Well, I’m playing the devil’s advocate here. I’m not supporting anybody thus far but the people of Syria. My views are currently quite precarious, it’s being developed over time with the more I know.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading regarding the Syrian conflict recently. I initially had the stance that Bashar Al-Assad was a criminal dictator and the FSA were the good guys (think star wars). But, I’ve soon come to realise that the situation is far too convoluted than I could even imagine. The more research I do, the more I tend to side with him. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.
-Yes. Bashar Al-Assad had committed a bunch of abysmal war crimes. But so has the U.S. (think drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan, pushing for war in Libya and Somalia), but so has the rebels.
Though, when Al-Assad catalysed the conflict by killing innocent civilians, it wasn’t only unarmed protesters that he fired upon
https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=61d_1314287262
It’s certainly rare for peaceful protests to remain peaceful. The situation may seem more one-sided than the media portrays it to be. I cannot verify this, though.
-The current rebels aren’t even the true people of Syria. The portion of the secular FSA that initially defected is now composing a tiny minority of the opposition force against the Syrian government. The initial defects from the Syrian army now make up a greater coalition which have abundant fighters with Islamist (in between moderate Islamic and radical islamic) views. Many of these fighters have came from surrounding nations, such as Lebanon.
Other factions have also emerged since with plain radical extremist views, such as ISIS and Al-Nusra. A lot of weapons that the U.S. supplied to the FSA have ended up in the hands of ISIS, further inadvertently strengthening the atrocious terrorist group.
3,000 FSA fighters defect to ISIS
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/3000-fsa-fighters-defect-isis-qalamoun-mountains/
FSA numbers dwindling
-A considerable portion of the Syrian people support Bashar Al-Assad, acknowledging that he is the lesser of the two evils. Now, I can’t fully ascertain whether this is even remotely true, but from my research, I have found almost all comments by Syrians online tend to be in favour or Al-Assad.
Video of a Syrian saying that the majority of Syrians support Bashar
Though, the man in the video may be living in the government-controlled region, so a bias may exist.
-Assad may be the last chance of survival for the minority groups in Syria, namely, the Alawites, Christians, Druze and Shia (maybe even the Kurds). I fear that if the opposition wins, these groups may suffer massive genocide.
After all, we all know how it ended up in Afghanistan after the Soviets withdrew from it. Warring factions from the Mujahideen, then Taliban was eventually formed and took control of the region. I fear that the U.S. may be replicating the same mistake they made ~40 years ago by supplying weapons to the rebels. It feels like a slippery slope.
I think Libya and Iraq can also be considered fair examples. Minority groups are oppressed there, too.
Video of Alawites being killed by the opposition
FSA members threaten Alawites and Syrian government (not 100% if they are FSA, though)
-I doubt that the opposition will create stability in the region, rather, the power void will create space for a greater monster to be nurtured and emerge years later. Like I addressed in my previous point, this has been the case for Afghanistan (I don’t know about Libya and Iraq, I’m unfamiliar with the state of their countries but from my understanding it is extremely unstable compared to how it used to be).
-Syria used to be a decent place prior to the civil war/revolution. From my understanding, it was pretty secular compared to its neighbours. It was a great place in the Middle East for freedom of faith and religion.
Here is a reddit thread where Syrians talk about life before the war (further proof that Syrians were fine with Assad, pre-war)
Those are the points that I can muster at the current moment. I know, it isn’t much, but I’m sort of a layman xD
I am not looking for an argument, but rather, I would like to be enlightened and have a discussion on the issue. I may be 100% wrong with all the stuff listed above, I don’t know. Do I have a point? Am I talking plain nonsense? Please share your views! If you’re from the surround regions, I urge you to share with me your insight. Take your time to digest the information above. I would appreciate it, a lot. :)
And please don’t comment if you’re going to perpetuate some anti-Islamic/anti-religion crap concerning this matter. It’s far more nuanced than that.
TL;DR: Bashar Al-Assad is a horrible dictator, but he is a better option over the alternative for the people in Syria.
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Sorry, but any crimes Bashar committed were definitely in relation to conflict that the FSA thugs ignited. It's not intentional, mainly collateral damage. I have firsthand sources that state the rebels were looting homes and businesses of people who supported the president, and were carrying attacks against them. How is that democratic in any way? The people were begging for the Syrian army to come in and protect them, but the rebel thugs kept pushing for more and more.
