Asma cheerleads Team Syria at London Olympics while Bashar declares war

Asma Assad shows racket support for Syrian achievement

After some time in the media gaze earlier in the Syrian crisis, there's been no sign of life from the first wife of Syria lately. It would seem according to a picture and some words that while her people are desperately worrying about surviving the expected blazing hot and warring summer ahead, Asma Assad is preoccupied with the sporting fate of her national badminton team.

Le Monde newspaper featured an overtly critical commentary alongside a photo of Asma Al Assad, published originally by German newspaper," Bild", of the incumbent First Lady of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. His increasingly unpopular status globally has not visibly harmed her presidential marriage, nor damaged her patriotic zeal.

In the photograph, Asma is seen sporting a slogan T-shirt carrying tag-line "My country is beautiful" in Arabic, right at a time when the country is suffering a state of political bloody turmoil. Her show of patriotism was not fooling anyone nor drawing the eye away from her husband's ongoing Syrian slaughter.

The French commentary notes that the picture of Asma was taken on Wednesday June, 20th, at the "Faiha" Stadium of Damascus. It was apprently shot during a hitting session for the national badminton team, who are in intense training for the London Olympics 2012 due, following a long build up, next month.

She looked well enough, went on the newspaper article, offering its own cutting analysis on the photograph of Syria's Desert Rose.  She looked comfortable, dressed with a smile on her face in blue jeans and standing barefoot on the court.

The newspaper did not leave out the cosmetic detail that Asma had her toe nails painted red, nodding (if not to the shade of Syrian blood) at the privileged life which the First Lady of Syria is still leading, as the death toll in Syria tick tocks to over 15,000 people since the beginning of the revolution in March 2011.

This is not the first time that foreign media obsess over the extravagant and allegedly decadent life which the British-raised Asma leads. The Guardian notoriously disclosed leaked emails between the President and his glamourous wife which revealed, not least, the huge amount of money that Asma has spent on her closet and home in shoe, lamp and 'closet' furniture sprees.

In the meantime, the people of Syria are suffering under the ferocious unremitting siege of the regime forces. Husband Bashar has formally announced that Syria is in a state of 'real war'. His people are being killed in broad daylight before the eyes of the whole world, while Asma Assad prances about for sport.

What do you think of the sporting antics of Syria's now controversial First Lady? Have your say below.