Day: August 7, 2012
Disintegration is hard to stop
Susan Yackee at Voice of America asked a few questions today about Syria. Here are my replies, which VoA published under the headline “The Syrian Regime Is Coming Apart.” That’s not quite what I said, but judge for yourself. Here is the interview in its entirety (I’ve made a few [corrections] in the transcript):
‘Losing your prime minister says something about your regime’
“The prime minister is not very important within the power structure in Syria, but when you’re losing your prime minister, it says something about your regime. What it says in this case, I’m afraid, is that the Sunni part of the regime is peeling off. Hijab is a Sunni, and the regime is dominated by Alawites. This is one more indication that sectarian conflict is coming to dominate the situation in Syria.”
‘The regime is coming apart’
“A defection of this sort encourages other defections among his friends and family. I certainly think [it] gives the impression, both inside Syria and outside, that the regime is coming apart.”
Sectarian conflict is ‘difficult to stop’
“The history of these things is that once sectarian conflict starts, it’s extremely difficult to stop. I know that many Syrians associated with the revolution don’t regard this as a sectarian conflict, and wouldn’t be happy with a sectarian conflict. But the fact is that people, when there’s violence, retreat into sectarian [and] ethnic protection, and I anticipate that will happen in Syria as it has happened in many other places.”
It’s ‘hard to picture stability returning quickly’
“The most important thing at this point is to reach out as best the revolution can to Alawites, Christians and [Druze] who are still loyal to the Assad regime because they’re frightened of what will happen to them after the fact. I think the revolution has to reach out to them and try to bring them over. At the same time, I think the international community needs to be thinking very hard about what kind of effort to stabilize Syria will be required in the future. It’s very hard for me to picture stability returning quickly to Syria unless there’s external force applied.”
Read more at Middle East Voices.
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Sick and Sikh are both American
I didn’t even know until yesterday that white supremacist heavy metal rock bands existed. I was only slightly more aware of Sikhs, since their turbans and beards are hard to miss. But of this I am sure: what I am hearing from the Sikhs is far more to my liking than anything I will hear from white supremacists, heavy metal or not.
The Sikh community has got to be very angry. They are not only subjected to discrimination, racist violence and worse but have to suffer the colossal ignorance that identifies them as Muslim, which is a bit like treating Jews as if they were Buddhists or vice versa. People are entitled to their own identity, something white supremacists might even be expected to appreciate, since they so aggressively assert their own.
So what how are the Sikhs reacting? With great equanimity. Amardeep Singh of The Sikh Coalition offers:
…we have three core tenants for our daily lives. We believe in working hard and honestly. And in doing, we are respecting our creator. We believe in sharing our bounty with others. And then our third daily obligation is to remember God in everything we do.
The Sikhs are treating this as an opportunity to teach us something about their religion. I am grateful for the lesson.
Now I suppose that even in Sikh community there will be from time to time fallen angels who commit mayhem and even murder. But mayhem and even murder is the purpose of the white supremacists. Here’s a sample lyric:
Burn the tares in flames
Hang the traitors of our race
Judgment Day is here
The hand of God is in this place
Drive you out or cut you off
Your blood will surely flow
Avengers of the innocent
The Earth will soon now know
White Supremacy!
White Supremacy!
White Supremacy!
White Supremacy!
I can only imagine who is attracted to this tripe rather than the Sikh core tenants of their daily lives.
But they are among us: this great nation produces them, at the same time as it attracts the Sikhs. The one may be sick and the other Sikh, but they are both American. Time for a good hard look in the mirror.
PS: Need more on white power lyrics? Try this.
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