Barry Rubin-08/05/2007

Barry Rubin, (Jerusalem Post)

"In politics it's not just what you do; it's also how others react to it. That does not mean one should not act because of how it will be perceived elsewhere, only that that factor should certainly be taken into consideration.

Last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several other Democrats visited Syria. They spoke respectfully of that country's government but made not one public statement condemning Syria's sponsorship of terrorists in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel; nor did they take any strong position - as far as is known, either publicly or privately - in defense of Syrian dissidents.

The visit stirred a great deal of attention, but the TV cameras turned off once the visitors departed and did not notice what happened next.

My new book, The Truth About Syria, explains how the regime's nature makes its radicalism, intransigence and support for terrorism inevitable. Basically, since the regime cannot offer either freedom or material betterment in order to survive, it must provide demagoguery and extremism.

To give its people, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslims suspicious of their Alawite, non-Muslim rulers, some reason to support its regime Syria needs to portray itself as Islamist, and as the great champion against the West and Israel.

Without these pillars it would crumble.

The country's rulers understand this fact very well. The Iran-Syria alliance is not some mistake on the part of either party, from which they can be won away, but a profound expression of their strategy and interests."

"AT THE SAME time as Syria is a terrific case study of how Arab dictatorships work - and why they stay in power - it is also a wonderful example of how the West usually lets them get away with behavior which would not be tolerated elsewhere in the world. After all, fighting terrorism is a central pillar of Western policy. Yet Syria is world champion in the terrorism league and the main emphasis heard today in Western debate is how Damascus must be engaged, trusted and offered concessions."

 

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