The world has such a raging hard-on against ISIS right now that we're forgetting the roots of this conflict.
ISIS made in-roads in Syria specifically because al Assad began violently repressing peaceful, democratic protests. Protects which the West turned a blind eye on because the status quo was preferable in Syria and a democratic Syrian state would be a challenge to Israel's moral high ground in the region.
But now that ISIS has gained a foothold, al Assad is suddenly our ally of circumstance and we're cheering Russia on as they bombard targets that have more to do with propping up al Assad's positions than really eradicating ISIS. Not only that, but when they bomb ISIS positions they're raining bombs on the civilian populations that are held hostage by ISIS.
But hey, we're killing terrorists, right? Go Putin!
I've seen plenty of people on social media cheer Putin's aggressive stance against ISIS. That's what I'm referring to, not the article per se.
A democratic Syria would be a challenge to Israel in the same way a democratic Egypt would be, which is why the US was initially reluctant to back the Arab Spring demonstrators. The problem is that, when it's not the US installing a democracy, there's a risk that a democratically-elected government would still be hostile towards Israel. There were early signs of such a situation in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood polling strong, and it would definitely be the case with Syrians given how bitter country relations have been.
Never said al Assad was the US's ally, but he's Russia's ally, and when Russia claims to be bombing ISIS people cheer on even though they don't realize Russia's end game is maintaining al Assad (or his entourage, if transition becomes necessary) firmly in power.
The world has such a raging hard-on against ISIS right now that we're forgetting the roots of this conflict.
ISIS made in-roads in Syria specifically because al Assad began violently repressing peaceful, democratic protests. Protects which the West turned a blind eye on because the status quo was preferable in Syria and a democratic Syrian state would be a challenge to Israel's moral high ground in the region.
But now that ISIS has gained a foothold, al Assad is suddenly our ally of circumstance and we're cheering Russia on as they bombard targets that have more to do with propping up al Assad's positions than really eradicating ISIS. Not only that, but when they bomb ISIS positions they're raining bombs on the civilian populations that are held hostage by ISIS.
But hey, we're killing terrorists, right? Go Putin!
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