Project for Philosophical Evaluations of the Economy |
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Let the Syrians battle it out for themselves, - at least for the time being
Dialogue with the Alter Ego on the Arab spring in Syria, first drafted on Feb. 2, published on Feb. 3, 2012
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Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): Obviously, the international community is quite concerned about the
current situation in Syria where more than 5400 people have been killed in the course of clashes between Arab
spring protesters and ruthless government forces. The UN Security Council is now debating a resolution that calls
for the withdrawal of troops from the cities, a release of all political prisoners and for President Bashar al-Asad to
yield power to his deputy in order to prepare the ground for a unity government and free elections in Syria.
Russia is opposing this motion arguing that the international community should leave it to the Syrians themselves
to decide how they want to resolve their national fate. Which side of the argument does Noah denkt™ come down
here?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, unfortunately, it seems to us as if Russia’s position here is the most
reasonable at this time, given the complicated ethnic, religious and social make-up of Syria.
AE: What!!! You are siding with Russia here!!! How do you reconcile that with your earlier outrage regarding the
German abstention in the Libya intervention resolution?
Nd: It appears to us, as if the Syrian case is different from the one in Libya. According to our information the
uprising in Syria only has the support of 50% of the population. The other half seems to stick with the current
President. And what’s more we also need to recognize that there is no threat of genocide hanging over parts of
the Syrian population as was the case in Cyrenaica (East Libya) at the time.
AE: But shouldn’t the West stand united here in its attempt to defend human rights?
Nd: Of course, it is disconcerting to see all that violence erupting in Syria. But the question is: Will there not be
more and protracted violence in that country once the current power structure breaks down? Don’t forget that
there are Sunnis, Shiites (Alawis), Druze and Christians living in Syria who do not necessarily see eye to eye on a
lot of issues. Do you believe it will be easy to bring them together for a peaceful and constructive national
dialogue? Unfortunately the examples of Iraq and Libya don’t really support this presumption. And if we are
absolutely honest here we even have to admit that the reconciliation process in Egypt and Tunisia isn’t going all
that well either.
AE: But isn’t the post-revolution violence which we are seeing in Libya or Egypt these days the natural fall out of
any kind of forceful uprising? In other words, should we not have known ahead of time that such turmoil will
probably ensue? And should we therefore not have been more cautious right from the start when endorsing these
uprisings?
Nd: No, what happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya had to happen. The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions
started by and large in a peaceful manner; they were majority driven and hence warranted our support. And in
the case of Libya, we simply had to help the people against the heavy artillery and the outrageous recklessness
which an apparently insane leader was deploying against them. As far as Syria is concerned, however, the
situation is by no means as well defined as it was in Tunisia, Egypt or Libya.
AE: In other words, you are advising the West to simply stay mum about all these atrocities which are being
committed on a daily basis?
Nd: We are advising the West to take into consideration that there is no simple solution for Syria, that hence they
should leave it, at least for the time being, to the forces that there are in that country to battle out their own future
power structure.
AE: Are you then saying that democracy may not be the adequate solution for the people of Syria?
Nd: Well, realism dictates to not exclude that possibility.
AE: Isn’t that a devastating thing to say?
Nd: Well, it is not the first time that we have questioned certain countries’ ability to have a fully-fledged
democracy. Just think about what we said about Honduras at the time.
AE: But in Libya, which certainly isn’t further along than Honduras in its social development you supported the
idea of backing the pro-democracy uprising. Aren’t you applying different sets of measures here?
Nd: Probably. But you can only do what you think best at the time. And in the case of Libya we stand by our
earlier judgment that it was necessary to stop the insanity.
Dialogue with the Alter Ego on the Arab spring in Syria, first drafted on Feb. 2, published on Feb. 3, 2012
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): Obviously, the international community is quite concerned about the
current situation in Syria where more than 5400 people have been killed in the course of clashes between Arab
spring protesters and ruthless government forces. The UN Security Council is now debating a resolution that calls
for the withdrawal of troops from the cities, a release of all political prisoners and for President Bashar al-Asad to
yield power to his deputy in order to prepare the ground for a unity government and free elections in Syria.
