Syrians Ambivalent over Obama Victory

DEMASCUS, Syria - In Damascus, the prevailing reaction to Barack Obama's victory as the next president of the United States is markedly ambivalent, if reservedly hopeful. Discussions here about the U.S. elections tend to revolve around the end of the current administration, more than faith in the next.

My grocer summarized the general sentiment in Damascus perfectly: "Inshallah, he will be better than the last guy."

A newspaper seller down the road, Mazen Sikkar, was slightly more optimistic. "Bush really messed things up for us, and for you. Obama must be better than him," he said. "He is going to do some really good things for people inside the United States, but we still don't know how his presidency will affect us in the Middle East.

"We are waiting to see what happens when he builds the foundations of his presidency in the first two to three months, and how he implements everything he has been talking about. And he added: We don't know what his policy is towards Syria, but we like how he talks."

Obama hasn't said much about Syria during his campaign, except to condemn the country's alleged support for Hezbollah. Many of his advisors support talks between Syria and Israel that would see the Golan Heights returned to Syria.

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