Assad is not a “brutal dictator”

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Some quick facts to debunk the incessant propaganda that claims, “Bashar Assad is a brutal dictator.”

Assad has been the leader of Syria since 2000. For 11 years, there were no protests, rebellions, revolutions or civil wars in Syria. Syria was peaceful, secular and quite prosperous under Assad. Sunnis, Shiites, Jews, Christians and other sects co-existed harmoniously. People had free healthcare and free education, including college. (Muslim Brotherhood and Sunni jihadists have been a source of terrorism for the last 50 years in Syria, but Assad had them under control until 2011).
Under Assad, Syria’s GDP tripled from 2000 to 2010. At the same time, Assad reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio from 150% to 30%. Incredible achievements.
In fact, Syria was so stable under Assad that…