Roots of oppressive government in Syria

By Jeremy Brigham

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Syria, with its capital in the ancient city of Damascus, could be considered the heart of the Arab world. In the early years of Islam, the caliph, or chief deputy, chose to settle in Damascus because it was the richest city of the region. It still is a city with much wealth.

Why is there such resistance to calls for democratic, open government in Syria? What would be a good resolution of this crisis?

First, it is important to know where the Assad family comes from, and how they became the leaders of Syria. In the early years of Syria's independence, there was great conflict over power. France, during its mandate from 1921-1946 over Syria, had at first established several states according to ethnicity.

Latakia in the northwest was the land of the Alawites. Aleppo and Damascus, the two largest cities, became the centers of states. The Druze in the south had their own state. Alexandretta, now part of Turkey, was a self-ruling city. The French also cut off Lebanon, the natural port area for Syria, in order to create a state that would be majority Christian. Palestine was also considered by many Arabs to be part of Syria, as Damascus was the main trading city in the area and an historical center for cultural affairs.

After World War II, Damascus was wealthy and the home of the leading aristocratic families who did not want to serve in the military. Latakia, a poor area, the home of Alawis, a heretical Shiite sect, provided a good number of military families. The military was the avenue for an education for poorer people.

Out of this setting came the Assad family. Hafez al-Assad, through his military training in the air force, gained control of the government around 1970. He brought into the government many Alawis from Latakia, so that they came to run the government. Thus, even though Sunnis are the majority in the country, the Alawis led by the al-Assads run it.

The protests began on the edges of Syria. Most recently the focus has been on Jisr al-Shoghour near the Turkish border where 10,000 people have fled.

The death toll in the country as a whole since mid-March was 1,270 as of June 4 - already a quarter the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq in eight years of war.

What the world sees is the fallout from the age of imperialism, where the current governments have followed in the footsteps of foreign powers. The people are demanding democracy, human rights and equality. In Syria, no central force coordinates the resistance, but even so, it seems likely to succeed because it is so geographically dispersed, yet unified by cellphone and Facebook. The government cannot attack just one city, as it did in 1982 in Hama where thousands were killed.

Syria will become increasingly isolated, as the world cannot stomach the horror of its oppression. Ultimately, the government propped up by violence cannot stand. Syria is no longer a closed society.

The change will occur but only with help of continuous expression of outrage by the world's citizens and governments.

Jeremy Brigham teaches a course on the Middle East at Kirkwood Community College. Comments: brighamjeremy@q.com