A senior Syrian official describes the current state of the Syrian regime by saying, “We are extremely comfortable, exceptionally so, in fact,” regarding both the political and military situation at home and abroad. His reading is optimistic and these are some of the details.

During a brief personal visit to Beirut, an official from the Syrian regime spoke at a closed-door meeting in which he said that the regime in Syria is very comfortable these days, and pleased with diplomatic and military developments at the local, regional and international levels.

His presentation began with the diplomatic scene. As is the custom of regime officials, he began with reiterating Damascus’s complete satisfaction and absolute trust in the international support it receives from its allies, saying: “Moscow stands firmly in our corner. It is a position all Russian officials have expressed both publicly and in our multiple meetings with them.”

He was eager to list the names at the top of the pyramid: “Putin, Medvedev, Lavrov, Gatilov, Bogdanov. All of them have stated their support for our side. It may sometimes just be a media tactic directed towards the West, or towards some Syrian opposition forces. But it is an effective tactic, evidenced by the fact that some in the West have seriously modified their tone towards us. It has also succeeded in making some of the opponents accept the principle of negotiating with the authorities, and this is a good thing that we definitely want.”