THE SYRIAN MICROCOSM: By Ghassan Kadi 2 November 2014

THE SYRIAN MICROCOSM:
By Ghassan Kadi
2 November 2014

When the “War On Syria” started in 2011, Syrian patriots and their savvy international friends and supporters realized from the early beginnings that there was a huge global conspiracy against Syria.

The so-called revolution seeking reform was soon to change into a war waged by Islamist fundamentalists against all of those who oppose them, including Syrian Sunnis.


The fear back then was escalation, and escalation is not only necessarily a horizontal action in which the battle field expands to include other parties and countries. The fear was about the escalation in the theological warfare and the reach of theological recruitments.

And even though the war was being waged only in Syria, global pockets of radicalism were gazing with watchful eyes. The focus had to remain on Syria, and the untold story about Syria had to be made known and public, but in reality, Syria is simply a microcosm of the globe and its passions.


The dilemma in the Middle East is primarily a result of utter failure of institutionalised religions.


On one hand, we find the Zionists claiming to be the chosen people who have a God-given mandate to pillage, kill and steal land. Their God-promised capital is Jerusalem. They will and can argue their case in accordance with their interpretations of their holy scriptures.


On the other hand, we find Islamists who believe that the whole world should convert to Islam by the power of the sword. They too claim ownership of Al-Kuds (Jerusalem) and also manage to find words in their holy book that they interpret in a manner that supports their claims and beliefs.


And then within Islam, away from militarized fundamentalists, Sunni and Shiite theologies bicker, each claiming to be the correct one; not any different though from The Catholics and the Protestants and other Christian denominations.


And when it comes to Christianity, the West no longer calls itself the Christian World, because that would be politically incorrect. But when a Muslim community tries to build a mosque somewhere in the West, the true colours of the “natives” shine like red flags. But again, where and when permissions were granted, many such mosques have been turned into bases for teaching radicalism and even training sleeper cells.


What the world is witnessing now is the result of century upon century of institutionalized religions fighting each other and demanding that their followers see followers of other religions as enemies.


The “War On Syria” is no longer one that can be contained by Syrian efforts alone. It cannot be won by fighting the original Anti-Syrian Cocktail. Beating up the chest and the drums blaming the United States of America for “creating” ISIS is not going to take the threat of ISIS away, for the foundation of ISIS is within the core corrupt interpretations of Islam.

Even if the west stops supporting ISIS completely and permanently, and even if the organization called ISIS is completely dismantled and crushed, the corrupt and violent Islamic fundamentalism will always find new sponsors.

Syria is now the hot spot, the volcano of the world perhaps, but the whole world is heating up and simmering and getting more fragmented and radicalised like never before. And just like the globe was getting divided on nationalistic and racial divides a century ago, it is now getting divided on religious and sectarian divides, and hence the dangers cannot be under-estimated.

The fundamentalist genie is now out of the bottle, and each party is digging in its heels fully convinced that he is right and all others are wrong, and that his religion can prove it.


Fundamentalist sleeper cells are all over the world, brewing, training, and all getting poised at each other. They are not small organizations. Many of them are backed by big and rich nations. Many of them ARE big and rich nations.

The Islamic takfiris are a huge threat. Down the pipeline, they are eyeing one billion Muslim youths to recruit. Is the world ready to even contemplate the potential of an army of one billion takfiris? Such a figure cannot be reached, but if it is a potential, it cannot be overlooked either.

But to be honest and realistic, once again, the sad and sorrowful state of the globe is the results of a collective human failure that has been festering for centuries in every “religion” in every corner of the globe.

It is coming to a head very soon near you.

Some may argue that it is not religion. It is economy, oil, resources, etc… In reality however, economic conflicts that divide the world and cause wars are in essence another form of dark religion and the money-god that some people follow. For as long as some believe in the “us and them” concept, for as long as they believe that their interests are above all other interests, even if this means enslaving other nations and stealing their resources, then we would only be speaking of a slightly different face of darkness. Karl Marx was wrong. Historical Materialism does not rule the world, it only rules the ignorant greedy side of humanity in the similar manner that corrupt religion does. And if religion is the opium of people, then money is the lure for lust.


On Syrian and international levels, it will become essential to topple the Saudi regime which is based on the Wahhabi principles that are entirely founded on corrupt Islam. This will perhaps be the only guarantee to stop further official Saudi financing to the ISIS ideology. But even if/when the West realizes that it should never ever again use Islamic fundamentalism for short-term military gain, and even if the house of Al-Saud is destroyed and burned, the roots of Islamic fundamentalism will not go away because they are deeply embedded in and within false, and thus far unchallenged, core interpretations of the Quran,


If Muslim clerics truly wish to clean up the image of Islam and reveal its compassion and wisdom, they cannot continue to ignore addressing the core beliefs that underpin Islamic fundamentalism. They will have to address them.


But at the end of the day, laws, decrees and Fatwas do not make humans human. The only hope for humanity is in each and every individual fighting his/her own demons, rising above the hatred and divisions he/she have been taught, and restoring one’s humanity that is full of wonderful virtues and love.