The unfolding crisis in Egypt has nudged Syria out of the headlines because a civil war in Egypt will have even greater repercussions for the Arab world and Western interests than any Syrian outcome. The public eating on YouTube of an organ of a dead Syrian soldier by a fundamentalist rebel commander has given the West pause for reflection about the kind of criminal bandits in the rebel movement they are supporting in the name of human rights. There is now a more even-handedness or realistic approach in the West-dominated media; so, mention is made of Russia???s statement that the rebels have used chemical weapons; the residents of Aleppo have castigated the rebels for blocking supplies of essential goods; and a foreign fundamentalist has assassinated a local rebel leader, raising tensions in the opposition ranks. There is a growing understanding that President Bashar al-Assad is not about to be overthrown, and the rebels, who are divided militarily and politically, are in no position to storm Damascus.
Through Assad???s capacity to resist the fundamentalists in the rebel camp, he and the Hezbollah have placed themselves on the right side in the war on terror. Iran must be involved in any settlement, and Russia will not back away from supporting Assad. The Syrian president will take grim satisfaction at his predictions and warnings of regional chaos when he sees the overthrow of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt and Prime Minister Erdogan???s problems with civil society in Turkey.
In Syria, the West is paradoxically opposing the very minorities ??? the Christians, Druze and Alawites ??? that would otherwise instinctively earn its support. It is wittingly playing into the hands of the anti-Shia, anti-democratic agendas of Saudi Arabia and Qatar,
