The invitation extended to Syria's president to attend the July 14 military parade on the Champs Elysees was received with displeasure in Washington and has ruffled feathers among current and former French military officers and soldiers.
Besides its dismal record concerning human rights, the U.S. administration of George W. Bush accuses the Syrian regime of aiding and abetting terrorists and of gross interference in internal Lebanese political affairs.
Additionally, Washington has pointed the finger at Damascus for its implication in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri as well as the murder of a number of Lebanese politicians and journalists who were opposed to Syria's interference in Lebanese affairs.
Furthermore Assad's invitation to attend the Bastille Day celebrations drew the ire of a large number of French officers and soldiers who believe that Syria was either responsible for, or in the very least, was aware of attacks against French forces serving in Lebanon.
Assad's presence on the review stand is likely to further raise the tension between the French president and the French military establishment. Last month Sarkozy was highly critical of the military, whom he accused of being "amateurs," after a military exercise in Carcasonne turned to a disaster when real bullets ended up inadvertently being substituted for blanks. Seventeen people were injured, some seriously.
Among the 4,200 French troops who marched down the Champs Elysees representing different regiments of the French Army included units who lost men in Lebanon while serving either with the United Nations Interim Force in South Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, or during deployment with the multinational peacekeeping force in 1983, when 58 French soldiers were killed when a truck filled with explosives was driven by a suicide bomber into the Drakkar building in Beirut.
Moments later a similar attack targeted the U.S. Marine barracks at Beirut Airport killing 241 U.S. service personnel.
A group of French veterans criticized Assad's presence at the Bastille Day festivities. Although, it is widely believed among Western intelligence services that the twin bombings of the French and U.S. military buildings was carried out by pro-Iranian forces, some sources believe it was done with Syrian acquiescence.
A group of former French soldiers who served with UNIFIL said inviting Assad as a guest of honor to watch the annual military parade was a dishonor to the memory of French soldiers who died in Beirut. Jean-Luc Hemar, head of the association of veterans from Camp Idron in central France, told the French news agency that French soldiers should not file past the Syrian leader during the march down the Champs Elysees.
"Drakkar will cast a shadow over the 14th of July," said Hemar, referring to the building in Beirut where the 58 were killed. Hoping to quell the controversy, the Elysee Palace issued a statement saying that the 1983 bombing of the Drakkar was carried out by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and that Syria was not responsible.
"To blame Syria for Drakkar is a historical mistake," said the Elysee official.
The invitation extended to Assad after years of isolation is a first step aimed at bringing Syria into the fold of the international community and to offer Damascus incentives that would help distance Syria from its alliance with Iran.
It is now up to Syria to reciprocate.