Dear comrades,
On this 61st anniversary of the Syrian Arab Army, the provisional command of the Arab Baath Socialist Party would first like to congratulate you on this occasion.
Today is the day where the army’s and the entire country’s history is reevaluated, you should therefore take on your national responsibilities and reconsider the situation of the Armed Forces in Syria today.
You do know that the regime’s power monopoly has generated despotism, corruption, and oppression, entitling it to constantly violate the Law.
Have you ever asked yourself why are the poverty, unemployment and inflation levels increasing while the Syrians’ living standards drastically fall?
Have you ever tried to better understand what are the sources of the economic crisis in Syria, and how does this crisis affect the development of our country?
Have you asked yourself why is the ruling family solely controlling the State’s economic institutions? And where did al-Assad’s family, its agents and followers bring their fortune from?
Have you tried to know why our citizens are constantly scared? And how the secret services sowed discords between brothers, sisters, friends and families in order to better control the country?
Have you realized that the State’s administrative, legal and security institutions are profoundly gangrened by corruption? That the regime’s oppression, tyranny and corruption are making it impossible for your population to rise up and free itself?
Don’t you feel the danger that threatens Syria today because of Bachar al-Assad’s hazardous decisions?
Do you want your country to stay isolated yet affiliated to the Iranian regime?
Has Syria profited from the prolongation of President Emile Lahoud’s mandate, or from the assassination of the Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri? Does Syria have any interests in sowing discords between the Lebanese or worsening the crisis in both Palestine and Iraq? Are the dissensions with the Arab countries and the alliance with Iran helping Syria today? How can our country free its occupied lands if exhausted by the regime’s corruption, oppression and extremely risky strategies?
Do you really consider Bachar al-Assad’s regime as a real resistant while it is using the Lebanese, Iraqi and Palestinian cards to conclude deals with the United States and Israel?
How can this regime free our lands and preserve our dignity and sovereignty after it has transformed the national army into a private business to protect him and his family, instead of defending the country?
Is there any discipline in the Syrian army today? And how can a captain or a major in the army impose instructions on his higher ranking officials because he is Bachar al-Assad’s relative? How can this army be a real army if it was measured to size the first son Bassel, then the second Bachar, after Hafez al-Assad passed away?
How can the military leaderships do their jobs if subjected to the pressure of the secret services and instructions of al-Assad’s agents who shouldn’t be given any authority on it?
Can you believe that the former Minister of Defense is still entitled to control the army while his successor has an extremely limited knowledge of the law? And do you know that it is also the case of the former chief of General staff, his processor and successor!!

Can’t you see, dear comrades, how dangerous can discrimination be if imposed between the army officials? Al-Assad’s relatives, agents and followers are always rewarded while all honest men are deprived from a just treatment… Is there any better way, to destroy the morals of the Armed Forces, than the feeling of injustice due to favoritism and partiality?
The biggest mistake that Hafez al-Assad has committed, and his son preserved, is the mutation of the national army from an army of soldiers whose only job is to free the land and protect the Nation, to an army of body guards who are only assigned to protect the ruling regime. This has led to the fading of discipline between members of the Armed Forces who no longer engage themselves to the respect of the army, but to the protection of the Head of State.
The fact that Hafez al-Assad has imposed a monopoly over power and rejected all invitations addressed to him by several army officials and members of the command to discuss the situation inside the Armed Forces, has dragged the army into this perilous condition which none of you of course accepts. He knew the army suffered from many problems, and tried to cover it by his eloquent political speeches. He did the same after the October war when he decorated the military leaderships with medals of honors!

Dear comrades,
We do believe that the majority of you are perfectly aware of the danger that threatens Syria due to the regime’s corruption, violation of the law and monopoly over the State’s administrative, economic and legal institutions and due to the weakness of our isolated State as a result of the regime’s policies.
But we do also believe that it is now time for you to take on your national responsibilities and save the Armed Forces from the chaos it is heading to so that it gains back its pioneering national role that both your army and people vitally need.

Syria has two choices today; the first is the political change and the establishment of a civil democratic State where all citizens are equal in rights and duties, irrespective of their religion, confession, race or sex, a State that guarantees the respect of the citizens’ right to security and to a fine living, a State where the law is respected and the Syrians’ dignity preserved, a State whose legitimacy comes directly from the population.
The second choice is the submission to the present regime which will generate extremism transforming Syria into a new Iraq, and no Syrian can accept such a possibility for it will undoubtedly destroy our nation.
Both the Syrian citizens and you have to make a choice today; you either opt for the Nation and work for the establishment of a political change that will give back the Syrian population and the Armed Forces their pioneering role, or you choose the ruling family and watch your country fall.

The Syrian population looks up to you and expects you to support it in its struggle for salvation… So go on take the choice of the Nation, of your family and people…

Greetings to you dear comrades, with God’s help the victory will be soon ours.