It was agreed that the Defense Brigades would be placed under the command of the Operations Corps of the Armed Forces. They were trimmed in such a way that they reached the size of an armored division, in addition to an independent tank battalion. It was also agreed that the 555th Regiment would remain under the command of Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad in his capacity as the Vice President of the Republic who was in charge, theoretically, of security affairs (42) as President Assad was too cautious to assign a man who does not fear God on family or national issues to ensuring his personal security and the country’s.
It was also agreed that two commanding officers would travel to Moscow with him. Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad personally asked for General Shafiq Fayyad and General Ali Haydar. Major General Mohammad Al-Khawli accompanied them, at Assad’s special request, to guarantee that the plane would not explode after takeoff. The dispatch order was issued on May 25, 1984. General Naji Jamil also left with Rifaat’s retinue, but what hurts me the most is that General Jamil was the one who asked to go with him. And although the difference between a general’s rank and a brigadier-general’s is great, General Jamil used to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”. While I am saying this, I am choked up because I believe that military prestige must not be undermined; otherwise the military becomes a sort of janissaries.
Our fellows left Moscow after they had spent almost a month during which they held nominal meetings with Soviet officials. For the sake of historical accuracy, a righteous testimony must be given in this regard. Our Soviet friends adopted a unanimous position with respect to President Assad and officially entrusted the advisor to the commander of Unit 569 of the Defense Brigades to convey a message to me, through senior advisor General Gordienko, about the psychological conditions of Brigadier-General Assad and his officers. I communicated this information to the president and at the same time I put the Headquarters officers in the picture. This information was extremely useful to us because learning about our opponent’s psychological conditions was crucial in that it helped us assess the situation.
General Shafiq Fayyad and General Ali Haydar were tired of staying in Moscow and feared that overworked President Assad could delay issuing a special order sanctioning their return to their homeland. General Fayyad sent me a touching letter, so I called him and assured him that the president would not forget them. When I informed President Assad about the issue, he was astonished and asked me, “Have they really spent a month in Moscow?” When I answered positively, he said, “Issue an order on my behalf sanctioning their return to their homeland.”
As a result, Abu Ala’ and Abu Yasser returned from abroad, although the stay in Moscow at the time was similar to the stay in Paris, except that in Moscow it was five times cheaper. However, the feeling of living away from one’s homeland, not just being on a trip or vacation, makes life unbearable.
Thus, President Assad challenged all the hostile stakes at the local, regional, and international levels, that saw in Brigadier-General Assad’s assumption of power bringing Syria under the US umbrella and an end to President Assad’s march of glory and pride.
It was also agreed that two commanding officers would travel to Moscow with him. Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad personally asked for General Shafiq Fayyad and General Ali Haydar. Major General Mohammad Al-Khawli accompanied them, at Assad’s special request, to guarantee that the plane would not explode after takeoff. The dispatch order was issued on May 25, 1984. General Naji Jamil also left with Rifaat’s retinue, but what hurts me the most is that General Jamil was the one who asked to go with him. And although the difference between a general’s rank and a brigadier-general’s is great, General Jamil used to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”. While I am saying this, I am choked up because I believe that military prestige must not be undermined; otherwise the military becomes a sort of janissaries.
Our fellows left Moscow after they had spent almost a month during which they held nominal meetings with Soviet officials. For the sake of historical accuracy, a righteous testimony must be given in this regard. Our Soviet friends adopted a unanimous position with respect to President Assad and officially entrusted the advisor to the commander of Unit 569 of the Defense Brigades to convey a message to me, through senior advisor General Gordienko, about the psychological conditions of Brigadier-General Assad and his officers. I communicated this information to the president and at the same time I put the Headquarters officers in the picture. This information was extremely useful to us because learning about our opponent’s psychological conditions was crucial in that it helped us assess the situation.
General Shafiq Fayyad and General Ali Haydar were tired of staying in Moscow and feared that overworked President Assad could delay issuing a special order sanctioning their return to their homeland. General Fayyad sent me a touching letter, so I called him and assured him that the president would not forget them. When I informed President Assad about the issue, he was astonished and asked me, “Have they really spent a month in Moscow?” When I answered positively, he said, “Issue an order on my behalf sanctioning their return to their homeland.”
As a result, Abu Ala’ and Abu Yasser returned from abroad, although the stay in Moscow at the time was similar to the stay in Paris, except that in Moscow it was five times cheaper. However, the feeling of living away from one’s homeland, not just being on a trip or vacation, makes life unbearable.
