Don't Let the Syrian Rebels Win -- Glenn E. Robinson, Foreign Policy
An outright victory by Assad’s enemies would be a disaster.
It may well be true, as recent news reports tell us, that Bashar al-Assad's regime in Damascus, increasingly desperate in the face of an unrelenting rebel onslaught, is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own citizens. The Syrian leader himself, all the main power brokers in his government, and virtually all of the country's military officer corps come from a long-persecuted minority that legitimately fears that this war is a matter of "kill or be killed" for the Alawites, who make up around 12 percent of Syria's population. The Alawites left what is now Iraq a millennium ago and settled in the dusty hills of northwest Syria overlooking the Mediterranean. A doubly heretical sect in the eyes of orthodox Sunni Muslims -- as an offshoot of Shiite Islam -- the Alawites lived an isolated existence for centuries as their religion evolved to reflect various folk traditions.
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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
Assad era coming to an end? -- YNet News
Where Is the Red Line on Assad’s Chemical Weapons? -- Fred Kaplan, Slate
Watching Syria’s descent -- Jackson Diehl, Washington Post
In Egypt, the amateurs are in charge -- Rami G. Khouri, The Daily Star
Egypt's Descent -- Wall Street Journal
Egypt: tug of war -- The Guardian editorial
After the Arab Spring -- After the Arab Spring, L.A. Times
Halt provocative North Korean rocket launch -- Japan Times editorial
Uncertain World: Putin’s Health and the Future of Russian Power -- Fyodor Lukyanov, RIA Novosti
Chavismo After Chavez -- Ben Cohen, Commentary
Chávez cancer relapse has Venezuela on edge -- Jim Wyss and Andrew Rosati, Miami Herald
Terror central in Mali -- Washington Post editorial
Berlusconi Revival Puts EU Leaders in Tight Spot -- Carsten Volkery and Philipp Wittrock, Spiegel Online
Susan Rice and Africa’s Despots -- Salem Solomon, New York Times
Under Obama, Economic Stagnation Is the New Normal -- Louis Woodhill, Real Clear Markets
The world of 2030: U.S. declines; food, water may be scarce -- Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News
Advisors to Obama: 'Accommodate' China, embrace global warming -- Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner
Intel report: US will no longer be sole superpower by 2030 -- Rick Moran, American Thinker