The Middle East's Marie Antoinettes

Slate ^ | March 23, 2011 | Noreen Malone

[Clintonfatigued]

Last night, not quite a month after a Vogue profile of Syrian first lady Asma Assad declared Syria the "safest country" in the Middle East, government forces killed six in the southern city of Deraa, site of unprecedented protests against the ruling regime. That would be the regime headed by Asma's husband Bashar Assad, who, as Vogue explained, was elected with a "startling" 97 percent of the vote. ("In Syria," the writer added delicately, "power is hereditary.") The much-derided article did not linger on this point, however, choosing instead to celebrate its subject with a series of besotted compliments following from this opener: "Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic—the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies."

But while Vogue was pilloried for its puff piece, this was neither the first nor the last time Asma has been treated to Western flattery. See, for example, a 2009 Huffington Post slide show on "Asma Al Assad: Syria's First Lady and All-Natural Beauty," or even the Harvard Arab Alumni Association's website, which just last week promoted an event featuring Asma, praising her, rather incredibly, as a great supporter of "a robust, independent and self-sustaining civil society." It is telling that a personal appearance from Mrs. Assad is still considered such a get that the organization was willing to ignore such trifles as, say, Syria's terrible record on human rights. As a Reuters piece on the matter put it: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a dictator who wants to be accepted by polite Western society should look for a charming, glamorous wife."

Assad has company among other charming, glamorous wives of Middle Eastern rulers who increasingly find themselves provoking distaste.

[ClearCase_guy]

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a dictator who wants to be accepted by polite Western society should look for a charming, glamorous wife."

Once again, Obama gets it wrong.

[U-238]

Of course Assad would win at the “polls”.They probably have soldiers and secret police at the polls watching the vote. As for the three percent who did not vote for Assad,well they might “disappear’ suddenly.

[Clintonfatigued]

I wonder how to say “Let Them Eat Cake” in Arabic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk62PYiWav0

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Whereas the Marie Antoinettes of the US are liberal nags like our First Lady who hate the idea of people being able to buy cheap food and campaign to shut down places like McDonald’s so that everyone can go to Whole Foods and pay huge bills for groceries with the word “heirloom” in front of them.

[U-238]

"دع لهم أكل الكعكة"

I used a translator so I cheated.

[freeangel]

It seems many countries have their own version. Anyone hear of mochelle hussein obama?

[Carry_Okie]

Meet Asma Al Assad

Queen Rania Al Abdullah

and Khadija-el Gamal

Ah debauchery.

[Clintonfatigued]

Checek Posting #8, you may want to file these pics.

[rfreedom4u]

I’m glad these lovely ladies are not wearing burkas.

[rfreedom4u]

I’m glad these lovely ladies are not wearing burkhas.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Clintonfatigued. To all, this happened about a year ago.

Joan Juliet Buck is an American writer, social critic, and actress. She was the editor in chief of French Vogue from 1994 to 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Juliet_Buck

Piers Morgan Interview with Joan Juliet Buck on Syria - YouTube
Piers Morgan interviews the vogue writer who discusses her experiences with Asma Al-Assad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D4ZF-Bx-yAe0

Bashar al-Assad’s wife in Vogue
Posted by: Angie Nassar
Wednesday, March 02. 2011
http://www.nowlebanon.com/BlogDetails.aspx?TID=1237&FID=6

This is how Asma al-Assad ended up in Vogue magazine
Posted by: Angie Nassar
Friday, August 05. 2011
http://www.nowlebanon.com/BlogDetails.aspx?TID=1737&FID=6

[Impy]

LOL I did the same thing.

It’s very hard to take what it sounds like from the audio and try to write it out with our letters.

My best: Daraoom ellakaloon decaca

Not a pretty language in my opinion.

[Impy]

I’ll take #1, wife of the Syrian Dictator. She definitely has Madame Sarkozy beat by a wide margin.

And she shopped in London as her husband ordered thousands of deaths, gotta love a wife that doesn’t judge.

[GOPsterinMA]

“I’ll take #1, wife of the Syrian Dictator. She definitely has Madame Sarkozy beat by a wide margin.

And she shopped in London as her husband ordered thousands of deaths, gotta love a wife that doesn’t judge.”

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[darrellmaurina]

Oh, good grief.

Now I've seen everything. These are liberals. Do they not value democracy and human rights? Do they not object to women being used as objects?

I'm perfectly willing to accept a “realpolitik” argument that the secular Assad regime is better than any realistic alternative. I'm quite aware of the Alawite background of the ruling family of Syria, and how their dominance in the professional military led to a government takeover. If I were a liberal I could make a very good case that the Assad family (and for that matter, Saddam Hussein) had a relatively good record on women's rights compared to Islamist regimes, and routinely provided opportunities for women to study and rise in society as a way to build power vis-a-vis the Islamic radicals.

But this kind of puff-piece stuff on Assad's wife is crazy.