Am I the only one to who is worried about another power vacuum in the Middle East? Allow me to relay my concerns:
As we protest the killing of men, women and children in Homs and other parts of Syria, I can’t help but notice that this situation with Assad is almost text book in its comparison to the other revolts:
- There is a corrupt Arab leader who is only mildly religious, governing with a strong hand but generally protecting the citizens, particularly the minorities.
- Some people revolt and the media immediately assume that they are the victims.
- The leader eventually gets removed or killed and then there is chaos, and that’s when we hear the whirl of the power vacuum.
Look at Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisa, Iraq (kind of) and now Syria. Are they not all similar in their downward spiral?
So, if Syria is going to be anything like the other situations, (and based on the patterns of these movements here we can expect that it will) the minority Shia, Alawi, Kurds and Christian will be persecuted and killed by Al Qaeda.
It is also highly likely that the Islamists or the Muslim Brotherhood, who might take over when the security infrastructure breaks down, will come in and turn out the lights on enlightened progress.
We can say adios to woman’s rights, democratic representation of all the people, and any sense of order in the region. Homosexuals and other unorthodox types will be harassed.
Let's look at the evidence. First, Iraq is still a mess. Most of the minorities have been killed, persecuted or forced out. Finally it seems local sheikdoms are kicking out the extremist elements. Unfortunately, the radicals just go into other parts of the country.
Libya is filled with in-fighting and appears to be becoming more Islamized and eventually radicalized. Take the desecration of the British grave sites and the slowing down of oil exports as a microcosm of the state of things in this country.
Egypt is the prime example. The Boys in the Hood said they would not send anyone to be president, now they’ve announced a candidate. Their infestation in the parliament has caused Secularists and Christians to quit the constitutional discussions all-together and everyone watching can only guess when this Brotherhood Bulldozer will stop.
Yet the US and Saudis are giving millions to support the overthrow of Assad and so far, things have only gotten worse. The sanctions are really only hurting the people we’re trying to save. The rebels are in-fighting and are characterized by, you guessed it, conservative Islamic allegiances. In his own country, the support for Assad is still very strong among the minority groups in Syria because of their fear of persecution, which is already occurring.
Reflecting on all of this, it challenges the popular idea that equipping the rebels is the best plan of action. If the humanitarian bottom line is decreasing bloodshed, the present Modus Operandi of supporting whoever is against the established leadership seems ineffective and sadly familiar.
Those of us without an agenda can think in terms of limiting human casualites. But even the so called liberators have an agenda. Of course America and Saudi and other nations want a leader that is friendly to them. So they equip rebels days before a cease fire is to be announced? Is this in the best interests of preserving human lives?
It’s all politics and leveraging. Meanwhile, bodies and futures are flowing into the Syrian sewage drains. Who cares if Assad won’t do business with America and meet our needs! Do we really need to send in troops and step on one more hornets’ nest?
By Brett Weer