Thus, President Assad challenged all the hostile stakes at the local, regional, and international levels, that saw in Brigadier-General Assad’s assumption of power bringing Syria under the US umbrella and an end to President Assad’s march of glory and pride.
- Tlass says, “And although the difference between a general’s rank and a brigadier-general’s is great, General Jamil used to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”. While I am saying this, I am choked up because I believe that military prestige must not be undermined; otherwise the military becomes a sort of janissaries.”
You are right, Mr. Tlass. We too were choked up when we heard this from you, not because General Naji Jamil used to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”, but rather because you deny to others what you are used to doing.
Empiric! Didn’t you use to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”? Weren’t you a pioneer in undermining military pride in Syria?
The director of Brigadier-General Assad’s office, who was a captain, once called General Tlass and said to him, “Brigadier-General Assad ordered that you send him two helicopters for an emergency.”
General Tlass replied saying, “At your command! I will send them on the spot.”
The captain was surprised at his tone of voice and thought that Tlass had mistakenly understood that Assad personally talked to him. So he called him a second time and said, “I am Captain X. Brigadier-General Assad asks you to send two helicopters to his post immediately” to which Tlass replied saying, “I told you Sir that I am at your command and I will send them on the spot. They will be at his post in only 15 minutes.”
You are a lowly man and a burden on the army and the armed forces. How do you reply to a captain by addressing him as “Sir” at a time you are his minister of defense?!
All the officers used to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir” because they admired the leadership skills in his personality. Consequently, he deserved to be called “Sir” or “Commander” by all the officers.
We do not do Tlass any injustice by accusing him of being a burden on the army. The following video makes it clear to the readers that Tlass was no more than an insignificant man in the army, and that both his presence and absence boiled down to the same thing.
You are right, Mr. Tlass. We too were choked up when we heard this from you, not because General Naji Jamil used to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”, but rather because you deny to others what you are used to doing.
Empiric! Didn’t you use to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”? Weren’t you a pioneer in undermining military pride in Syria?
The director of Brigadier-General Assad’s office, who was a captain, once called General Tlass and said to him, “Brigadier-General Assad ordered that you send him two helicopters for an emergency.”
General Tlass replied saying, “At your command! I will send them on the spot.”
The captain was surprised at his tone of voice and thought that Tlass had mistakenly understood that Assad personally talked to him. So he called him a second time and said, “I am Captain X. Brigadier-General Assad asks you to send two helicopters to his post immediately” to which Tlass replied saying, “I told you Sir that I am at your command and I will send them on the spot. They will be at his post in only 15 minutes.”
You are a lowly man and a burden on the army and the armed forces. How do you reply to a captain by addressing him as “Sir” at a time you are his minister of defense?!
All the officers used to address Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir” because they admired the leadership skills in his personality. Consequently, he deserved to be called “Sir” or “Commander” by all the officers.
We do not do Tlass any injustice by accusing him of being a burden on the army. The following video makes it clear to the readers that Tlass was no more than an insignificant man in the army, and that both his presence and absence boiled down to the same thing.
Mustafa Tlass walks humbly behind Commander Assad.
The disreputable general
The unprincipled general
By comparison, see how the late General Ghazi Kanaan who had a strong personality was in the lead, and refused to be a follower of a younger person.
Mr. Tlass, we wish that you had learnt some of the manhood and honesty displayed by your peers.
It is a well known fact in Syria that General Hikmat Al-Shihabi, General Ali Haydar, Major General Mohammad Al-Khawli, and many other officers refused to obey Bashar Al-Assad’s orders, not out of hatred for him, but rather out of respect to their history, struggle, and military honor, especially that they had paid an exorbitant price in defense of their military principles. Consequently, they and their subordinates were severely punished despite their three-decade-long loyalty to President Hafez Al-Assad.
Dear readers, see how Tlass, the disloyal and unprincipled man, seeks to disrepute his fellow and chief of staff General Hikmat Al-Shihabi and accuses him of being a U.S agent, simply because he refused to renounce his military principles and honor.
It is a well known fact in Syria that General Hikmat Al-Shihabi, General Ali Haydar, Major General Mohammad Al-Khawli, and many other officers refused to obey Bashar Al-Assad’s orders, not out of hatred for him, but rather out of respect to their history, struggle, and military honor, especially that they had paid an exorbitant price in defense of their military principles. Consequently, they and their subordinates were severely punished despite their three-decade-long loyalty to President Hafez Al-Assad.
Dear readers, see how Tlass, the disloyal and unprincipled man, seeks to disrepute his fellow and chief of staff General Hikmat Al-Shihabi and accuses him of being a U.S agent, simply because he refused to renounce his military principles and honor.
