2005 was a year Syria would probably much rather forget. If the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri was a political earthquake in Lebanon, its aftershocks were felt strongest in Damascus. It was a hard pill to swallow for most Syrians. The Syrian military, which had lost thousands of troops during its 29-year-long sojourn in Lebanon, withdrew with its tail between its legs. While the “Lebanon project” was now most definitely over, the “victory,” many Syrians hoped, would be in the area of domestic reform. Some even talked of a “Jasmine Revolution,” taking place in Syria, and planted the aromatic flower as a harbinger of things to come. These expectations were largely unfulfilled. True, some economic reforms continued, and more private banks opened their doors. But the much anticipated “great leap forward” to be announced at the June Baath Party conference never materialized. The blockade placed on Lebanon satisfied
