It's safe to say that we will never see an alliance between Israel and al-Qaida. Yet Syria's government-controlled media hint that this evil alliance exists as they grasp at any explanation, however implausible, that might discredit the anti-government protests that have shaken the Ba'ath Party's half-century grip on power.

The regime's security forces have killed more than 200 Syrians since the protests began in mid-March, but government spokesmen insist that they were shot down by "armed elements" who also attacked the police and the army. These armed elements are allegedly in the pay of the Israelis or of al-Qaida.

It's ridiculous, and nobody believes it, but what else are the official media going to say? That the Syrian people, without distinction of ethnicity or creed, are moving toward a non-violent revolution aimed at overthrowing President Bashar Assad and the whole Ba'athist apparatus of power? They can't admit that, so they tell preposterous lies instead.