Tweet of the Day: Syrian Ruling Gangster Quits Corruption, Repents

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By Barry Rubin


My favorite Tweet of the day comes from: "Syrian state TV says business tycoon Rami #Makhlouf, cousin of President #Assad, will quit business and focus on charity work #alarabiya." Makhlouf is Mr. Corruption in Syria and one of the quartet of Assads that runs the country. His thefts are legion. The idea of Makhlouf ladeling out food at a soup kitchen or helping out at an old-age home is quite a picture. In the United States he would go to rehab, find the Supreme Being, or get his own television show on MSNBC. But the point is that Arab dictatorships are used to getting away with the most remarkable nonsense that the Syrian regime might actually think such a gambit would be effective. Of course, it is more effective to feed nonsense to Western reporters and academics. Although, come to think of it, perhaps Syria and the United States is not so different in this respect.