{"id":23585,"date":"2016-04-28T21:25:44","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T01:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=23585"},"modified":"2016-04-28T21:25:44","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T01:25:44","slug":"lens-history-assad-david-w-lesch-carey-latimore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/lens-history-assad-david-w-lesch-carey-latimore\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Lens of History and Assad,” by David W. Lesch & Carey Latimore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ScreenThe Lens of History and Assad<\/strong>
\nby David W. Lesch and Carey Latimore
\nFor Syria Comment, 28 April 2016<\/p>\n

Abraham Lincoln and Bashar al-Assad. Yes, we know. These two names should probably never appear in the same sentence. One is a revered American icon and the other is a brutal Syrian dictator who plunged his country into a devastating civil war.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear. We are in no way, shape, or form equating a giant historical figure such as Lincoln with Bashar al-Assad. But history is a funny thing. It is alive and malleable depending upon perspective, context, and circumstances. Contemporary commentaries of Lincoln in both the North and South often described him as a dictator or, ironically, a racist, the latter due to the fact that before he decided it was prudent to free the slaves, he reflected the tenor of his time by advocating\u2014among other things\u2014the removal of African Americans from the US and shipping them off to some remote land. After all, John Wilkes Booth, when he jumped on stage after shooting Lincoln, shouted out, \u201csic semper tyrannis,\u201d which is a shortened form of a Latin phrase that essentially means \u201cdeath to tyrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have now lived and worked in a southern state for years, and it is still sometimes difficult to find native southerners who can muster up a few kind words about our 16th president. Potent symbols from the civil war, such as the Confederate flag, are still divisive issues some 150 years later. The war that many feel Lincoln waged killed over 700,000 soldiers and civilians. A number of cities in the South, such as Richmond, Charleston, and Atlanta, bombed by both sides and looted, were pretty much completely destroyed.<\/p>\n

But perspectives changed with the passage of time. Since the Civil War, Lincoln, for the most part, has been mythologized and is regarded as our greatest president, having preserved the union and played the primary role in eradicating slavery. The United States became a prosperous and powerful country. What Lincoln did mattered because of this. Had the country, following Lincoln\u2019s death, essentially flat-lined, never coming close to reaching its potential or eventually breaking apart, his actions\u2014and his standing\u2014would no doubt be viewed today through a quite different lens.<\/p>\n

Bashar al-Assad, on the other hand, is someone who most believe should be dragged off in chains to the International Criminal Court for numerous war crimes. He has made terrible, tragic choices. Most importantly w\"Screenas his decision\u2014and he did have a choice–in the initial stages of the uprising in Syria in 2011 to revert to the dictator\u2019s survival handbook and sanction a harsh crackdown on the protestors instead of implementing necessary reforms, pushing an uprising into a destructive civil war now five years hence with some 300,000 dead and half the country\u2019s population internally or externally displaced.<\/p>\n

But with enhanced Russian and Iranian military support, the Syrian regime has experienced quite a bit of military success of late, to the point where some believe it is on the precipice of something resembling victory. At the very least, the Syrian regime isn\u2019t going anywhere anytime soon. So whether we like it or not, it appears Assad will survive and continue as president. As a result of this turn of events, Assad might actually get a second chance. What will he do with it? How can the best be made out of this bad situation?<\/p>\n

Despite an enraged and battered South, over a month before he was assassinated (and before Appomattox), Lincoln set a remarkable tone of reconciliation in his 2nd inaugural address, highlighted by the memorable phrase, \u201c\u2026with malice toward none, with charity for all\u2026to bind up the nation\u2019s wounds.\u201d Even with the clumsiness of Reconstruction that most historians believe Lincoln would have handled much better had he lived, the country, despite its long and tortured racial climate, eventually recovered and entered a long healing process.<\/p>\n

The apparent differences between someone like Lincoln and someone like Assad\u2014or their comparative situations–are too numerous to mention. Most importantly, Lincoln was a brilliant politician and strategist who astutely knew when he needed to shift 180 degrees for the good of the country; Assad has not shown anything close to this type of foresight, flexibility, or courageous leadership. So if there is to be a political settlement at some point with Assad remaining in power, can he, with appropriate self-awareness, re-set his country in a positive direction? Despite what will certainly be long-lasting animus against him, he may have an opportunity to re-caste (or re-invent) his legacy, but through a healing rather than vengeful process. Realism, not triumphalism. Countries coming out of national traumas need leaders. If you end up on the right side in a way that creates a foundation for national prosperity, historical narratives can be very forgiving. Can he begin to restore the dignity of a nation and a people? Is he finally willing to change the nature of governance in Syria and launch a period of transition and reconciliation? Can he face the reality of a Syrian population that has largely moved on from him and his cronies? The answer is most likely a resounding \u201cNo.\u201d So how bout it, Mr. Assad? Prove us wrong. Malice toward none and charity for all.<\/p>\n

David W. Lesch<\/strong> is the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX and author of Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad<\/a>; Carey Latimore<\/strong> is Chair of the History Department at Trinity and author of The Role of Southern Free Blacks During the Civil War Era<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Lens of History and Assad by David W. Lesch and Carey Latimore For Syria Comment, 28 April 2016 Abraham Lincoln and Bashar al-Assad. Yes, we know. These two names should probably never appear in the same sentence. One is a revered American icon and the other is a brutal Syrian dictator who plunged his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,503,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asad","category-civil-war","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n"The Lens of History and Assad," by David W. 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