Another side of Syria

Earlier today I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman from Syria and this evening I received an email with an article about the first lady of Syria. The article was written in 2011.  I was surprised by what I learned and It made me wonder -- just how much do we Americans, really know about Syria and what is going on there?

Some facts:

Capital: Damascus

President: Bashar al-Assad

Population: 18,389,000

Area: 71,498 sq miles

Life Expectancy: 70 years

Literacy: 77%

Since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture (known

Asma al-Assad

as Pre-Pottery Neolithic A) where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world.

Syria is in southwest Asia in the heart of the Middle East. The Mediterranean coastal plain is backed by a low range of hills, followed by a vast interior desert plateau. Most people live near the coast or near the Euphrates River—which brings life to the desert plateau. Damascus, capital of this desert country, was built on an oasis and is said to be the world's oldest continuously inhabited settlement.

Syrians are mostly Arab, although about 9 percent are Kurds, living mostly in the northeast corner of Syria. Syria's population is about 90 percent Muslim, mostly Sunni, but the Alawite minority (12 percent of Syrians) is politically dominant. The Alawite-controlled Baath (Renaissance) Party has ruled Syria since 1963. Source

I will let you decide what you think from here.

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A Rose in the Desert: Asma Al-Assad, Lady Diana of the Middle East

Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic - the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies. Her style is not the couture-and-bling dazzle of Middle Eastern power but a deliberate lack of adornment. She's a rare combination: a thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement. Paris Match calls her "the element of light in a country full of shadow zones." She is the first lady of Syria.

She slips behind the wheel of a plain SUV, a walkie-talkie and her cell thrown between the front seats and a Syrian-silk Louboutin tote on top. She does what the locals do - swerves to avoid crazy men who run across busy freeways, misses her turn, checks your seat belt, points out sights, and then can't find a parking space. When a traffic cop pulls her over at a roundabout, she lowers the tinted window and dips her head with a playful smile. Read the rest of the story

Video below - Syria today