I am CRYING with frustration at the lack of comprehension of what Syria is all about.
I just moved, so I don’t have my copy of “7 pillars of wisdom” T. E. Lawrence’s famous book, handy. Those of us who have not read this, should read it immediately. It’s incredibly entertaining, and unbelievably informative. Just in case there may be somebody who doesn’t understand the connection, T. TE Lawrence was popularly known as “Lawrence of Arabia”.
A lot of the action took place in what is now Syria. You could look anywhere in the world and not find a more mixed cauldron of ethnicities, racial characteristics, languages, and countries of origin. Follow me below the thang for explanations and further ranting.
In one of the later chapters, T. E. Lawrence explains why it is unwise to go to war in Syria. One can’t imagine the variety of people, both longtime “locals” and immigrants. There are all 3 of the great Abrahamic faiths, and various sects of those, then there are converts from every one of those faith to another faith, all of these different people living in villages and towns, and sometimes in sizable towns. There are white Russians imported by the Ottoman Empire as troops, there are foreign contingents of various types, an incredible hodgepodge of tribes. They’re all different, they’re all insular, there is every kind of religion you could think of, many different languages, and for the most part, it’s the usual colonial “country–building” partition story, just like Afghanistan, and they have to find their own way to some kind of governance on their own. You’ll find the following chart very interesting. It’ll make it easier to understand this country, one of the oldest places in the world where people have lived.
http://www.joshuaproject.net/...
Look for a moment at just the foreign contingents; there are Turks, Portuguese, Kurds, Arabs, Persians, Greeks, Spaniards, Russians, gypsies, French, Bulgarians, German, and Armenian nationalities; 28 languages, and who knows how many dialects.
That is why I want to point out again that Bashar Al-Assad is NOT killing his own people. His people are Alawites, a splinter sect of Shia Islam, which by the way is thought of as heretic in Pakistan. Ironic, isn’t it? the Alawites are outnumbered by the Syrian Arabs, mostly Sunnis, about 10 to 1. And it’s not smart to intervene in a tribal war/ religious war, which is what the conflict in Syria is.
So what happens if we intervene? Are we morally bound to save people’s lives?Do we blame ourselves for not interfering in Sudan? In Rwanda? Are we the policeman of the world? The Saudis have so much of our money, and it’s Sunnis that are being killed by Saddam’s modern army; why don’t THEY act? they certainly have the money to buy whatever is needed. I mean, come on. The SAUDI’s? It’s sort of like saying “the money”. Why is it always up to us? And, of course, strictly from a desire to spare the bloodshed, like we did in Libya, where Gaddafi threatened to wipe out the city of Benghazi. That was altruistic, wasn’t it?
Not really. We “brought democracy” to Iraq and they are killing each other as much as Saddam ever did. Libya is in turmoil, Syria… Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it. just as we shouldn’t talk about the profit being made in all of these wars. Don’t think for a 2nd that the manufacturers of all the weapons that are being used aren’t making their cut of the money. just as KBR did. And does.
Please, go and read “7 pillars of wisdom”. You’ll find the chapter I’m talking about, towards the end, and then you’ll understand more of what Syria is all about. And why we should not be involved there, except for humanitarian aid. Oh, and you’ll also find out some of the humorous side, the honorable side, and the historical side of the area, one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world..
Thank you for your patience with this old hippie.