Russia is opposing this motion arguing that the international community should leave it to the Syrians themselves
to decide how they want to resolve their national fate. Which side of the argument does Noah denkt™ come down
here?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, unfortunately, it seems to us as if Russia’s position here is the most
reasonable at this time, given the complicated ethnic, religious and social make-up of Syria.
AE: What!!! You are siding with Russia here!!! How do you reconcile that with your earlier outrage regarding the
German abstention in the Libya intervention resolution?
Nd: It appears to us, as if the Syrian case is different from the one in Libya. According to our information the
uprising in Syria only has the support of 50% of the population. The other half seems to stick with the current
President. And what’s more we also need to recognize that there is no threat of genocide hanging over parts of
the Syrian population as was the case in Cyrenaica (East Libya) at the time.
AE: But shouldn’t the West stand united here in its attempt to defend human rights?
Nd: Of course, it is disconcerting to see all that violence erupting in Syria. But the question is: Will there not be
more and protracted violence in that country once the current power structure breaks down? Don’t forget that
there are Sunnis, Shiites (Alawis), Druze and Christians living in Syria who do not necessarily see eye to eye on a
lot of issues. Do you believe it will be easy to bring them together for a peaceful and constructive national
dialogue? Unfortunately the examples of Iraq and Libya don’t really support this presumption. And if we are
absolutely honest here we even have to admit that the reconciliation process in Egypt and Tunisia isn’t going all
that well either.
AE: But isn’t the post-revolution violence which we are seeing in Libya or Egypt these days the natural fall out of
any kind of forceful uprising? In other words, should we not have known ahead of time that such turmoil will
probably ensue? And should we therefore not have been more cautious right from the start when endorsing these
uprisings?
Nd: No, what happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya had to happen. The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions
started by and large in a peaceful manner; they were majority driven and hence warranted our support. And in
the case of Libya, we simply had to help the people against the heavy artillery and the outrageous recklessness
which an apparently insane leader was deploying against them. As far as Syria is concerned, however, the
situation is by no means as well defined as it was in Tunisia, Egypt or Libya.
AE: In other words, you are advising the West to simply stay mum about all these atrocities which are being
committed on a daily basis?
Nd: We are advising the West to take into consideration that there is no simple solution for Syria, that hence they
should leave it, at least for the time being, to the forces that there are in that country to battle out their own future
power structure.
AE: Are you then saying that democracy may not be the adequate solution for the people of Syria?
Nd: Well, realism dictates to not exclude that possibility.
AE: Isn’t that a devastating thing to say?
Nd: Well, it is not the first time that we have questioned certain countries’ ability to have a fully-fledged
democracy. Just think about what we said about Honduras at the time.
AE: But in Libya, which certainly isn’t further along than Honduras in its social development you supported the
idea of backing the pro-democracy uprising. Aren’t you applying different sets of measures here?
Nd: Probably. But you can only do what you think best at the time. And in the case of Libya we stand by our
earlier judgment that it was necessary to stop the insanity.
| © Landei Selbstverlag, owned by Wilhelm ("Wil") Leonards, Gerolstein, Germany. All rights reserved. Reminder: Noah denkt™ is a project of Wilhelm ("Wil") Leonards and his Landei Selbstverlag (WL & his LSV). Consequently, all rights to the texts that have been published under the Noah denkt™brand name are reserved by WL & his LSV. The commentary and the reasoning that was provided on this page is for informational and/or educational purposes only and it is not intended to provide tax, legal or investment advice. It should therefore not be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security or any issuer by WL & his LSV or its Noah denkt™ Project. In fact, WL & his LSV encourage the user to understand that he alone is responsible for determining whether any investment, security or strategy is appropriate or suitable for him. And to leave no doubt as to what this means we urge our user to also note our extended Legal Notice. |
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| Keywords: Syria, violence in Syria, uprising in Syria, Security Council on Syria, pro-democracy movement in Syria, Arab spring, foreign intervention in Syria, human rights violations in Syria, democracy in Syria, national reconciliation in Syria |