This could be a clear manifestation of the moral decadence characterizing the Syrian leadership. In fact, the same leadership that had accused General Shihabi, through the minister of defense, of treason some time ago, recently called on him to return to his homeland as an honored man!!! This invitation was issued by MP and chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Sleiman Haddad in statements he gave to Quds Press. He said, “General Hikmat Al-Shihabi is most welcome in his country Syria. He has never taken an anti-Syrian position, nor has he collaborated with its enemies. He has been a national man in the full sense of the word.”
Mustafa Tlass levels accusations against Hikmat Al-Shihabi
Is it logical that the Syrian minister of defense had no other preoccupations than a cookery book?
But doesn’t cookery undermine military prestige?
Why should we look away for pieces of evidence when close ones indicate General Tlass’ irreverent attitude to military honor? Isn’t Dr. Bashar Al-Assad younger than Tlass’ children? How does he accept to receive orders from a younger and lower rank officer by calling him “Sir” while he criticizes Naji Jamil for addressing Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”? See how he stands humbly in the 2nd row behind Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, as if he were saying to us, “Don’t blame me because I am willing to work under the command of a lieutenant or even a non-commissioned officer. What matter is that he keeps giving me free rein so that I can steal [public money]. Away with my military rank, if it were to hinder it.”
But doesn’t cookery undermine military prestige?
Why should we look away for pieces of evidence when close ones indicate General Tlass’ irreverent attitude to military honor? Isn’t Dr. Bashar Al-Assad younger than Tlass’ children? How does he accept to receive orders from a younger and lower rank officer by calling him “Sir” while he criticizes Naji Jamil for addressing Brigadier-General Assad as “Sir”? See how he stands humbly in the 2nd row behind Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, as if he were saying to us, “Don’t blame me because I am willing to work under the command of a lieutenant or even a non-commissioned officer. What matter is that he keeps giving me free rein so that I can steal [public money]. Away with my military rank, if it were to hinder it.”
One day a Syrian officer asked his wife at the dining table, “Why does this food taste so strange?”
The poor wife answered, “I am sorry. I wanted to use your superior’s recipe.”
The officer almost chocked and asked his wife, “I didn’t understand your words. What do you mean?”
His wife said, “I bought your superior’s cookbook and tried one of the recipes.”
The officer said, “I didn’t understand!... What book? And who is our superior? Have you gone mad?”
Their little daughter laughingly interfered and said to her father, “Here is the book, dad. General Mustafa Tlass’ name is printed on it. Do you get training in cooking in the army?”
The officer took the book and read the title Cookery with the author’s name Mustafa Tlass. He looked at his wife and daughter shamefaced, not knowing what to say.
The poor wife answered, “I am sorry. I wanted to use your superior’s recipe.”
The officer almost chocked and asked his wife, “I didn’t understand your words. What do you mean?”
His wife said, “I bought your superior’s cookbook and tried one of the recipes.”
The officer said, “I didn’t understand!... What book? And who is our superior? Have you gone mad?”
Their little daughter laughingly interfered and said to her father, “Here is the book, dad. General Mustafa Tlass’ name is printed on it. Do you get training in cooking in the army?”
The officer took the book and read the title Cookery with the author’s name Mustafa Tlass. He looked at his wife and daughter shamefaced, not knowing what to say.
Right as witnessed by the enemies
After the achievement of reconciliation between President Assad and his brother Rifaat, the latter said to the president, “I want to tell you about a fact that no one is aware of, but that should not remain concealed. I swear by God that, had it not been for General Mustafa Tlass, all your folk in the general staff would have been worthless. I have tried many times to enter the Headquarters with a six-car escort in an effort to control the premises, but I was always surprised at seeing Major General Tlass in his office, which put me in an embarrassing situation. He was the only man willing to fight in defense of the regime, and as a result I felt apprehensive that I would not escape your fury till doomsday if I defeated him. I also feared that if he defeated me with the help of the Staff Guard that are reinforced with the Special Forces and the Struggle Brigades, I would be a disgraced man in the public eye for ever and ever.”
President Assad replied saying, “General Tlass is one of our bravest officers. During his participation in the Free Officers Movement in Aleppo in April 1962, he stayed in his post as director of the Political Security Directorate for seven hours following the escape of all our fellows to Edleb, Homs, Hama, and Lattakia. The 5th Armored Brigade was besieging the city with a ring of tanks and carried infantry. It should be noted that he was not occupying that position officially, nor did he use to go to office regularly because he was an inspector at the ministry of supply. Why did you expect him to leave his post at the Headquarters while he occupied the position of deputy supreme commander and minister of defense, by virtue of a presidential decree? He was surely going to fight for the regime till the last shot and the last man.
