My first post here, but I don't think this article reflects the truth. We know someone that is a Syrian American. He is a Christian and visits Syria frequently. He has a few interesting insights into the hearts and minds of people in that part of the world. First and foremost is that he says if you ask people privately, they are praying that Pres. Bush is re-elected and democracy works in Iraq. They don't dare breath this publicly because they DON'T live in a democracy. But they are very fearful of Kerry being elected. They feel like the drive for liberty there would be stifled under a Kerry administration and that the liberty they all hope for will never get a chance to grow and spread to Syria and other Arab countries.
He also says they want the US to be MORE heavy handed in dealing with insurgents in Iraq. They are bewildered that we have not attacked with more severity. We back off to protect mosques, etc, but they want to see us come on STRONGER. They worry that our reservations to take action in cases like terrorists in mosques, sends a message of weakness.
And they also frame the problem more in terms of a religious problem...Muslim fundamentalists. In the US we can't bring ourselves to attack a religion, but he says Syrians that he talks to say they know terrorists in that part of the world are Muslim radicals, not just terrorists. They point out that Syria itself bombed Muslim areas in its borders to send a message to Muslim terorrists. I realize that would be a politically charged issue in the US, but Syrians see it for what it is and worry that the US will never be able to be effective if they cannot come to terms with having to attack a religion.
Granted this person is a Christian, but he can speak first hand about the barbarity his family has suffered at the hands of Muslim's in the name of a religion and he says people are not free to talk about this.
Wish I could remember more of the conversation, but it was really interesting hearing what the average person in this country REALLY has to say.
Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it ;-)