By Raymond Ibrahim ——Bio and Archives--November 22, 2015
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There are a lot of Christians in Syria that have no place now. They’ll be either executed or imprisoned, either by Assad or by ISIS.
If the West wants to do something about the present crisis, the most effective thing would be to support local governments [Assad and allies], which need sufficient armies and forces to maintain security and defend respective populations [such as Christians] against attacks. State institutions need to be strengthened and stabilized. Instead, what we see is their forced dismemberment being fueled from the outside.As far back as 2011, when war came to Syria, Christians said they were supportive of the Assad regime because “Christian service has flourished remarkably in Syria. We regard Syria as a model Arab country when it comes to freedom of worship … Syrian Christians are very aware of what happened to Christians in Iraq, including the estimated 500,000 Christian refugees who fled to Syria during the Iraq war.” Even Obama once admitted that “We know that President Bashar al-Assad protected Christians in Syria.” Yet here is Jeb Bush, justifying war in Syria by claiming that Assad is “executing” Christians. This is eerily reminiscent of another Bush’s characterizations of another Arab autocrat. George portrayed Saddam Hussein, a dictator who was in fact a protector of Christian minorities, as Satan incarnate. We saw how that ended: with the loss of American blood and treasure and the birth of ISIS. In short, it’s clear that Jeb Bush’s foreign policy will be a repeat of George W. Bush’s: overthrowing secular Arab regimes in order to bring “freedom” and “democracy” to the Middle East, even though this is the one policy that has done more than anything to give rise to the Islamic State. Where secular Arab dictators go, brutal Islamic jihadis fill the vacuum. Again, for more sober foreign policies, one must turn to leaders like Putin. While addressing those nations that, under the guise of the “Arab Spring,” supported “rebels” that were actually jihadi terrorists, the Russian president declared before the United Nations:
Instead of the triumph of democracy and progress, we got violence, poverty and social disaster — and nobody cares a bit about human rights, including the right to life. I cannot help asking those who have forced that situation: Do you realize what you have done?Whether he realizes it or not, it’s clear that Jeb Bush plans on continuing to “force the situation” that led to the rise of ISIS and some of the worst atrocities of modern history — especially against Christians, whom the presidential candidate says he wants to help.
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RAYMOND IBRAHIM (RaymondIbrahim.com) is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam expert. His books include Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). His writings, translations, and observations have appeared in a variety of publications, including Fox News, Financial Times, Jerusalem Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Times Syndicate, United Press International, USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Weekly Standard; scholarly journals, including the Almanac of Islamism, Chronicle of Higher Education, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, and Middle East Review of International Affairs; and popular websites, such as American Thinker, the Blaze, Bloomberg, Christian Post, FrontPage Magazine, Gatestone Institute, the Inquisitr, Jihad Watch, NewsMax, National Review Online, PJ Media, VDH’s Private Papers, and World Magazine. He has contributed chapters to several anthologies and been translated into various languages.