President Assad replied saying, “General Tlass is one of our bravest officers. During his participation in the Free Officers Movement in Aleppo in April 1962, he stayed in his post as director of the Political Security Directorate for seven hours following the escape of all our fellows to Edleb, Homs, Hama, and Lattakia. The 5th Armored Brigade was besieging the city with a ring of tanks and carried infantry. It should be noted that he was not occupying that position officially, nor did he use to go to office regularly because he was an inspector at the ministry of supply. Why did you expect him to leave his post at the Headquarters while he occupied the position of deputy supreme commander and minister of defense, by virtue of a presidential decree? He was surely going to fight for the regime till the last shot and the last man.
- This is exactly what is called daydreaming. We have just seen the video featuring you and Brigadier-General Assad in 1983. We have seen with our own eyes how Colonel As´ad Muna who presented the plan did not see you or accord any esteem to you. In this case, was Brigadier-General Assad expected to hold you in great esteem?
The question we address to our dear readers is: do you think that Major General Tlass, who wakes up panic-stricken, is the type of man willing to fight in defense of the regime?
Then, if all the commanders are worthless in comparison with Mustafa Tlass who does not even rate on any scale, does this indicate that the Syrian leadership is void of genuine commanders/leaders?
- He also says that all the Free Officers escaped and that he stayed alone for seven hours.
What did you do Mr. Tlass seven hours later? You certainly ran away, like other people did!
- In sum, these words are none other ridiculous and cheap claims aimed at making the readers believe all the lies told by Tlass in his book.
When a unit from the Defense Brigades besieged the Headquarters, the commander of this unit called Brigadier-General Assad and said to him, “Sir, we have found Mustafa Tlass hiding in one of the basements. Shall we arrest him?”
Brigadier-General Assad replied, “This man represents a sin committed by the regime. Do you want us to rid the regime of it? Let him remain a stigma associated with the regime for ever.”
The question we address to our dear readers is: do you think that Major General Tlass, who wakes up panic-stricken, is the type of man willing to fight in defense of the regime?
Then, if all the commanders are worthless in comparison with Mustafa Tlass who does not even rate on any scale, does this indicate that the Syrian leadership is void of genuine commanders/leaders?
- He also says that all the Free Officers escaped and that he stayed alone for seven hours.
What did you do Mr. Tlass seven hours later? You certainly ran away, like other people did!
- In sum, these words are none other ridiculous and cheap claims aimed at making the readers believe all the lies told by Tlass in his book.
When a unit from the Defense Brigades besieged the Headquarters, the commander of this unit called Brigadier-General Assad and said to him, “Sir, we have found Mustafa Tlass hiding in one of the basements. Shall we arrest him?”
Brigadier-General Assad replied, “This man represents a sin committed by the regime. Do you want us to rid the regime of it? Let him remain a stigma associated with the regime for ever.”
- As for what Tlass called the reconciliation meeting, it brought together President Hafez Al-Assad, Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad, General Shihabi, and Major General Tlass following the visit they paid to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on May 6, 1984.
Although Tlass did not relate any details about what happened before and during the meeting, we will report what General Hikmat Al-Shihabi said to many of his friends.
When the visit was over, they all went into the President’s Limousine which had two opposite rear seats. Unfortunately, Tlass sat in the seat opposite Brigadier-General Assad who was sitting next to the president while General Shihabi was opposite the president. After the car moved, Brigadier-General Assad put his feet on Mustafa Tlass’ shoulders and started to squeeze his neck. Assad reminded him of the phone call he (Tlass) made when General Ali Haydar was in his (Tlass) office and said, “Reconsider your views, silly guy...” At the same time the president and Shihabi were laughing, Tlass prayed Assad for forgiveness, “I beg you, Abu Durayd, not to strangle me.” But Assad kept his feet on Tlass’ shoulders until the car arrived at the president’s office. They all entered to have coffee, whereas Tlass was happy about freeing his neck from Assad’s feet. He began to rub his neck while saying, “By God, he was about to strangle me.”
The president interfered and reassured Tlass by saying, “Abu Durayd likes you and won’t kill you.”
Tlass replied saying, “I wish he had killed me. It would have been better to me than the humiliation I endured before the driver and the body guards.”
Shihabi said laughingly, “Abu Durayd, don’t you know that Abu Firas throws out words before he weighs them? So don’t blame him for what he says.”
