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Are These The Savages That We Narrowly Missed Supporting?
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But of course they are all as bad as each other -- that's what a war does to people. Almost no-one comes out of a war with credit. It would be naive to assume otherwise. But it doesn't mean that the cause of one side or another isn't worth fighting for, or defending, or aiding. And if nothing else we need to support the people in the middle, or those who have been forced out of their homes.
// (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry's public assertions that moderate Syrian opposition groups are growing in influence appear to be at odds with estimates by U.S. and European intelligence sources and nongovernmental experts, who say Islamic extremists remain by far the fiercest and best-organized rebel elements.
While the radical Islamists among the rebels may not be numerically superior to more moderate fighters, they say, Islamist groups like the al Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front are better organized, armed and trained.
As recently as late July, at a security conference in Aspen, Colorado, the deputy director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, David Shedd, estimated that there were at least 1,200 different Syrian rebel groups and that Islamic extremists, notably the Nusra Front, were well-placed to expand their influence. //
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While the radical Islamists among the rebels may not be numerically superior to more moderate fighters, they say, Islamist groups like the al Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front are better organized, armed and trained.
As recently as late July, at a security conference in Aspen, Colorado, the deputy director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, David Shedd, estimated that there were at least 1,200 different Syrian rebel groups and that Islamic extremists, notably the Nusra Front, were well-placed to expand their influence. //
http://
Depends on the interviews you see -- equally, there are people in Syria who are against Assad, and one person talked of the UK "turning its back" on the people in that "no" vote last week.
The support for Assad seems to be based on a desire for stability, or a fear of what might follow him. But what sort of stability is it when your country's leader cannot be challenged, and when he is challenged he responds with force and with violence, and with chemical weapons attacks, and bombing his own people? That is not stability: that is suppression. And if it is stability it is not a stability worth having.
There have been many other times in history when a despotic and cruel leader has nevertheless been popular. Popular support can be based on misinformation, propaganda, lies, or just plain fear. Or a combination of these, as is most likely the case in Syria. People support Assad because they fear the alternative, and because the state media, controlled by Assad's regime, is spreading lies or at least a highly distorted truth.
The support for Assad seems to be based on a desire for stability, or a fear of what might follow him. But what sort of stability is it when your country's leader cannot be challenged, and when he is challenged he responds with force and with violence, and with chemical weapons attacks, and bombing his own people? That is not stability: that is suppression. And if it is stability it is not a stability worth having.
There have been many other times in history when a despotic and cruel leader has nevertheless been popular. Popular support can be based on misinformation, propaganda, lies, or just plain fear. Or a combination of these, as is most likely the case in Syria. People support Assad because they fear the alternative, and because the state media, controlled by Assad's regime, is spreading lies or at least a highly distorted truth.
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