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Could Jihadists Overthrow the Syrian Government?

(New Republic) Nibras Kazimi - The Obama administration has signaled in word and deed that it would accommodate the Syrian regime and normalize relations with it. This is premised on the notions that the Assad regime is stable and that by drawing closer to the regime, Washington will make it more stable, not less. What these assertions ignore is the potential role that jihadism could play in undermining the Assad government. In Syria, the hated minority Alawite Shia sect rules. Islamists arguing for a jihad in Syria believe that in the Syrian regime they have an enemy that is at once tyrannical, secular, and heretical. Members of the jihadist internationale are asking themselves where to go after Iraq and Afghanistan. On jihadist online discussion forums, they have been authoring what amount to policy papers calling on the jihadist leadership to take the fight to Syria. The writer is a visiting scholar at the Hudson Institute.
2010-07-01 10:46:34
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