Syria: How To Avoid Civil War, And What To Ask Ambassador Ford.
Posted on Wednesday, August 3, 2011

by Elliott Abrams

I’ve recently written two articles on Syria. In
The Wall Street Journal
, I discussed what actions might be taken to help avoid sectarian conflict. The longer the current violence continues the more likely it is that the struggle
for freedom will become a Sunni vs. Alawite conflict, given the fact that the Assad regime is led by Alawites in a majority-Sunni country. It would therefore
be useful to reach out to the Alawite generals, urging that they choose to be survivors not war criminals, and save themselves and their community by distancing
themselves from Assad and his mafia. And it would be useful to ask the opposition to Assad to clarify that they are anti-Assad not anti-Alawite, and seek
a country where all minorities (Christian, Kurd, Druze, and Alawite) will be fully protected.

In
The Weekly Standard
I offered a series of questions for U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. Ford was sent to Damascus under a recess appointment and is now seeking Senate
confirmation. His hearing was held Tuesday, August 2, and did no credit to the U.S. Senate: as most senators left town immediately after the debt ceiling
vote, only one showed up to question Ford. But they can submit questions in writing, and I suggest ten questions about U.S. policy and his role in it.

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3 Responses to “Syria: How To Avoid Civil War, And What To Ask Ambassador Ford.”
list of 3 items nesting level 1
August 3, 2011 at 10:26 am
yuval Brandstetter MD responds:
It seems Mr Elliot is not looking at the evidence presented in Egypt. Six months after ousting the local strongman, a day prior to placing him in a death-bed
show trial, the Islamistas cleared the young liberals off Tahrir square telling them they have no business in governing a Muslim State. Concurrently the
Copts, a minority of millions in egypt are being hounded to extinction or emigration. So who are the powers that can goad the People to brave Assad’s cannon?
The Muslim Brotherhood of course. Should Assasd fall, the brotherhood will take over, which is tantamount to Hamas takeover, or Somali shabibah takeover,
or Al qaida takeover. The “alterntive” is Turkey, Islamist Turkey, where the Christian minority is also hounded into extinction, deaming of the resurrected
Khaliphate, Syria first, then Israel. Is the US going to guarantee the life of the Alawaites should they lay down their weapons? Yea, just as they guaranteed
the Jewish lives in Germany 1939-1945, or the south-vietnamese, or the Hmong in Cambodia. The Alawaites are no fools. They see by the way the world treats
the Jews what happens when one trusts the “international” community. They are likely to fight to the death, because the only choice in the ME is living
on the swond, or falling on it.

August 3, 2011 at 11:43 am
lord garth responds:
There may be an upside to prolonging the Syrian conflict, namely, the disgracing and humiliation of Hezbollah and Iran. As the conflict continues, these
two will have to commit more prestige and resources to Assad. If Assad then falls anyway, both will be seen as major losers.

Of course, the more the conflict goes on, the more people are killed by Assad which is the main reason to make Assad leave sooner rather than later.

August 3, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Dan Friedman responds:
These people have been slitting each other’s throats for a thousand years before a European set foot in America. Now Abrams & Co. come along to tell us
things will turn out if only the warring factions would be reasonable. Pathetic.