Reasons to support Syrian rebels

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Sep 13, 2013 at 06:52

Dear Dr Pipes, your reader DNM cites Putin and asks why should the free world support the Islamic rebels in Syria against Assad. This is a very pertinent question in a world that is suffering at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists in its every corner. On the one hand we have the (so called) freedom fighters in Indian Kashmir, Russian Chechnya, southern Philippines, northern Nigeria, western China, and around Israel. These freedom fighters are perpetually fighting for their independence from liberal democracies so they can create draconian Islamic theocracies. On the other hand we have failed Islamic theocracies where we have brothers killing brothers for reasons that no sane man will be able to understand. The question is not whether we should interfere in this crazy state of affairs. The question is how?

There is no right answer to this question. Both interference and non-interference have merits and demerits. Fratricidal wars in Islamic societies from Morocco to Libya to Egypt to Iraq/Iran to Afghanistan and Pakistan indicate that Islamic political utopia does not provide a sustainable way to govern nations. I hypothesize that through these wars Islamic societies are going through a metamorphosis of their own; the young people in these muslim countries must be realizing on a daily basis that their system is failing them.

Interference in Islamic fratricidal wars will accelarate the demise of political Islam around the world. Any thing that rocks the boat is good. Things that rock the boats with good intentions are even better. Helping Syrian rebels will bring the demise of Assad. Replay the Egyptian tape for the last two years. In two years, some new rebels fighting against the current rebels will emerge in Syria. This process will continue until the cycle of violence ends. The religion that claims to be the religion of peace has to learn that franchising violence does not work. India learned this lesson when she wrote the epic Mahabharata hundreds of years ago. We learned the same lesson again when King Asoka adopted Buddism as his religion. Europe learned it after the 2nd world war. Communists learned it by disappearing from the planet. Now political-Islam has to learn the very same lesson. The policy of non-interference will slow down this education. Interference will accelarate it.

Today, we do not know which side in Syria used Chemical weapons. But we surely know that both sides are capable of using them. And that is why we should support those who are out of power against those who are in power for decades. We should try our best to change the status-quo.

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