generalspeaking

Hope Springs Eternal

Lack of confidence can be a real bummer. Imbued with self-confidence, with belief in self, and knowing one is quite correct in their assessment of situations, is priceless. Its value cannot be overrated. Confidence convinces others to believe in you, just as you do. It's comforting to the individual involved, and it communicates itself to onlookers, which is very important. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad boasted several years back that the phenomenon of the Arab Spring would bypass Syria. And the reason was obvious enough; the people love him.

Depends, of course. That's the problem with confidently generalized statements; there are always exceptions, and sometimes the exceptions can turn out to be inconveniently notable. When, for example, a minority bullies a majority, sometimes the majority gets really, really disgruntled and decides to contend for equal treatment. Think about it: if you're a majority you're entitled to more than equal treatment; you're entitled to foist your own rule upon the minority. Fair's fair, after all.

Anyone would have to admit, Bashar Assad is no quitter. Just when things look really grim, because there are, believe it or not, a thousand different militias comprised of tribal representatives with their own little agendas, that's no cause to give up. Just bring in the helicopter gunships, or fire artillery guns offshore, or just lob a few bombs here and there, and watch them all go scuttling. Oh sure, there are civilians getting hurt, but who told them to shelter the rebels?

"I can say, without exaggeration, that the situation in Syria now is better than it was at the beginning of the crisis. With time, people became more aware of the dangers of what was happening. ... They started to gain a better understanding of the real Syria we used to live in and realized the value of the safety security and harmony, which we used to enjoy", stated Mr. Assad in a recent TV interview.

He's right, it's perfectly true, even those citizens of Sunni devotion now bemoan what they've lost. We're talking of millions of internally and externally displaced, Syrians migrating in fear and terror from the onslaught of both the rebels and the regime for each strike without pity, oblivious to the bloodbath they leave in their wake, though each blames the other for what they leave in their wake.

As for safety, security and harmony, that's larding the truth somewhat, but on the other hand, the Syrian Christian population harbours no illusions that they will be safe when the Islamists -- as would occur with the ouster of the Shiite Alawite Baath regime -- gain the ascendancy and cleanse the country of the contaminating presence of Christians and Shiites and other offensive minorities under a pure Sharia-led regime.

"The regime is trying, and succeeding unfortunately, in brainwashing some segments of society into thinking that they are their protectors and whoever follows will massacre them", scoffed opposition figure Kamal Labwani. But guess what? it's the truth, there are those expectations, and there is more than ample past experience in the bitterness of reactive strife between the sects to know that a bloodbath can be assured.

The secular and quasi-Islamic rebels have always been disunited, there is no unification of forces and no firm leadership among the Free Syrian Army militias. Just as none existed in Libya. And the dire warning that came tripping initially so effortlessly from Assad's lips about extremist elements, jihadists, terrorists being behind the revolutionary fervour of the rebels has indeed materialized, come from behind and now leading the rebels.

Jabhat al-Nusra has also confirmed the apprehensions of the West, with its allegiance to al-Qaeda. And it is al-Nusra and other foreign, well-armed jihadists who have streamed into Syria from Libya, Iraq, Algeria and Saudi Arabia that are responsible for disciplined, experienced fighting skills, dominating the rebels and confronting the regime with suicide attacks in the most sheltered areas of Damascus.

All is not lost for the regime, however. It has powerful backers; both Russia and China. And it has at its back the nefarious skill of Iran, and its well-weaponized and -trained proxy militia, Hezbollah. Iraq too can be relied upon; just as Syria with mischief aforethought permitted the Syrian/Iraq border to ooze Sunni jihadists during the U.S. attempts to normalize Iraq according to western standards, Iraq now oversees a flow of support bleeding through for Assad.

The thought that a clash between the Sunni and the Shia terror units eager to confront one another and to dominate one over the other, leaving as many dead as possible to prove unequivocally that one or the other is the true messenger upholding Islam's sacred mission to spread itself over the globe, might leave them both exhausted, reserves depleted, a spent force, is just too hopefully fanciful, regretfully.

Labels: Atrocities, Conflict, Hezbollah, Iran, Islamists, Russia, Syria, Terrorism

posted by Pieface @ Thursday, May 02, 2013