Syria: It's not just about freedom

Jewish World Review ^ | 2/3/2012 | Charles Krauthammer

[Former Fetus]

Imperial regimes can crack when they are driven out of their major foreign outposts. The fall of the Berlin Wall did not only signal the liberation of Eastern Europe from Moscow. It prefigured the collapse of the Soviet Union itself just two years later.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria could be similarly ominous for Iran. The alliance with Syria is the centerpiece of Iran’s expanding sphere of influence, a mini-Comintern that includes such clients as Iranian-armed and -directed Hezbollah, now the dominant power in Lebanon; and Hamas, which controls Gaza and threatens to take the rest of Palestine (the West Bank) from a feeble Fatah.

>>SNIP<<

But the Arab-Iranian divide is not just national/ethnic. It is sectarian. The Arabs are overwhelmingly Sunni. Iran is Shiite. The Arab states fear Shiite Iran infiltrating the Sunni homeland through (apart from Iraq) Hezbollah in Lebanon, and through Syria, run by Assad’s Alawites, a heterodox offshoot of Shiite Islam.

[Former Fetus]

This is Krauthammer at his best. It explains why Assad cannot, will not, capitulate

[Capt. Tom]

A few days ago I mentioned to some friends that Syria was intersting because it is run by Alawites, and how he Sunni Muslims are trying to get the Alawites out of power. The Sunnis proably will massacre some of the Alawites after the Sunnis take control. Also I mentioned how Shiite Iran would be setback if the Alawites (Assad) fall to the Sunnis in Syria.

This will not be a big win - win for us as implied by Krauthammer, because Saudi Arabia will be strengthened. The fundamental Sunnis hate us Infidels, and were the ones involved in 911 and Al Qaeda. The pursuit of a Caliph becomes more likely. I don't see us as being big winners in the long run if Syria falls to the Sunni Muslims.

I don't consider Assad and his Alawites to be Muslims, and neither do the Sunnis.

Things are moving fast now for Islam.

Is Jordan next? The Infidel collaborating King Hussein and his Americanized trophy wife Rania have to be concerned. - Tom

[Reily]

The problem is, to the average Muslim all freedom means is I am now free to kill my neighbor!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Former Fetus.

The fall of the Berlin Wall did not only signal the liberation of Eastern Europe from Moscow. It prefigured the collapse of the Soviet Union itself just two years later. The fall of Bashar al-Assad's Syria could be similarly ominous for Iran.