of their bank account.
We need our President to increase investment in education and decrease spending on high-level government luxuries like cars, villas etc.

We need our President to re-open all the magazines that the security services shut down, in order to have more free media and free expression. We
need our President to protect our environment, so that our children can enjoy fresh air and green trees for generations to come.

Mr. President, we have a fresh term to start this month, and we need our Syria to be the Syria we always dreamed of, the way Syria should be. We have you as a leader, and the Syrians have shown you their loyalty with their unconditional love and their genuine love, so it is time to all of us
to work together as a team to build our SYRIA under our Syrian flag. The sky is our limit.