Serafim my friend:

I agree enthusiastically that "Assad should let free speech reign in Syria."  
Indeed, I would like to see free speech, including freedom of worship and self-expression, prevail, NORMATIVELY, throughout the MENA, from Iran through Saudi Arabia to Libya.  It would be  a wonderful experience for the Christian migrant workers in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, for the besieged Egyptian Copts and for Gay persons.  For that to happen, the region needs voices like that of South Africa's Archbishop Tutu: No political leader constrained Archbishop Tutu from speaking truth to secular power; thus, he helped to avert a civil war in South Africa and the concomitant generation of desperate refugees.