Finally, we say to this empiric, “We used to listen carefully to all the speeches made by Brigadier-General Assad before Unit 569. He mentioned some names from time to time as he discussed national security issues; however, for the sake of integrity, we never heard him mention your name, or even your position, which proves one thing. He has never seen you!!
When the visit was over, they all went into the President’s Limousine which had two opposite rear seats. Unfortunately, Tlass sat in the seat opposite Brigadier-General Assad who was sitting next to the president while General Shihabi was opposite the president. After the car moved, Brigadier-General Assad put his feet on Mustafa Tlass’ shoulders and started to squeeze his neck. Assad reminded him of the phone call he (Tlass) made when General Ali Haydar was in his (Tlass) office and said, “Reconsider your views, silly guy...” At the same time the president and Shihabi were laughing, Tlass prayed Assad for forgiveness, “I beg you, Abu Durayd, not to strangle me.” But Assad kept his feet on Tlass’ shoulders until the car arrived at the president’s office. They all entered to have coffee, whereas Tlass was happy about freeing his neck from Assad’s feet. He began to rub his neck while saying, “By God, he was about to strangle me.”
The president interfered and reassured Tlass by saying, “Abu Durayd likes you and won’t kill you.”
Tlass replied saying, “I wish he had killed me. It would have been better to me than the humiliation I endured before the driver and the body guards.”
Shihabi said laughingly, “Abu Durayd, don’t you know that Abu Firas throws out words before he weighs them? So don’t blame him for what he says.”
Finally, we say to this empiric, “We used to listen carefully to all the speeches made by Brigadier-General Assad before Unit 569. He mentioned some names from time to time as he discussed national security issues; however, for the sake of integrity, we never heard him mention your name, or even your position, which proves one thing. He has never seen you!!
As we have seen, dear readers, there is hardly a paragraph in Mustafa Tlass’ book that does not include lies, falsity, and a distortion of the truth. And as we have also seen, every time he spread a lie, it backfired on him and on those who backed him, thanks to the dictate of reason that God, the Great and Almighty, has bestowed on us.
Now that we are done with the discussion of Tlass’ book, we need to make some comments as if we were watching from a distance.
The entire book is based on information that was said to be communicated to the president on the preparations made by Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad to control Damascus and topple President Hafez Al-Assad. Although irrefutable evidence has confirmed the falsity of such information, we assert that we did not hear of those preparations throughout our service in the Defense Brigades.
Even if we assume that the author did not serve in the Defense Brigades and has nothing to do with them, we would like to ask reasonable people one question.
Tlass says that President Hafez Al-Assad “asked brigade commander First Lieutenant Mu´een Bedran to return the tanks to their stations, but he ignored the president’s orders, as if he had been on drugs.” But this officer obeyed the president’s order only when Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad slapped him and forced him to carry out the order.
Had Brigadier-General Assad been orchestrating a coup d’état, why didn’t he arrest the president at that moment? Could this slap be given by a man planning a coup?
The answer is self-evident. Tlass and his supporters are liars, deceivers, in addition to lacking loyalty and ethics. They have deceived an entire nation by telling baseless and false stories, only to tarnish the image of the commander they hardly dared to breathe in his presence. They benefited from his absence and started to spread their poison to discredit his history and struggle.
In ten years, Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad built an army of 55,000 men that was brought up to a high standard that no other army in the Arab World has been able to meet yet. What are the achievements of Tlass and the like, the wretched people backing him?
Dear readers, we promise to put at your disposal the complete truth about the 1984 incidents, with the background and repercussions, to let you become closely acquainted with the approach used by those people to destroy Syria and transform it into a farm where everything is permissible and unprohibited. They would have never dreamed of achieving this objective, if Leader Rifaat Al-Assad had remained in Syria.
The following questions pave the way for the truth:
- What made Tlass publish such a scandalous book?
- Who ordered him to publish it?
- Is it logical that such a book was unauthorizedly published?
- Was the book withdrawal from circulation a way to give importance to a book that is unworthy of special attention, especially that the withdrawing party is the same that leaked it to the internet?
- What are the real reasons behind the liquidation of the Defense Brigades?
- What benefits were gained from this liquidation?
Any informed Syrian knows that they were unable to get into a military confrontation with the Defense Brigades. Any international observer with a little sense of fairness admits that Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad made enormous sacrifices to his people when he resigned to prevent shedding innocent blood.
Why are the sacrifices made by Leader Rifaat Al-Assad hushed up? Does this blackout converge with the schemers’ plans?
