"We
protest with all our power against the sham, the hypocritical sham,
that [the non-intervention policy] now appears to be." --Philip Noel-Baker, House of Commons, October 29, 1936.
"The outcome of the Spanish war was settled in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin--at any rate not in Spain….The war was actually won for Franco by the Germans and Italians." -- George Orwell, "Looking Back at the Spanish Civil War."
Spain
1936. An army revolt against the democratically elected government sets
off a civil war. On one side are the Fascists, led by General Francisco
Franco. On the other side is a coalition of democrats both social
democratic and liberal; communal nationalists; anarchists, Communists,
and independent Marxists. The Western democracies declare an embargo: no
arms to be sold to the Loyalist side. But Nazi Germany and Fascist
Italy help the Rebels, while Stalin’s USSR helps the Communists,
increasing their power within the Loyalist coalition. In the end, the
Fascists win and rule Spain for decades.
Syria
2012. The people revolt against the dictatorship setting off a civil
war. On one side is the anti-American repressive Syrian regime that has
been a champion of revolutionary Islamism; its ally, Iran; and
Hizballah. On the other side is a coalition of democrats, communal
nationalists, and Islamists. The Western democracies declare an
embargo: no arms to be sold to the rebels. But Shia Islamist Iran and
Russia help the regime, while Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood help the
Islamists, increasing their power within the rebel coalition. In the
end, either the regime wins or the Islamist component among the rebels
is more likely to win.
This is why UN Ambassador Susan Rice is speaking nonsense when she says:
"Our
view has been that the best way to resolve this is not by intensifying
the militarization, not by providing further arms into what is already a
hot conflict - but to try to resolve it through non-military means,
through a diplomatic and political process."
It's
already a fratricidal war in which 10,000 civilians have died; the
American equivalent of that death tool would be 150,000 people. To decry
militarization when your enemies are rushing arms into Syria and since
there can be no diplomatic solution between two sides engaged in a
battle to the death is absurdly hypocritical.
Rice continues:
"For
this to become a proxy war with countries all over the region and
beyond funneling weapons in there is basically conceding a massive fire
burning in that region. For those who are advocating arming the
opposition, they really ought to consider the consequences of that
approach and also to ask, frankly, who are they arming inside of the
Syrian opposition."
It
is already a proxy war but the only ones helping their proxies are
America's enemies, and while it is true that there are such forces also
among the rebels--a point that never bothered the Obama Administration
over Libya--a decent policy should be able to ensure that the arms don't
go to the Brotherhood and Salafists but to units commanded by officers
who have defected from the army; Kurdish and Druze communal
nationalists; and moderates.
In
several respects, the Syrian civil war is the Spanish Civil War of our
time. It is an exhibition match between two ideological rivals—Shia
Islamism and Sunni Islamism—that both want totalitarian dictatorship but
cannot co-exist. It is a testing ground for the conflicts to come. Yet
it is not a simple battle of good against evil. The Syrian regime is
certainly evil, but the rebels are a mixed bag who also include evil
forces. It is only the best elements among them that deserve the outside
world’s support, help to defeat those who want repressive dictatorship
on both the enemy side and on their own side as well.
Yet
the democratic outside world is, for all practical purposes, standing
passive. The Iranian regime is helping one side with huge amounts of
money and arms, as Nazi Germany did for the Franco forces; the Turkish
regime and the Saudis are helping the other side a bit, but giving
disproportionate assistance to the Muslim Brotherhood, like the USSR
gave to the Communists in Spain. Indeed, U.S. policy is aiding the
Brotherhood, too.
Nobody
is helping the moderate pro-democracy people; the Druze and Kurdish
communal nationalists; and the technocratic military officers who have
put their lives on the line to fight the dictatorship.
------------------
Barry Rubin, Israel: An Introduction
(Yale University Press) is the first comprehensive book providing a
well-rounded introduction to Israel, a definitive account of the
nation's past, its often controversial present, and much more. It
presents a clear and detailed view of the country’s land, people,
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for general readers and students who may have little knowledge but even
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here to purchase your copy and get more information on the book.
------------------
Why
stand and watch while the Iranian-Syrian bloc, determined to
destabilize the region and destroy U.S. interests, crushes those who
want democracy? Why stand and watch (and even help!) while the Muslim
Brotherhood and Turkey, determined to foment Islamist revolution and
destroy U.S. interests, seize control of the opposition and seek to
impose a new and equally ferocious dictatorship on Syria?
Yes,
despite all the smug "pro-democracy" rhetoric coming out of the Obama
Administration and others, nobody is helping the moderates who are
doomed either to being crushed by the repressive regime or being
overwhelmed by the totalitarians on their own side. This is a tragedy
but it is a tragedy in which passivity is as powerful a force as is
evil. That the Obama Administration is mouthing platitudes about human
rights and supporting democracy makes the situation altogether more
sickening. The debate should not be over whether or not to intervene but
how to help natural allies against the inevitable enemies on both sides
of the war.
When
the dictatorship defeats the opposition and hundreds of people are
massacred or, albeit less likely but possible, if the Islamists turn
Syria into another totalitarian regime in an alliance to destroy Western
interests in the region, let's have no doubt who is also responsible.
It will be a defeat of both strategic and humanitarian proportions.
Homework
assignment for readers: Rice said that we knew far more about the
opposition in Libya--when the U.S. government and NATO decided to put it
into power by force--than we do about the opposition in Syria. Discuss.
Barry
Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs
(GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International
Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His book, Israel: An Introduction, has just been published by Yale University Press. Other recent books include The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center and of his blog, Rubin Reports. His original articles are published at PJMedia.
A different version of this article was published in the Jerusalem Post. I own the rights.
Posted: 08 Jun 2012 05:23 AM PDT
What
happens when former President George W. Bush returns to the White House
for the unveiling of his official presidential portrait? The amazing
thing is that this new Globama-man comic strip is very close to the
actual event. Since I can't figure out how to post the comic strip here
please go to see it:by clicking on this line.
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