2 thoughts on “How Much Responsibility Does the Syrian State Have for the Alawi Massacres?”
pre-Boomer Marine brat
According to things I’ve read, substantial argument can made that Alawite cult is NOT “Islamic”, though such opinion can’t be supported because of the inherent extreme secrecy of the cult. (Only senior members are allowed to know the inner theology and history of Alawism. Outsiders have never been told anything.) Disaffection toward and hatred of the cult among others in the Levant goes back many centuries, and that fact must be kept in mind.
[And no, they are NOT the Alevis of northern Anatolia.]
Hafez al-Assad’s dictatorship was day-to-day protected by various Intelligence Directorates (secret police) which he had established and which were run by Alawites. The most powerful and dangerous was the Air Force Intelligence Directorate (which among other things, ran Sednaya Prison, which had its own crematorium.) The entire officer corps of the military was Alawite, but the I.D.s were key to the Regime’s survival. This continued under Bashar, who was arguably a figurehead (brother Maher commanded the Republican Guard and the 4th Division — both formations largely Alawite.)
The Iranian theocracy’s actions for the Assad Regime were fundamental to the goal of forming a Shi’a Crescent from the northern Levant to the Arabian Sea. Tehran (or should we say, Qom) even announced that the Alawi were “truly Shi’a”.
Iran was utterly behind the Assad Regime’s totalitarian preservationist actions, including Maher’s murderous reaction to the Arab Spring protests. (June 2009 had seen Iran’s reaction to what can be called a Persian Spring, the “where’s my vote?” movement.)
The point is, an Alawite bloodbath after the Regime’s collapse wasn’t merely a possibility. Hafez and company (and Iran) had made its coming inexorable. It’s not over. It’ll continue until the cult is a few hundred hiding in a mountain valley somewhere.
American President Abraham Lincoln said: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
The Alawi held life-and-death power in Syria for five decades. It was commonly said that no one left Sednaya Prison alive.
It’s true that the children being murdered are themselves innocent, but to say that history has nothing to do with anything is dirt-stupid.
Kyle Orton's Blog 
According to things I’ve read, substantial argument can made that Alawite cult is NOT “Islamic”, though such opinion can’t be supported because of the inherent extreme secrecy of the cult. (Only senior members are allowed to know the inner theology and history of Alawism. Outsiders have never been told anything.) Disaffection toward and hatred of the cult among others in the Levant goes back many centuries, and that fact must be kept in mind.
[And no, they are NOT the Alevis of northern Anatolia.]
Hafez al-Assad’s dictatorship was day-to-day protected by various Intelligence Directorates (secret police) which he had established and which were run by Alawites. The most powerful and dangerous was the Air Force Intelligence Directorate (which among other things, ran Sednaya Prison, which had its own crematorium.) The entire officer corps of the military was Alawite, but the I.D.s were key to the Regime’s survival. This continued under Bashar, who was arguably a figurehead (brother Maher commanded the Republican Guard and the 4th Division — both formations largely Alawite.)
The Iranian theocracy’s actions for the Assad Regime were fundamental to the goal of forming a Shi’a Crescent from the northern Levant to the Arabian Sea. Tehran (or should we say, Qom) even announced that the Alawi were “truly Shi’a”.
Iran was utterly behind the Assad Regime’s totalitarian preservationist actions, including Maher’s murderous reaction to the Arab Spring protests. (June 2009 had seen Iran’s reaction to what can be called a Persian Spring, the “where’s my vote?” movement.)
The point is, an Alawite bloodbath after the Regime’s collapse wasn’t merely a possibility. Hafez and company (and Iran) had made its coming inexorable. It’s not over. It’ll continue until the cult is a few hundred hiding in a mountain valley somewhere.
American President Abraham Lincoln said: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
The Alawi held life-and-death power in Syria for five decades. It was commonly said that no one left Sednaya Prison alive.
It’s true that the children being murdered are themselves innocent, but to say that history has nothing to do with anything is dirt-stupid.
LikeLike
How about the massacres of the Druze?
What does it all say about the “new Damascus”? Who’s next? Why?
LikeLike