We believe that if we mull over the above questions, we can find the path that leads us to the truth about the 1984 incidents.
Reading Three Months that Shook Syria must have left a positive impact on Leader Assad’s supporters, particularly those who have been thrown into confusion due to their reading of continuously distorted material on their leader, and the deliberate blackout on the enormous sacrifices he made for his country and people.
As for the prejudiced people who are at variance with us, we hope they have benefited from this reading. We acknowledge the right to be different and no one can object about this sacred right. We are glad that you have visited our website, and hope you will carry on with us by moving on to the discussion of The Brothers’ War on this link.
Let us uncover the truth together in our discussion of Patrick Seale’s The Brother’s War. → Coming Soon!
Syria’s Knights
Now that we are done with the discussion of Tlass’ book, we need to make some comments as if we were watching from a distance.
The entire book is based on information that was said to be communicated to the president on the preparations made by Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad to control Damascus and topple President Hafez Al-Assad. Although irrefutable evidence has confirmed the falsity of such information, we assert that we did not hear of those preparations throughout our service in the Defense Brigades.
Even if we assume that the author did not serve in the Defense Brigades and has nothing to do with them, we would like to ask reasonable people one question.
Tlass says that President Hafez Al-Assad “asked brigade commander First Lieutenant Mu´een Bedran to return the tanks to their stations, but he ignored the president’s orders, as if he had been on drugs.” But this officer obeyed the president’s order only when Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad slapped him and forced him to carry out the order.
Had Brigadier-General Assad been orchestrating a coup d’état, why didn’t he arrest the president at that moment? Could this slap be given by a man planning a coup?
The answer is self-evident. Tlass and his supporters are liars, deceivers, in addition to lacking loyalty and ethics. They have deceived an entire nation by telling baseless and false stories, only to tarnish the image of the commander they hardly dared to breathe in his presence. They benefited from his absence and started to spread their poison to discredit his history and struggle.
In ten years, Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad built an army of 55,000 men that was brought up to a high standard that no other army in the Arab World has been able to meet yet. What are the achievements of Tlass and the like, the wretched people backing him?
Dear readers, we promise to put at your disposal the complete truth about the 1984 incidents, with the background and repercussions, to let you become closely acquainted with the approach used by those people to destroy Syria and transform it into a farm where everything is permissible and unprohibited. They would have never dreamed of achieving this objective, if Leader Rifaat Al-Assad had remained in Syria.
The following questions pave the way for the truth:
- What made Tlass publish such a scandalous book?
- Who ordered him to publish it?
- Is it logical that such a book was unauthorizedly published?
- Was the book withdrawal from circulation a way to give importance to a book that is unworthy of special attention, especially that the withdrawing party is the same that leaked it to the internet?
- What are the real reasons behind the liquidation of the Defense Brigades?
- What benefits were gained from this liquidation?
Any informed Syrian knows that they were unable to get into a military confrontation with the Defense Brigades. Any international observer with a little sense of fairness admits that Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad made enormous sacrifices to his people when he resigned to prevent shedding innocent blood.
Why are the sacrifices made by Leader Rifaat Al-Assad hushed up? Does this blackout converge with the schemers’ plans?
We believe that if we mull over the above questions, we can find the path that leads us to the truth about the 1984 incidents.
Reading Three Months that Shook Syria must have left a positive impact on Leader Assad’s supporters, particularly those who have been thrown into confusion due to their reading of continuously distorted material on their leader, and the deliberate blackout on the enormous sacrifices he made for his country and people.
As for the prejudiced people who are at variance with us, we hope they have benefited from this reading. We acknowledge the right to be different and no one can object about this sacred right. We are glad that you have visited our website, and hope you will carry on with us by moving on to the discussion of The Brothers’ War on this link.
Let us uncover the truth together in our discussion of Patrick Seale’s The Brother’s War. → Coming Soon!
