The al-Assad regime in Syria has survived for 40 years, dominating the country and regional politics thanks to two things; secret security services that kill without hesitation according to a strategy of deterrence and subjection, and the creation of fake institutions under various populist slogans. This is how it all began when Hafez al-Assad carried out his coup under the Baathist slogan “One Arab Nation, Bearing an Eternal Message.” At the time, this slogan was viewed as being bright and patriotic; however in reality it was nothing more than propaganda for al-Assad to legitimize his coup, and later his reign, during which he killed his comrades and rivals alike. Following this, Hafez al-Assad invented other entities, this time under the name of “Arab nationalism”, for those who were opposed to the Baathist party. When he discovered that Iran’s Khomeinist regime was rallying popularity under the banner of Islam, al-Assad created extremist Islamist entities with the help of Tehran, establishing the first Shiite entity in southern Lebanon, as well as a Sunni entity in northern Lebanon, linking both groups to Iran. As for the Sunni leadership in Lebanon, this included late Sheikh Saeed Shaaban. There can also be no doubt that Hafez al-Assad most traded on the Palestinian blood and Cause, followed by Iran, jeopardizing the region’s people and imposing his hegemony under the pretext of liberating Palestine. However in reality, it was these two parties who most traded with the Palestinian people’s rights, utilizing them to dominate Lebanon and the Palestinian forces, and then strike at the Arab regimes that opposed them whilst never actually threatening Israel.

Those who were shocked today by the acts of Ahmed Jibril and the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command” [PFLP-GC] for openly participating in the killing of the Syrian people as well as Palestinian refugees in support of al-Assad have failed to understand what we have been saying for years regarding our doubts and rejection of these groups that have been linked to Iran and Syria, and prior to this, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, including the “Abu Nidal Organization”. Those who refuse to believe what we are saying today about other similar groups will tomorrow discover something that will not please them at all, because there can be no doubt that all the entities that have worked with the Syrian and Iranian regimes have stained their hands with the Syria people’s blood. It is difficult for people like me to believe that such groups are independent whilst at the same time working with al-Assad’s security apparatus. This is what we have been saying about Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah, namely that when he raised the slogans of Palestine and Lebanon, he was actually nothing more than an Iranian-Syrian battalion, and if Israel wanted to eradicate him, it would not have failed. The Palestinian, Turkish, Iraqi and Gulf organizations that previously developed in Damascus were employed under the same Syrian hegemony and leadership, but when some of them saw al-Assad’s predicament they ran away just like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

But what does all of the above have to do with this article’s title and Moaz Alkhatib, the President of the National Coalition for Opposition Forces and the Syrian Revolution, i.e. the man primarily responsible for the Syrian uprising today?

When he took over the leadership of this coalition, we saw many figures and groups issue statements opposing him. These statements were directed towards the West claiming that Alkhatib is a Muslim radical who has secret links to Al Qaeda, whilst contradictory statements were also issued by Islamist, national and revolutionary groups, attacking him and claiming that he is an agent of Israel and the US. In reality all of these statements can be traced back to a single source; the Syrian regime. The al-Assad regime has mastered the art of propaganda and fabrication. This is similar to what the Syrian regime previous did in Iraq namely issuing statements on behalf of Al Qaeda and the various national Iraqi forces, whilst at the same time working with Iran to secure Nouri al-Maliki’s appointment as prime minister despite Iyad Allawi’s election majority; this is a documented story that has only been revealed lately. For years, al-Assad misled a superpower – the United States – claiming he was against radical Islamic groups and Al Qaeda. The Americans were taken in by this to the point that they shared their intelligence with him and sent Al Qaeda suspects for interrogation to his security services. At the same time as this, Syrian intelligence officers, wearing false beards, claimed to be jihadist leaders secretly working in Syria, receiving Arab, Gulf and Libyans recruits and training them to kill and carry out terrorist operations that were unprecedented in the history of our region.

The Al-Assad regime has long experience in “reincarnating” groups, something that began in Lebanon. Back in the eighties, the regime used to train Lebanese groups to abduct Arab and foreign diplomats, and carry out suicide operations under Shiite, national and Palestinian banners. Through these violence workshops, al-Assad was able to control Lebanon for three decades, then al-Assad the son tried to imitate his father. He he ordered the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 20 other Lebanese figures in order to intimidate his opponents and take control of the entire country however this plan ultimately back-fired. Militarily, Hariri was the weakest of the Lebanese leader, because he had no militia; nevertheless his assassination represented the beginning of the end, and the fire that was ignited by al-Assad in Lebanon spread into Syria, as we are witnessing today.

As for those who are engaged in the Syrian revolution and its millions of sympathizers, we should stress that you must not judge a book by its cover. There are jihadist and national groups that have been fabricated or infiltrated and their major objective is to dismantle the revolution’s gains and turn the rebels’ weapons against each other so that the Syrian people will be preoccupied by discord and sedition for long years to come and the Syrian people will wish to return to the al-Assad era.

We have to realize, based on this huge amount of evidence, that al-Assad is not stupid, as some like to portray him, and that he has been well aware – for more than a year – this his regime will collapse but has refused to step down before he has completely destroyed Syria and its tolerant and reconciliatory society. He has refused to step down before ensuring that the Syrian people inherit a civil war based on religion, identity, history and conflicting interests. Therefore those who accuse Alkhatib of being an agent are nothing but fake revolutionaries employed by al-Assad to crush his opponents.