The Damascus Declaration. How many Islamic republics will Bush establish in the Middle East? Let me count the ways. I was reading the text of the Damascus Declaration (signed by Syrian opposition groups inside Syria). The matter of inside versus outside has become important after the abysmal plight and scandalous performance of the Iraqi exile opposition. The text did not have the signature of the Muslim Brethren, but it could not, and did not have to have it--not from Syria anyway. It was there. I was amazed at the section on Islam, and was more amazed that secular leftist Syrian groups signed on. But they were being realistic: they are of course opposed--as they should be--to an oppressive AND foolish regime--but they also know the size of the Brethren on the ground. The Brethren--and their fanatical offshoots--will sweep Syria in the first opportunity, especially if or when the regime starts to crumble, and assuming that the US government will allow it to crumble. I hear about mosques in Syria slipping away from government control, and many are developing their cult figures. The section on Islam in the Declaration tells me that the new Syria will be much less secular and much more respectful of Shari`ah, and that will bring about the usual decline in women's rights. The popular detestation of the Ba`th has damaged the cause of secularism in the Arab world, especially in Syria and Iraq. But the statement was clear in rejecting "change that comes carried from the outside." The Brethren later issued a statement in which they full supported the statement. I was surprised that the new statement was rather brief and concise on foreign policy and abandoned the typically fashionable language of Arab nationalism, or even involvement in Arab affairs. I did not see the word Palestine being mentioned once, and that displeased me. Again, did the exploitation of the Palestine question by the Syrian regime push people away from Palestine advocacy? It is hard to tell; but the Islamist ideology of the majority will bring it back, I assume, but more toward Hamas? Will the Syrian left repeat the mistakes of the Iranian left when they aligned with Khomeini only to be butchered later? The left should not in that case align themselves with any branch of the Muslim Brethren. I just heard that even Al-Ghadd in Egypt will align with the Muslim Brethren there. Both the Damascus Declaration AND the Brethren's statement was silent about economic issues for that matter. It was noteworthy that many Syrian leftist dissidents, like Sadiq Jalal Al-`Adhm, did not sign.