Syria’s Knights
The beginning of long negotiations
In late April 1984, Brigadier-General Assad began to feel that the balance of power had been tilted in favor of his brother President Assad to the extent that his moves became restrained. So he called his Brother Jamil Al-Assad asking him to pave the way for a reconciliation with his brother, and told him that he was ready to do anything he deemed necessary. President Assad was impatiently waiting for the collapse of his brother Rifaat and his acquiescence to the authorities. The president won the squabble game, and on this basis he informed his brother Jamil that he agreed to the request made by the Defense Brigades commander. Thus, the tough negotiations started, and although President Assad was known to be a skilful player, both at the Arab and international levels, there was on the other side of the spectrum the man who mastered blackmailing his brother and other people. After he agreed to leave Syria and then return to it after calm was restored, he started to bargain over the sum of money he needed to live overseas for a couple of months until the storm subsided. Even though Saudi Crown Prince and Commander of the National Guard Abdallah Bin Abdel Aziz paid him $ 5 million monthly, while Sheikh Khalifa Aal-Thani, Yasser Arafat, Sheikh Saheem Aal-Thani, and others also paid him money, he asked for a sum in hard currency that was unavailable at the Central Bank. Since Dr. Abdel Ra’ouf Al-Kasm became prime minister, misfortune struck Syria. President Assad fell ill despite being an able-bodied man likened to a legendary figure, five ministers passed away during his tenure, and the Central Bank suffered bankruptcy. Furthermore, sources of livelihood became scarce for both institutions and people, and the Syrians began to wonder when this dark cloud would go away. What mattered is that President Assad thought about potential sources of money to satisfy his brother Rifaat’s greed. He decided to turn to President Muammar Qaddafi for help to solve this problem, so he sent a special letter to the leader of the September Revolution with General Mohammad Al-Khawli, the Chief Air Intelligence. When the Syrian official arrived in Tripoli, Qaddafi was in a good mood, thank God, and recalled Assad’s pan-Arab nationalist stances in supporting and assisting the Libyan Revolution. His reply to Assad’s letter was favorable and the entire sum was transferred to the Central Bank. The president gave his brother part of it, while the largest part was kept as a reserve for economic emergency conditions that prevailed for long periods of time.
We all know that Three Months that Shook Syria was banned one or two days after it was released in Damascus. The reason is that it was not checked by the censorship committee, and its content involves more than a deviation from the truth. It was even based on a deliberate falsification of the truths, in addition to the author’s deliberate accusation of the president of the Arab Syrian Republic of using public money for personal ends. While we do not cast doubt on President Assad’s integrity and clean hands, we believe that the Syrian authorities are supposed to clarify the aspects of the story to refute such accusations. This clarification tests the authorities’ ability to compel the author to eliminate the purposeful distortion of information regarding the political career of Brigadier-General Rifaat Al-Assad and the late President Hafez Al-Assad, especially that the book is now available to millions of readers on the web.
Why are we saying that this accusation is deliberate?
Regardless of the truthfulness of this story, Tlass says that the late president sent a special letter with General Mohammad Al-Khawli to Colonel Qaddafi. This means that the president asked for the money for personal motives, not in his capacity as the president of the republic, otherwise he would have sent the prime minister or the minister of finance. But Tlass preferred to throw dust in the eyes by asserting that the sum was first transferred to the Central Bank, and then the president used part of it.
- Tlass says that when King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz was still crown prince, he used to send Brigadier-General Assad $5 million on a monthly basis, and that other Arab figures sent sums probably totaling another $5 million.
Well, if this were true, why did Brigadier-General Assad ask President Hafez Al-Assad for money? Was the president going to yield to his demand at a time he knew that the sums he was receiving exceeded his needs and those of his retinue?!
The truth we need to establish here is that Brigadier-General Assad did not ask President Assad for any money. Yet, Tlass insists on doing harm to Brigadier-General Assad by suggesting that the latter traded his demands for improving the domestic and foreign conditions of Syria for a few million dollars.
Tlass has exhaustively made allegations that Brigadier-General Assad was basically preoccupied with fulfilling one objective, namely receiving money. However, all the events preceding and following 1984 prove that money has always been a means used by him to reach noble objectives. The ones achieved so far testify to his motives:
- He built a strong army with 55,000 soldiers that did not cost the government more than 30% of the equipment and ammunition cost.
- He built at least 50% of the coastal road network.
- He lit 70% of the coastal remote villages.
- He built thousands of housing units in Damascus and Lattakia.
- He paid millions of dollars in the form of monthly subsidies to over 100,000 families throughout Syria, while some are still delivered to date.
- He paid millions of dollars in the form of monthly subsidies to the officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers of the Defense Brigades.
- He established the Alumni Association of Syrian Universities which included 30,000 Syrian intellectuals.
- He organized training courses for over 100,000 parachutists of Syria’s knights, both men and women, without costing the government one cent.
- He sent hundreds of Syrian students abroad to continue their studies.*
Brigadier-General Assad’s remarkable achievements have been made possible, thanks to the financial aid sent by fellow Arabs to him out of respect, admiration, and appreciation of his Arabism and nationalist orientation.**
Assad spent all Arab aid in Syria. The impact was clearly felt the dollar rate which rose from 2.5 liras to 20 liras a couple of months after he left his country. It kept rising afterwards until it reached 50 liras three years later.
