tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post7351408782484537519..comments2024-03-26T00:37:34.943+01:00Comments on Venezuela News And Views: A word about Syria and the sad state of the worldDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12128609182544333477noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-50912804503241548072011-05-13T23:04:22.111+02:002011-05-13T23:04:22.111+02:00The New York Review of Books has a good article on...The New York Review of Books has a good article on the backround to the Alawite hegemony in Syria:<br /><br />http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jun/09/storm-over-syria/jeffry househttp://jeffryhouse.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-17821942722952788742011-05-12T15:00:15.369+02:002011-05-12T15:00:15.369+02:00I have seen a bit of reporting on Syria on German ...I have seen a bit of reporting on Syria on German and French TV lately, even if they admitted the reporting was based now on the refugees streaming into Lebanon and Turkey (and they let them speak a bit) plus videos sent by some courageous people, the evidence for massive war crimes perpetrated by the regime is quite big. <br /><br />It is time for the international community to make a big stance to what is happening. Unfortunately, you won't get that from the regimes in Russia or China, which know what could come to them in a decade or so.Keplerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11125538872924743270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-69242617045279997512011-05-12T14:45:18.590+02:002011-05-12T14:45:18.590+02:00The odds are 14% that Bashar al-Assad will leave b...The odds are 14% that Bashar al-Assad will leave by the end of June and 33% by the end of the year, according to traders. Looks like the Christians and Alawites are going to get away with murder.jsbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16526596147319229399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-54217680182154541672011-05-12T04:44:07.445+02:002011-05-12T04:44:07.445+02:00Anon,
"Syria sucks".
Looks like the Sy...Anon,<br /><br />"Syria sucks".<br /><br />Looks like the Syrian's agree with you.Roynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-90639374490411874682011-05-12T01:45:09.326+02:002011-05-12T01:45:09.326+02:00I lived in Syria. Life in Syria sucks. Syria pri...I lived in Syria. Life in Syria sucks. Syria prides itself on being the cradle of civilization but civilization has come and gone. My Syrian friends were always aware of being listened in on and intentionally avoided political topics. They could not speak freely. And jobs? It was about who you knew. There was no government program to increase the well being of the general population.<br /><br />Syria sucks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-32992108334475458062011-05-12T01:38:37.646+02:002011-05-12T01:38:37.646+02:00Anon,
You are correct, but only up to a point. T...Anon,<br /><br />You are correct, but only up to a point. There are non-violent strategies that have proven effectiveness. See:<br /><br />http://www.aeinstein.org/<br /><br />and<br /><br />http://www.aforcemorepowerful.org/<br /><br />In the case of Syria, we are already seeing defections from their armed forces. An army, as a weapon of subjugation, is only effective, so long as the soldiers are willing to continue killing civilians. Continued protests in the face of brutal repression wears down the will of an army to continue being an instrument of that repression.<br /><br />Any dictatorship can only continue with the collaboration of a significant percentage of the population. When the population becomes so fed up with the status quo, that they prefer to risk death than continue as before, even the best armed dictator is at risk.Roynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4080946.post-5102764174111504712011-05-11T22:49:25.485+02:002011-05-11T22:49:25.485+02:00"It was a sick world that allowed such folks ...<b>"It was a sick world that allowed such folks to prosper for so long.</b><br /><br />It wasn't "sickness" that allowed it to happen. It's just the way humanity works (and I don't mean it in a good way).<br /><br />To oversimplify it a bit, there are two kinds of people, those who are willing to use violence to accomplish their goals, and those who aren't. The thing is that, thanks to the way the universe works, the ones in the first group are infinitely more likely to succeed than those in the second group.<br /><br />People from the second group invariably say things like "violence never solves anything", which is ridiculous. Violence is the only thing that has ever solved anything regarding humans. There's a good reason why policemen scream "stop or I'll shoot!" rather than "stop or you'll feel really sorry about your actions" when they try to stop a criminal from getting away.<br /><br />But those who are good at violence, tend to get better at it with practice, so they get really good at solving their problems. That is <b>their</b> problems, not anyone else's. They are selfish, self-centered and have little patience for anyone else and their problems and will not hesitate to hurt anyone that gets in their way.<br /><br />And while those who use violence keep using it more and more, and succeeding more and more, those who don't like violence simply stare around themselves thinking "isn't anyone going to do something and stop those a-holes?" But of course, they don't want to use violence. They delude themselves into thinking that they can stop the violent ones by merely shaking their accusatory fingers and saying "shame on you!" in an angry tone of voice, and then are surprised when it doesn't work, incapable of realizing that diplomacy only works when your gun is bigger than theirs.<br /><br />But the greatest problem, and this is where everything goes to hell, is that the only possible solution (that those who don't like violence realize it is necessary to get rid of the violent ones) only creates a self-fulfilling vicious cycle where the only way to solve the problem is to use violence, but the problem itself is the fact that some people think it is OK to use violence to solve problems.<br /><br />So the problem is inherently unsolvable because the only possible solution to the problem just happens to be the main cause of the problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com