I am writing with reference to Op-Ed: "Great power berserk, fair is foul, foul is fair," by Saeed Naqvi (Aug. 4). Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi (Aug. 4).
Saeed Naqvi has written a highly contrived article which misses the entire point, and it cannot go unchallenged. By ignoring the slaughter of Syria's Sunni majority (70% of the population) by Assad's Alawite Shia minority (12% of the population), he has failed to realise that it is the Assad regime, not the Great Power, that has gone berserk.
With the support of the Alawite Shia minority, Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad has been ruling the country with an iron fist. His military and security apparatus is totally dominated by the Alawite minority and any attempt by the Sunni majority to have their voice heard is being met with brutal repression. What started as a peaceful protest has now become a full-fledged insurrection by the Sunni majority because of the brutal crackdown by the Alawite minority.
But the Alawite minority cannot win a war of attrition for long and this is why the regime is trying to shift the blame to the United States which has so far refused (wisely) to intervene militarily despite calls for such intervention by the Sunni majority. As a tiny minority, the Alawite cannot slaughter the Sunnis for long and they will be simply overwhelmed by the Sunni majority in the long run. By supporting the brutal Assad regime, the Alawites may be putting their survival in danger as they will face the inevitable Sunni retribution after the fall of Assad. They should stop supporting Assad and join the Sunnis to build a more democratic society where the Sunnis and Alawites will share power. Time is running out for the Alawite majority.
Mahmood Elahi
Ottawa, Canada