It struck me as kind of odd when I read the article about the National Coalition president Mouaz al-Khatib quitting due to frustration. I pulled these quotes from a great summary of the event:
He said his resignation means he can now “work with freedom that is not available inside the official institutions.”
He also blamed world powers for providing what he deemed insufficient support for the rebel cause, and complained that many “international and regional parties” have insisted on pushing the opposition toward dialogue with the regime.
Really? Sounds like this Syrian Rebel group must be a bureaucratic mess from the sounds of it. Too many special interests perhaps? And he is complaining about pressure for diplomacy with the Assad regime? Please tell us more – all we hear is saber rattling from all the third parties.
After looking this further – I think Mr al-Khatib ‘is pursuing other opportunities’ – he got fired. Sounds like he wasn’t following the rules put down by all the foreign countries behind this revolution. And who was waiting in the wings to take the reins? Would you believe a US educated Texas businessman born in Syria but has lived in the US since 1980? Ghassan Hitto has replaced al-Khatib. He was elected Prime Minister on March 18th, and on the 23rd Mouaz al-Khatib ‘quit’. Hitto’s primary qualifications?
Hitto’s profile has recently risen to prominence via a series of public service and fundraising initiatives, such as the Walk for Children of Syria Day.
This article gives a great summary of Mr Hitto’s backgrount – http://rt.com/news/syrian-opposition-prime-minister-458/. This was the most qualified candidate? Sounds like its not what you know, but who you know. Interestingly, the rebels are rejecting the appointment of Hitto, further highlighting the oddity of this situation. Hopefully the rebels will provide us some information on who was behind Hitto’s miraculous rise to power.
It will be interesting to find out who is pulling the strings behind all this – I long for the day where we will get some investigative journalism into this worldwide political involvement with what in theory is a civil war.
It’s not what you know, but who you know…sounds like American politics. And I agree investagative reporting is what I long for, not just in this case about around the world and US in many situations.