Iraq and Syria
Soon the Mehlis report, initiated by the UN to find out who was behind former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri assassination, will be made public. We will find out exactly how involved the Syrian government was in the killing. Finally, Syria is being held accountable for its actions.
It's remarkable that we see the same thing happening in Iraq with the start of the trial of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen.
There are many similarities between Iraq and Syria. Both are/were Ba'athis dictatorships. Syria, like Iraq, is ruled by a minority group. In Iraq it was the Sunni Arabs, specifically those hailing from Tikrit. In Syria it is the Alawites, a unique minority group whose religion is an offshoot of Islam. The Alawites make up about 15% of Syria's population, but they have dominated the country since the 1960's.
Americans need to get better educated about the ethnic and religious makeup of the Middle East if they want to have a better understanding what's going on there. The next time I hear a stupid Westerner describe the Iraqi insurgency as some sort of laudable struggle for the liberation of their country, I'm going to projectile vomit in their face. It is not. It is a futile, yet bloody, attempt at enabling a ruthless minority within a minority to once again dominate the country.
What is laudable are the Iraqis who are risking their lives to create a democracy, something far too many Westerners take for granted. Despite the recent support of an Iraqi constitution -- even in the Sunni provinces, there will still be many useful, useless idiots who will assume that anybody fighting the American occupation soldiers are somehow freedom fighters. They are not. Indeed, the sooner things calm down, the sooner our boys and girls can go home.
The pressure is on Syria now, which is a good thing. It should be remembered that the Syrian Ba'athist regime is one which relies on a minority group to ruthlessly suppress the majority in order to stay in power. They are not an organic, popular representative of the Syrian nation. So, next time you see or hear a Syrian government representative talking about what's going on, remember, he is FAR from a popular representative of the country.
It's remarkable that we see the same thing happening in Iraq with the start of the trial of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen.
There are many similarities between Iraq and Syria. Both are/were Ba'athis dictatorships. Syria, like Iraq, is ruled by a minority group. In Iraq it was the Sunni Arabs, specifically those hailing from Tikrit. In Syria it is the Alawites, a unique minority group whose religion is an offshoot of Islam. The Alawites make up about 15% of Syria's population, but they have dominated the country since the 1960's.
Americans need to get better educated about the ethnic and religious makeup of the Middle East if they want to have a better understanding what's going on there. The next time I hear a stupid Westerner describe the Iraqi insurgency as some sort of laudable struggle for the liberation of their country, I'm going to projectile vomit in their face. It is not. It is a futile, yet bloody, attempt at enabling a ruthless minority within a minority to once again dominate the country.
What is laudable are the Iraqis who are risking their lives to create a democracy, something far too many Westerners take for granted. Despite the recent support of an Iraqi constitution -- even in the Sunni provinces, there will still be many useful, useless idiots who will assume that anybody fighting the American occupation soldiers are somehow freedom fighters. They are not. Indeed, the sooner things calm down, the sooner our boys and girls can go home.
The pressure is on Syria now, which is a good thing. It should be remembered that the Syrian Ba'athist regime is one which relies on a minority group to ruthlessly suppress the majority in order to stay in power. They are not an organic, popular representative of the Syrian nation. So, next time you see or hear a Syrian government representative talking about what's going on, remember, he is FAR from a popular representative of the country.
posted by semite1973 at 9:38 AM
2 Comments:
Will democracy last in Iraq, assuming they can even get it off the ground? How long did it take the former Communist states of Eastern Europe, once they'd come out from under the Soviet yoke?
Ah, but they were EUROPEANS...and we're talking ARABS here. Sorry to be so cynical(pbuh).
Even a less than perfect democracy is much better than what existed in Iraq before, and probably bettern than anything that exists in the Arab world now.
Post a Comment
<< Home