Along with an appetite for punishing and killing his thousands of his own citizens, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has an affinity for top 40 pop songs.
Over 3,000 leaked e-mails show some of Assad’s iTunes purchases, which include tunes by bad-tempered crooner Chris Brown, Right Said Fred and Leona Lewis, as well as nightclub mainstay, “Sexy and I Know It,” by LMFAO.
Last year, President Obama signed an executive order that prohibited Assad and other Syrian officials from making transactions with the U.S., but the tyrant apparently sidestepped that order by registering his e-mail account to a New York address. Assad stops at nothing to obtain bad pop music.
UK’s The Guardian originally reported the leaked e-mails, and could confirm that nearly all of the e-mails are authentic. The e-mails were reportedly intercepted between last June and early February of this year.
Assad also sent his wife, Asma, an e-mail containing a file of Blake Shelton’s song, “God Gave Me You,” which includes the lyrics: “I’ve been a walking heartache / I’ve made a mess of me / The person that I’ve been lately / Ain’t who I wanna be.”
Although the ruler has an eclectic taste in music, he proves to have more narrow taste when it comes to reading material. Assad purchased several Harry Potter themed mobile applications, as well as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” for his iPad. He also bought Steve Jobs’ biography.
Around 8,000 people have died during the year-long uprising against Assad’s regime, and his military recently took two key rebel cities, Homs and Idlib.