Professor Cole,
Thanks for the response. Of course, it does not discourage. I appreciate the analysis and the info on this site. I've been visiting it with quite some regularity over the past several years. So maybe it's a bit late, but congratulations and kudos for the work you're doing here. I don't dispute the point about the existence of secular-minded individuals in Paris, London or Berlin. My comment was about the rebels, because you started your assessment of the forces saying "The rebels are ..." And please correct me if I am wrong, but by “rebels” I understand fighters, people on the ground with arms, not civil society or activists or bloggers or intellectuals in Paris .. etc. If my understanding of the word "rebel" is correct, then the people on the ground right now fighting the regime are not secular-minded or mystics. Of course there are mystics and secular intellectuals opposing the regime, but sadly they are individuals, not movements. The regime is to blame for this obviously, but that's the situation. I think the bunch of secular-minded Syrians in Paris or elsewhere do not amount to a movement the way it does in Tunisia, or I would even venture, in Egypt. As to Mark Koroi's point about the SNC, we all know that the MB are kind of dominating there. And many, including SNC leaders complained about that. The fact that a Kurd or a Christian heads the SNC doesn't mean anything. It is just PR. It's a good thing, but it's just PR. Let's see when the MB rules Syria if they let a Christian be the president. NO WAY. Finally, thank you for the clarification about the word "nusayri." I didn't know that. I guess my point is only valid semantically (is that the word?). I am a sunni and I know that when someone says nusayri, they express an anti-shia or anti-alawi bias, which makes it kind of like "rafidi" or "rawafid," meant in the pejorative sense that is. And one last point if I may, and this is not related directly to your post, but I think there is a problem with the use of the word “secular” by western commentators when it comes to the middle east. Some are so desperate to find someone who is not bearded or drinks alcohol or has a girlfriend to call him or her secular. It’s silly. By that account, some 9/11 hijackers are secular. I mean seriously. The west in its zeal to support the rebels is so obsessed with finding someone to their liking to call them secular. I just read couple of days ago a piece in the NYT about Moroccan politics and it called "hizb alistiqlal" (independence party) secular (maybe just because it is creating trouble for the islamist part in power now). But anyone who knows something about morocco knows that the indep. Party is one the most reactionary, read fascist, forces in the country.
Fair, insightful and balanced. Thank you. But 3 points quickly:
1. the idea that there is a number of secular-minded rebels is by now questionable. If there ever were any (and there were), they have certainly dramatically decreased almost to insignificance.
2. Even more ridiculous (sorry) is the assumption that there are sufi mystics. This one is just made up out of thin air, and is being repeated by commentators with no proof.
3. The label "nusayri" is actually a derogatory term for shiites, and is used specifically by wahhabis. It's like "wops" or "niggers."
So much for the Secular liberals and sufi mystics. And this is the FSA, not even the others.
Professor Cole,
Thanks for the response. Of course, it does not discourage. I appreciate the analysis and the info on this site. I've been visiting it with quite some regularity over the past several years. So maybe it's a bit late, but congratulations and kudos for the work you're doing here. I don't dispute the point about the existence of secular-minded individuals in Paris, London or Berlin. My comment was about the rebels, because you started your assessment of the forces saying "The rebels are ..." And please correct me if I am wrong, but by “rebels” I understand fighters, people on the ground with arms, not civil society or activists or bloggers or intellectuals in Paris .. etc. If my understanding of the word "rebel" is correct, then the people on the ground right now fighting the regime are not secular-minded or mystics. Of course there are mystics and secular intellectuals opposing the regime, but sadly they are individuals, not movements. The regime is to blame for this obviously, but that's the situation. I think the bunch of secular-minded Syrians in Paris or elsewhere do not amount to a movement the way it does in Tunisia, or I would even venture, in Egypt. As to Mark Koroi's point about the SNC, we all know that the MB are kind of dominating there. And many, including SNC leaders complained about that. The fact that a Kurd or a Christian heads the SNC doesn't mean anything. It is just PR. It's a good thing, but it's just PR. Let's see when the MB rules Syria if they let a Christian be the president. NO WAY. Finally, thank you for the clarification about the word "nusayri." I didn't know that. I guess my point is only valid semantically (is that the word?). I am a sunni and I know that when someone says nusayri, they express an anti-shia or anti-alawi bias, which makes it kind of like "rafidi" or "rawafid," meant in the pejorative sense that is. And one last point if I may, and this is not related directly to your post, but I think there is a problem with the use of the word “secular” by western commentators when it comes to the middle east. Some are so desperate to find someone who is not bearded or drinks alcohol or has a girlfriend to call him or her secular. It’s silly. By that account, some 9/11 hijackers are secular. I mean seriously. The west in its zeal to support the rebels is so obsessed with finding someone to their liking to call them secular. I just read couple of days ago a piece in the NYT about Moroccan politics and it called "hizb alistiqlal" (independence party) secular (maybe just because it is creating trouble for the islamist part in power now). But anyone who knows something about morocco knows that the indep. Party is one the most reactionary, read fascist, forces in the country.
Fair, insightful and balanced. Thank you. But 3 points quickly:
1. the idea that there is a number of secular-minded rebels is by now questionable. If there ever were any (and there were), they have certainly dramatically decreased almost to insignificance.
2. Even more ridiculous (sorry) is the assumption that there are sufi mystics. This one is just made up out of thin air, and is being repeated by commentators with no proof.
3. The label "nusayri" is actually a derogatory term for shiites, and is used specifically by wahhabis. It's like "wops" or "niggers."