Roads to Damascus
1970: Hafez al-Assad seizes power in a coup within the Baath Party. He becomes president of Syria the following year.
1980: Syria and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of friendship and cooperation.
1982: In response to a Sunni rebellion in Hama, Assad’s military destroys the city and kills at least 20,000 people.
2000: Assad dies. He is succeeded by his son Bashar, who many Syrians hope will be a reformer.
Undersecretary of State John Bolton includes
