SABER RATTLE REDUX (via ef brown)

Syrian Reforms Gain Momentum In Wake of War: U.S. Pressure Forces Change In Foreign, Domestic Policy (Alan Sipress, May 12, 2003, Washington Post)

For more than 20 years, Syrian boys and girls have worn military-style school uniforms, olive green with stripes on their epaulets to signify their grade and caps to match.

So parents were surprised by a pair of brief articles in the state-run press two weeks ago reporting that these required outfits would be eliminated come fall. Instead, elementary school students will wear blue uniforms similar to those in some U.S. parochial schools, including vests over light-blue shirts for boys and rose blouses for girls. High school students will don gray uniforms over light-blue shirts and rose blouses.

Though no public explanation for the change was offered, Syrians close to the country's leadership said it is part of an effort to reverse the long tradition of militarism in their society and one in a series of reforms gaining momentum after the U.S. ouster of President Saddam Hussein in neighboring Iraq.

With tens of thousands of U.S. troops positioned just to the east and U.S. officials warning Syria it could be the next object of American ire, Syrians acknowledge they are feeling vulnerable. These regional developments -- nothing less than an "earthquake," according to Khalaf M. Jarad, editor of the state-run Tishrin newspaper -- have prompted Syria to alter its foreign policy to accommodate U.S. demands, while rethinking its domestic affairs.

"When your neighbor shaves, you start to wet your cheeks," said Nabil Jabi, a political strategist in Damascus, citing an Arabic proverb. "It means you must study the new situation in your neighborhood."

As the San Andreas is to California, so is George W. Bush to the Middle East. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 12, 2003 11:13 PM