NewsMax.com in it's usual position of treading where others fear, asks the question that Middle East analysts have been asking for the last several years. But now it seems that it is Assad himself that is perpetrating the impression that others than he are in control of Syria. Here are the highlights:
Is Bashar totally in power? That is a difficult question to answer, but there certainly are centers of power around him, including some within the family," said Patrick Seale, a British expert on Syria who has written extensively about Hafez Assad.
The issue was thrown into stark relief in recent days, in part because Bashar Assad seemed at pains to paint himself as having limited power.
According to Saudi officials, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah told Assad last week during a meeting in Riyadh that he must immediately withdraw Syria's 14,000 soldiers in Lebanon.
"Not everything is up to me alone," Assad's replied, according to the officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
In a Time interview published this week, Assad again hinted he was not responsible for some of Syria's policies. Told he had done the impossible by bringing the United States and France together in unity against him, Assad answered with a laugh: "It's not me, actually."
Asked why he had jailed human rights activist Kamal Labwani, Assad answered, "I don't do everything in this country." Labwani was released in September after three years in prison.
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