In my post #15, the phrase “taken out” was in quotes as a restate to post #12 made by others.
I used only the word “neutralized” to describe the end result of the Syrian civil war.
I am familiar with the Alewites and their minority control over the Syrian military.
Of Syrians: 74% are Sunni/Sufi, 13% are Alawites/Ismailis/Twelvers, 10% are Christians,and 3% are Druze.
After a civil war, in a national power vacuum, minorities always have the threat of abuse. Christians are not going to be massacred, the Alewites have a much larger chance of retribution as they have been oppressing and murdering the Sunni majority for years.
Egypt does not have jihadists coming to power, your statements border on the hysterical. Of course, Islamists may come to power and they may contain some jihadists, as all Arab populations do.
Bottom line, Muslims have learned that jihadists are bad for government and bad for business.
Israel would greatly profit from a Syria without overt Iranian influence. All the Palestinians are a problem for Israel. A more neutral Syria might come to the peace table with Israel like Jordan and Egypt have done. The difficult negotiations would still be difficult, but they would be less complex.
Deployable Battle Force Ships: 284
Ships Underway (away from homeport): 151 ships (53% of total)
On deployment: 109 ships (38% of total)
Attack submarines underway (away from homeport): 19 subs (35%)
On deployment: 17 subs (31%)
Ships Underway
Aircraft Carriers:
USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) - Pacific Ocean
USS George Washington (CVN 73) - 7th Fleet
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) - 5th Fleet
USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) - Atlantic Ocean Amphibious Assault Ships:
USS Wasp (LHD 1) - Atlantic Ocean
USS Essex (LHD 2) - port visit Manila
USS Bataan (LHD 5) - 5th Fleet
USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) - Atlantic Ocean
USS Makin Island (LHD 8) - Pacific Ocean
This status was valid 2DEC11. There are no CVNs in the SIXTHFLT AOR at thsi time.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/navy_legacy_hr.asp?id=146
And if anyone is so inclined, they can go on their FB site to welcome them home!
https://www.facebook.com/USSGeorgeHWBush
1. the number of Christians you've quoted is 10% -- the official figure. There are many refugees from Iraq (which had 2 million Christians in 2003 and only 400,000 and dropping now)
2. Christians will be massacred -- I give you Iraq and Egypt as empirical proof
3. islamists in power -- come on, what else do you call the Moslem brotherhood? The Moslem brotherhood is also the group that gave the same philosophy to AlQaeda and is heavily influenced by Wahabbi philosophy
A more neutral Syria might come to the peace table with Israel like Jordan and Egypt have done -- that is not going to happen. in fact Jordan and Egypt came to the peace table due to strong men -- and the new Egypt regime IS heavily anti-Israel
Assad may be the devil, but he's the devil we know -- the replacement will be worse.
Au contraire: an ally no more: Egypt
With vote tallies in for Egypt’s first round of parliamentary elections in it is abundantly clear that Egypt is on the fast track to becoming a totalitarian Islamic state.
I'm sorry, but your statement is wrong - this is not "hysteria" -- it's from the Jewish World Review...