In the face of a world roiled by complex and unpredictable change, Syria today stands to counter the mighty storms that target its national policies and choices.

Since its independence, Syria has been through many ordeals, and has been subject to many pressures. Many have wagered on the fall of this citadel called Syria, both from within our region and from the outside, but all of those bets were lost, one after the other. The citadel held and remained steadfast, and the new Mongols and Tartars have always been repelled.

It is no exaggeration to say that Syria today is under the most dangerous threats and pressures in its modern history. Syria has of course seen many threats and campaigns of pressure before, but the sweeping changes that have hit the entire world in the last fifteen years make today’s situation more dangerous than any other we’ve seen before.

This is especially true, now that the Cold war has been won by the West (the United States). The West has yearned for and still covets the position of sole ruler of the world and its peoples.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the socialist system, the free world – often labeled “third world countries”- lost their strongest supporter and champion, while the United States alone decided the fate of our planet; with all the dangers that a unitary vision brings to the people of the world.

The current American administration, with its neo-conservatives and their dangerous ideologies (that match the myths of Israel’s ideologues), declared war on our region and its nations. This war targets the forces that disagree with their plans for domination, influence, and colonization. Two projects are in the forefront: The Zionist “Greater Israel” and the American “Greater Middle East.”

From these two projects have sprung numerous theories to be used as a basis for the Americans and Zionists to reassemble and swallow up the region. We have heard of the theories of “creative chaos,” “clean penetration” and “imposed democracy.” We saw made-to-order reforms that suited the greed of America and Israel, and many other schemes and conspiracies that would make the reviled Sikes-Pico plot mere child’s play!

[Editor’s Note: The Sykes-Picot agreement was a secret understanding concluded in May 1916, during World War I, between Great Britain and France, with the assent of Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.]

Today, everyone in the region and the world knows that the American neo-conservatives (whose star was waning, were it not for the September 11 attacks!) are trying to benefit from the current situation by any means. Their tools include - or rather is primarily - the use of military force, which seeks to tighten America’s grip on the world, and especially on our strategically vital region.

Since Syria is the primary opposition force, and in many ways the only opposing block, it has seen a daily increase in pressure, threats, and preposterous accusations that have no factual basis or any credible evidence.

The Syria of today is stronger than any who wager against it. Syria is not just a political and geographical entity. It is a people united around the homeland, and a nation that has deep-rooted relations with nations on five continents. Syria remains strong in its patriotic depth and its connections to Arab aspirations, despite all the forces that try to defeat it or blow it off its political course; a political stand that is a reflection of Arab public opinion.

There is no fear for Syria today … and no fear for tomorrow. Syria is in the right, and the right will triumph no matter how long the injustice and the aggression.