{"id":1058,"date":"2008-10-07T00:30:59","date_gmt":"2008-10-07T00:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2008-10-07T00:30:59","modified_gmt":"2008-10-07T00:30:59","slug":"readers-comment-on-why-syria-doesn%e2%80%99t-want-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/readers-comment-on-why-syria-doesn%e2%80%99t-want-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader’s Comment on “Why Syria Doesn\u2019t Want War”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Why Syria Doesn\u2019t Want War with Israel<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Johnny Writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Josh, though I agree with your following comment in general:<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria has scrupulously avoided direct war with Israel, because it would undermine its hold on power. That is why it must work through militias and non-state actors, which don\u2019t have a return address\u201d<\/p>\n

I beg to differ on the return address. The militias and non-state actors may not have a return address inside Syria proper, but ask any residents in the occupied territories and southern Lebanon and we will tell you otherwise. The return address is more often than not on top of our heads.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Joshua Replies<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Johnny, habibi \u2014 Allah yukhalli rasak. Kish barra wa ba3iid<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You are absolutely right. Syria\u2019s military weakness has obliged it to fight a non-traditional war. The result is that many Lebanese are held hostage to a larger struggle that they want no part of.<\/p>\n

All the more reason for not misinterpreting the war\u2019s causes. If one believes that it is due to \u201cdark Alawite insecurities,\u201d as Baer and others argue, the proper strategy to\u00a0bring peace to the region\u00a0is regime change in Syria.<\/p>\n

I think such a policy is stupid and misguided, even if it is all too commonly\u00a0made.\u00a0It will only lead to increased Lebanese chaos and suffering, not to mention plenty of Syrian chaos and suffering. This is a cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face policy.<\/p>\n

It confuses domestic power politics with Syria’s foreign policy. I quote\u00a0as support a\u00a0kind note sent to me by a three-time ambassador to the Middle East, who is also a long time Syria hand:<\/p>\n

Thank you for correcting the analysis of Robert Baer about the so-called “Alawites’ dark insecurity \u2014 and the fact that they will risk war with Israel if they believe their survival requires it.” It is one of those many simplistic examples of incorrectly trying to link internal power politics with foreign policies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The real solution is to help end the Arab-Israeli conflict and restore the Golan to its legal owners. Once this is accomplished, Syria will not have incentive to destabilize Lebanon. Certainly,\u00a0Syria’s Lebanon strategy will no longer need to\u00a0depend on supporting \u201cresistance\u201d and an armed Hizbullah. For Syria to give up support for Hizb before getting the Golan back, is to give up its claim to the Golan.<\/p>\n

Syria will continue to work for a \u201cfriendly\u201d Lebanon, but that will not be so objectionable – even to right wing Lebanese – so long as Syria is at peace with Israel and supports a Lebanon also at peace with Israel. Everyone will be the richer and everyone\u2019s house will be the safer – everyone but the 20,000 Jewish settlers on the Golan – which is where the real problem lies.<\/p>\n

All of this \u201cdark Alawite\u201d hocus-pocus is a diversion from the real problem of occupation and land disputes at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict. No matter who rules Syria, they will need to fight for the Golan and they will need allies in their struggle. Gaining the\u00a0return of\u00a0the Golan is perhaps the only thing\u00a0that all Syrians agree on.<\/p>\n

I doubt that the Muslim Brothers or the NSF have a better plan than the present Syrian regime has. During the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, they recommended that Assad attack Israel on the Golan in order to support Lebanon and defeat Israel. That would have been a losing strategy for Syria, but, of course, that was the point. They want Syria to be defeated by Israel in order to bring down the present regime that they abhor. This is the quintessential cut-of-your-nose-to-spite-your-face strategy. It was not smart of the these opposition members to advocate it.<\/p>\n

Lebanon and Syria are linked by geography, economy, and culture. Only a happy and peaceful Syria will help to foster a happy and peaceful Lebanon. And the same goes for a happy and peaceful Israel. The international community should throw its efforts behind the task of helping the Israeli settlers back to Israel proper and returning the 300,000 Golani refugees in Syria back to their homes and land. This is a much easier task than regime change in Damascus. It is more likely to improve the futures of\u00a0both\u00a0Syrians and Israelis. It will also end Syria’s need to hurt Israel through proxies and will protect people like you from becoming Israel’s return address.<\/p>\n

But let us turn away from\u00a0power politics for a moment. Supporting international law is the right thing to do. America should\u00a0not be seeking to crush Syrian efforts to\u00a0regain the Golan, which is exactly what Washington’s policy has been for the last eight years. It should be supporting and promoting the peace process that Israel and Syria have begun.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Syria Doesn\u2019t Want War with Israel Johnny Writes: Josh, though I agree with your following comment in general: \u201cSyria has scrupulously avoided direct war with Israel, because it would undermine its hold on power. That is why it must work through militias and non-state actors, which don\u2019t have a return address\u201d I beg to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[51,23,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-golan","category-peace","category-refugees"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nReader's Comment on "Why Syria Doesn\u2019t Want War" - Syria Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/readers-comment-on-why-syria-doesn\u2019t-want-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reader's Comment on "Why Syria Doesn\u2019t Want War" - Syria Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why Syria Doesn\u2019t Want War with Israel Johnny Writes: Josh, though I agree with your following comment in general: \u201cSyria has scrupulously avoided direct war with Israel, because it would undermine its hold on power. 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