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The Forum > Article Comments > Beware Syrians bearing gifts > Comments

Beware Syrians bearing gifts : Comments

By Gary Gambill, published 16/9/2013

The Syrian regime cannot hope to win the war through conventional warfare. The country's disenfranchised Sunni Arab majority has a fivefold demographic advantage.

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What sort of rubbish is this?
Posted by mdelmege, Monday, 16 September 2013 9:43:29 AM
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As we have found throughout recorded history, dictators can suppress dissent, but never ever extinguish it, just drive it underground!
And with every successful suppression, further inflame the underlying dissent and hate.
This problem for Assad is one of his own making, when he chose to react to peaceful protests, with armed lethal force.
And with each military success, he manages to alienate more and more of his so-called subjects.
With each city he effectively destroys, the more enemies he creates amongst peoples who were formerly, live and let live pacifists!
Eventually, there will simply be too may, and as the author states, plenty of Sunni rebels with nothing left to lose!
And more than enough sympathetic surrounding states, to ensure that the weapons and money supply increases if anything.
We for our part ought not get involved, given some of Assad's enemies, are the very terrorist organizations, who have also declared war on us.
We do need however, to act to ensure our own energy independence, sooner rather than later!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Monday, 16 September 2013 11:11:07 AM
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As we have found throughout recorded history, human beings are tribal and territorial. Multicultural societies like Syria are unstable societies where the separate identity groups who have diametrically opposed value systems constantly battle for cultural supremacy.

No matter which sides wins, you can bet that the losers will say that the winners are "oppressing" them. Such societies need a brutal dictator to hold them together as nation, and whether or not that is good or bad depends upon your point of view.

To my mind, "good" brutal dictators try and hold their nation together and try to emulate the successful western liberal democracies in economic, social and scientific development. "Bad" brutal dictators try to hold their nations together but they adopt Islamic or Socialist economic principles as well as Socialist or Islamic social attitudes. They also cultivate extreme hostility towards the western liberal democracies who keep showing them up for the idiots they are. So, some brutal dictators are not so bad when you compare them to others who are a lot worse.

"Good" dictators would have to include Josip Broz Tito who only shot a few ethnic nationalists every year, but when he died, Yugoslavia fell apart and a million people died. What resulted was a half dozen monocultural societies which proved the point that monoculturalism brings internal peace.

Mubarak, Kamal Attaturk, and the Shah of Iran was also good dictators who supressed the religious nutcases in their societies and tried to make their countries enter the modern world. I hope that Assad wins because he is marginally better than his religious nutcase enemies. Thanks to people like Geoff of Perth, David G and Arjay, he knows that any attack on his regime by the USA for using chemical weapons on Sunni civilians will bring international condemnation on the USA instead of his regime. So he will use the stuff to prevent losing.

But if he loses, stand by for boatloads of "Alawites" from Syria fleeing Sunni "oppression".
Posted by LEGO, Monday, 16 September 2013 12:11:17 PM
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The author is wrong on so many points one wonders who he's working for.

The authors claim that Syria is surrounded by "Sunni" neighbours forgets Syria shares a long border with Shiite dominated Iraq and that Shiite (Hezbollah) dominate South Lebanon - only around 100 km away from Damascus.

The author (wilfully?) forgets that Hezbollah is now fighting in Syria on Assad's side.

The author forgets that Assad's forces have had the upper hand for several months.

Why this string of inaccuracies?

If this article is anything to go by hopefully the US-based Middle East Forum is not advising the US Government.
Posted by plantagenet, Monday, 16 September 2013 3:28:12 PM
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Here is evidence of Israel using chemical weapons on the Palistinians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iA9RkRS6zk
Posted by Arjay, Monday, 16 September 2013 6:14:06 PM
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