As a Syrian from a minority group who is widely persecuted in the middle east, the Assad family was a blessing to Syria. The conflict is one rooted in sectarian self-interest. The only people against Assad are ones pushing for extremism in Syria. Happened in the 80s but Assad the father took control. The son is far more lenient, and probably why the rebels ever had a chance to sprout their fake revolution, also with the help of self-interested western powers who are now kicking them to the curb.
It wasn't a perfect government, but no government is perfect. Everyone had equal rights to opportunities. Education was free. Especially the years prior to the conflict, life was astronomically better for lower income and middle class Syrians. A lot of middle class Syrians were able to cottages on the Mediterranean coast for vacations. The government was taking so many steps forward and he vowed to make it a second Dubai in the middle east.
Just to give you an idea, my parents were taught all religions in school and required to pay respects to all sects, as well as being treated with respected by others. This is was a highly upheld ideal, and secularism was extremely emphasized/enforced.
There is also a very respectable amount of opposition members who support reform in a democratic way, but they were overshadowed by barbaric FSA rebels unfortunately.
In relation to the Dubai thing, I meant Damascus not Syria as a whole. I obviously know that Dubai is a city, and Syria is a country lol. Just didn't review my comment until I posted. Wanted to clarify
Also, I honestly do not believe Arabs can handle a democracy. The only reason they behave in the democratic structure of western countries is fear of social/political/economic sanctioning, or deportation. There are so many interest groups in the middle east, with a deeply rooted and harsh history fuelled by religious ideals. It is nearly impossible for all of them to be pleased. Assad wasn't a "horrible dictator." My family in Syria were absolutely shocked when people would say he was considered a dictator. He was truly a selfless man doing his best to fix a once fragmented and crippled country, while ensuring that everyone basically got along. And it worked for so many years.
Thank you for your insight. It was certainly good to read.
What about the supposed use of chemical weapons? What do you think of that?
I have heard that Bashar has ordered entire villages to be wiped out. Do you know anything about that?
I believe too, that democracy certainly cannot begin immediately in various Arab countries. I think that it requires time to be nurtured and to developed, a prerequisite that was overlooked when Western powers assisted various rebel groups against their respective dictators.
Apologize for how lengthy it got but I wanted to make sure I covered everything lol. The chemical weapons thing is an extremely disputed issue. The UN ultimately concluded that he actually had nothing to do with a lot of them, and the rebels did it to place blame on Assad and taint his image. This is also supported by numerous refugees who have fled and told their stories. The rebels are nothing short of barbaric. We lived there for 40 years, and no chemical weapon was ever used against us.
The west really doesn't care much for establishing democracy. It's just a card they play over and over, to further their own agenda.
Don’t apologise. I prefer a long, in depth post that addresses a range of issues over a small post that lacks substance.
I can’t imagine what it must feel like for your family. Besides having your country torn apart, lies being told about your own leader. I mean, I myself, feel extremely deceived the more I do research regarding this topic. I feel that a lot of information has been withheld from the world.
Have you spoken from anyone from rebel-controlled regions? If so, what do they think?
What do you think the agenda of the West is, though?
Many Syrians have told me similar things to what you have told me.
Anyway, I stumbled upon a video earlier about a couple of college kids in Syria, pre-war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbM4trP42NY
I found this too. It's kinda funny. xD might lighten the mood a little
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDi07qQNZk
To answer your questions:
- Yes, I've heard stories from close people about living under rebel controlled areas and it was basically constant fear, constant fighting, and absolutely zero structure. Just a bunch of thugs who were there to wreak havoc than to truly free anyone... not very emblematic of democracy is it?
- oil is definitely part of the agenda, as with all other middle eastern countries. also, they're not exactly fans of Syria's allied powers, and in a sense, Syria was the weaker of those countries so it's easy to see why they chose to start the tension.
Love the videos by the way. The one with the college students is so sad though. That was the life they were living. It was actually the safest country in the middle east. There also a lot of religious tolerance, but some of it was obviously fake because a handful of the rebels are ones who hate Alwiite/Christian minority groups. Their "revolution" has some deep sectarian roots and isn't very inclusive.
Thank you for sharing your insight with me. It opened my eyes in a way. I appreciate you taking the time to write those posts. :)
So glad I don't live in that mess. Kinda reminds me of what people have said about Sadam Hussein. Bad guy, but he kept terrorist groups in check. It was after he was taken out that the terrorists gained all this power.