On the other hand, had Brigadier-General Assad set money as an objective, why did he need to clash with other parties in Syria? Isn’t it easy for us to realize that he could have remained the commander of the Defense Brigades enjoying power, wealth, and prestige without involving himself in problems that disrupted his life? Sure. He had the potential to circumvent any problem, even if it was imposed on him.
(*) Those student groups have nothing to do with the other educational programs funded by the government.
(**) Commander Al-Assad defended the Arabs in 1984 by saying, “The Arabs have offered funds and men in support of the battles fought by Syria. They have also fought in Syrian territories … Aren’t you satisfied with this? How could we have achieved victory without Arab blood and money? We are aware of the ideological disagreements between us and them, but we believe that our national, moral, and political positions compel us to overlook such disagreements. Yet, they insist on assaulting our Arab fellows and on offending them.”
Why are we saying that this accusation is deliberate?
Regardless of the truthfulness of this story, Tlass says that the late president sent a special letter with General Mohammad Al-Khawli to Colonel Qaddafi. This means that the president asked for the money for personal motives, not in his capacity as the president of the republic, otherwise he would have sent the prime minister or the minister of finance. But Tlass preferred to throw dust in the eyes by asserting that the sum was first transferred to the Central Bank, and then the president used part of it.
- Tlass says that when King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz was still crown prince, he used to send Brigadier-General Assad $5 million on a monthly basis, and that other Arab figures sent sums probably totaling another $5 million.
Well, if this were true, why did Brigadier-General Assad ask President Hafez Al-Assad for money? Was the president going to yield to his demand at a time he knew that the sums he was receiving exceeded his needs and those of his retinue?!
The truth we need to establish here is that Brigadier-General Assad did not ask President Assad for any money. Yet, Tlass insists on doing harm to Brigadier-General Assad by suggesting that the latter traded his demands for improving the domestic and foreign conditions of Syria for a few million dollars.
Tlass has exhaustively made allegations that Brigadier-General Assad was basically preoccupied with fulfilling one objective, namely receiving money. However, all the events preceding and following 1984 prove that money has always been a means used by him to reach noble objectives. The ones achieved so far testify to his motives:
- He built a strong army with 55,000 soldiers that did not cost the government more than 30% of the equipment and ammunition cost.
- He built at least 50% of the coastal road network.
- He lit 70% of the coastal remote villages.
- He built thousands of housing units in Damascus and Lattakia.
- He paid millions of dollars in the form of monthly subsidies to over 100,000 families throughout Syria, while some are still delivered to date.
- He paid millions of dollars in the form of monthly subsidies to the officers, noncommissioned officers, and soldiers of the Defense Brigades.
- He established the Alumni Association of Syrian Universities which included 30,000 Syrian intellectuals.
- He organized training courses for over 100,000 parachutists of Syria’s knights, both men and women, without costing the government one cent.
- He sent hundreds of Syrian students abroad to continue their studies.*
Brigadier-General Assad’s remarkable achievements have been made possible, thanks to the financial aid sent by fellow Arabs to him out of respect, admiration, and appreciation of his Arabism and nationalist orientation.**
Assad spent all Arab aid in Syria. The impact was clearly felt the dollar rate which rose from 2.5 liras to 20 liras a couple of months after he left his country. It kept rising afterwards until it reached 50 liras three years later.
On the other hand, had Brigadier-General Assad set money as an objective, why did he need to clash with other parties in Syria? Isn’t it easy for us to realize that he could have remained the commander of the Defense Brigades enjoying power, wealth, and prestige without involving himself in problems that disrupted his life? Sure. He had the potential to circumvent any problem, even if it was imposed on him.
(*) Those student groups have nothing to do with the other educational programs funded by the government.
(**) Commander Al-Assad defended the Arabs in 1984 by saying, “The Arabs have offered funds and men in support of the battles fought by Syria. They have also fought in Syrian territories … Aren’t you satisfied with this? How could we have achieved victory without Arab blood and money? We are aware of the ideological disagreements between us and them, but we believe that our national, moral, and political positions compel us to overlook such disagreements. Yet, they insist on assaulting our Arab fellows and on offending them.”
Yet, this moron claims that he had the power to arrest Brigadier-General Assad.
We wish the one who spoke about undermining the military prestige had been other than Mustafa Tlass, as he is the last person who has the right to talk about this issue.
We wish the one who spoke about undermining the military prestige had been other than Mustafa Tlass, as he is the last person who has the right to talk about this issue.