The hypocrisy concerning Syria coming from a bellicose Washington and US media is frightening. Whence comes Washington ’s selective indignation when it comes to Syria?
There has hardly been a dictator recently that we have not embraced. We armed our former friend Saddam Hussein and encouraged his unprovoked war against Iran while turning a blind eye toward his gassing the Kurds and Iranian forces. That tell-tale and indelible photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam says it all.
Saddam was our ally after all – and he kept the oil on flowing.
He was but one of many recent dictators with blood on their hands with whom we were comfortable: Marcos, Noriega, Somosa, Pinochet, Mobutu, Battista, the Shah of Iran , etc.
All this anti-Bashar hand-wringing by the West over thus-far unsubstantiated accusations and without hard evidence from independent sources rings hollow. When in our media are voices of the Syrian government ever heard? When are the leaders of the Syrian Christian community and other minorities ever heard – 10% of the population? Looking at a “liberated” Syrian minorities know what blood bath awaits them when Bashar falls.
A nation-wide uprising in America to violently overthrowing the government would bring tanks into the streets, the full force of the military, and live ammunition used. The powers that be, pushed to the wall, would pull out all the stops to protect their regime. So, how really different are we?
To Washington I would say with the ancients: “Physician, heal thyself.”
Richard Cross, Tarrytown
