Thursday, November 8, 2012

Let's Get Syrious


Below is my column as published in the April, 2012 issue of the Stubridge Times Magazine.
The late Boston talk show personality, Larry Glick, had a tag line he would say on his overnight show, “We’re going to get the story behind the story.”  One might think it the essence of journalism.  Not in planet America.
Bashir Assad is the newest bogeyman in the Middle East.  This is not to say he just arrived.  He and his dad before him have ruled Syria for decades.  It is that we are just getting around to noticing him.  

         He is not a nice guy.  In the Middle East that’s how it is.  Mr. Nice Guy lasts about a nano-second.  There is a saying in that neck of the woods that says it all, “You must kiss the hand you cannot bite.”  The question is, so what happens when he goes? It is not being asked.  Anyway, who cares? I doubt La Hilary has a clue. She didn’t with Libya.  Après le dénouement is not addressed in all the news coverage.

         In fact the coverage, such as I've heard, is laughably superficial. The Middle East is a tough neighborhood with fault lines Americans can hardly imagine.  National Public Radio, Fox, CNN and any other outlet that proffers radio news have been vapid.

         Now, let me be a bit superficial myself. Not an expert on Syria, but here goes. You got your Sunnis including Sufis. They are not in power, but want it. Suffice it to say, as is presented to American audiences, Sunnis are the garden variety Muslims who are not Shia.  I wasn’t kidding about superficial.

         Next are Alawites. The president is one and they are the power. They have reason to fight to the bitter end, because if they lose, the end will be bitter. Existence for the sect has been precarious, as it always has been for minority confessions in the region.

         The Alawites are a mysterious group.  They have survived by being out of the way, up in the hills.  Under the Sunni Ottoman regime, they were oppressed. After World War I, under the French mandate in Syria, they saw their opportunity and joined the colonial military.  The Long Hill Institute for the Study of Middle-Eastern Politics, our official think tank, has come up with a law of existence for the region.  That law, briefly stated is, Always be as armed as you can if you want to survive.

         The sect is considered syncretic, that is, they have bits and pieces from other faiths.  It is said they see Plato and Socrates as well as Christ and Mohammed as incarnations of God.  They don’t really talk about it all that much and officially claim to be Shia.

         Then come the Christians. They are somewhat with the Alawites as their fat would be in the fire if the Alawites were done in.  Don’t think so?  When we brought good government and nirvana to Iraq, the Christians had to flee for their lives next door to bad old secular Syria.

         There are also your Druze, Yazidis, Shias and some others. Get ya scorecard! Ya can't tell the players without a scorecard!

         Of course, the press is painting the opposition as the spawn of Gandhi and Mother Teresa.  In our last adventure, Libya, the rebels were portrayed as freedom fighters against a horrible regime.  What did the Jeffersonians do to the dictator when he came into their power?  Why of course, they gave him a fair trial.  Well, no.  He was savagely dispatched with a video of it on youtube.  

         There has been an ongoing oppression by a heavy-handed regime a bit further south.  The Shia in Bahrain have been subject to brutality by the Sunni minority. Bahraini protests have been going on for a lot longer than the flare up in Syria, yet the ruling family is getting a pass.  Gee, why is that?  Two words, docking rights.  Yeah, the US Navy gets a warm official welcome.  Can’t let ethics stand in the way.

         So what do we get out of this? Dunno. Are there hydrocarbons? Are the Israelis and Iranians in play?   Given our national predilection for quagmires, not much good can be expected from this quick sand.

         We’ll end by quoting another dead guy.  The late Social Democrat John Roche related an Irish saying that one should never get involved in the religious wars of churches to which one did not belong. Don't know much about Paddy Proverbs but this one sounds reasonable.  Let’s act out of character and leave Syria alone.


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