Posted on 03/06/2019 4:56:48 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Before the phrase was spray-painted on walls and stenciled on cars, Syrian military officers heard it in meetings to discuss how to quell an antigovernment uprising sweeping Syria in 2011.
Assad or we burn the country.
The stark words warned those who would defy President Bashar al-Assad. And when protests morphed into war, Mr. Assad, backed by hard-core members of his Alawite religious sect, made good on the threat, presiding over much of Syrias destruction to maintain his grip on power.
In every meeting we had, the Alawite officers would say itAssad or we burn the country, recalled Abduljabar al-Akidi, then a colonel in the Syrian army. I knew that Assad would not leave until he had demolished the entire country and blood would run in the streets.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
John McCain would had gotten elected in 2008 and we would probably had gone in Iraq by then. Either way, perhaps the Iraq War was inevitable.
Gore wasn’t to overrule the State Dept/CFR Establishment.
Why is this even noteworthy?
What was Assad going to do....
Surrender - and let his naked body be dragged through the streets of Damascus behind two illiterate rebels on a sputtering motorcycle?
What was the Alawite leadership going to do....
Calmly let their families be slaughtered and all their property confiscated?
They all agreed to fight to the death - and why wouldn't they?
If the Chinese Army burned down the Tent Cities and cleared the sidewalks of drug addicts, panhandlers, and poopers, I would invite the Chinese Army to Seattle!
Replace Assad with Hillary and Syrian regime with Democrats and it would be a great headline.
The Alawites only make up 15% of the population. If they didnt fight to death, it would mean the death of the entire tribe in the country.
It helped that all the Officers in the military were Alawite. The Republican Guard, an elite military division is all Alawite.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.