Thomas Friedman, "Freedom at 4 Below": Tom's Brain Is Frozen

Thomas Friedman has a vivid imagination.

Writing from Moscow and observing an anti-Putin demonstration, Friedman, in his latest New York Times opus entitled "Freedom at 4 Below" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/opinion/friedman-freedom-at-4-below.html?_r=1&ref=opinion), muses on the uprising in distant Syria, which has already claimed some 7,000 lives:

"I have no doubt that many of the Syrians mounting the uprising against the Assad regime — which is dominated by a Shiite offshoot known as the Alawites, who make up about 10 percent of the country — are propelled by a quest for a free and pluralistic Syria. But have no illusions: Some are also Sunni Muslims — who are the majority there — seeing this as their chance to overthrow four decades of Alawite minority rule. Where win-win democratic aspirations stop in Syria and rule-or-die sectarian fears begin is very hard to untangle."

Sojourning in Moscow and inextricably wedded to the nonsensical notion that the so-called "Arab Spring" had its roots in a desire for democracy, I can well understand why Friedman finds it difficult to "untangle" the rationale underlying events in Syria.

Friedman would have us believe, "Many of the Syrians mounting the uprising . . . are propelled by a quest for a free and pluralistic Syria." Yeah, right. Remarkably, Friedman not even once mentions Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, which is the spiritual force behind the rebellion of Syria's Sunnis, comprising some 70% of the population. Western-style democratic values have absolutely nothing to do with the Islamic fundamentalist underpinnings of the Muslim Brotherhood's political philosophy.

Also no mention by Friedman of the multi-year drought in Syria that has wrecked havoc with Syria's agriculture, or its oil resources, which are rapidly being depleted. It never occurred to Friedman that the turmoil in Syria might also be influenced by a failing economy and unemployment.

Whom does Friedman blame for Assad's oppressive rule? Israel, of course:

"While the Assad clan may have been a convenient enforcer at times for Israel and the West, it has also been a huge agent of mayhem — killing Lebanese journalists and politicians who dared to cross Syria, arming Hezbollah, funneling insurgents into Iraq, serving as a launching pad for Iranian mischief, murdering its own people seeking freedom and spurning any real political and economic reform."

Yes, Tom, by providing Hezbollah with Scud missiles, Assad was serving Israel's interests. And when Assad ordered the 2005 murder of pro-West Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, this was also -- as claimed by Hezbollah, which undertook the assassination at Assad's behest -- part of an Israeli plot.

Friedman, completely detached from Middle Eastern reality, would have us believe that Iraq serves as an example of how a multisectarian Arab country can overcome sectarian mistrust:

"Iraq shows how hard it is to do that — the Sunni-Shiite divide still cuts very deep — but Iraq also shows that it is not impossible."

No mention by Friedman of recent bombings in Baghdad that have claimed hundreds of lives. No mention of the fact that in light of the evolving chaos in Iraq, the US has decided to evacuate half of its diplomatic and civilian advisors (see: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/02/07/failure-in-iraq/). No mention that following the issuance of a warrant for his arrest, Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has fled to Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the north, from where he recently observed that the stability of Iraq is “really deteriorating” and now "supports a move by three Sunni provinces to seek independence from Baghdad’s central government" (see: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/20/fugitive-iraq-sunni-v-p-tariq-al-hashimi-criticizes-u-s.html).

Friedman pontificates:

"You can’t have a democracy without citizens, and you can’t have citizens without trust — without trust that everyone will be treated with equality under the law, no matter who is in power, and without trust in a shared vision of what kind of society people are trying to build."

Moreover, after asking whether Syria's "multisectarian population" can "democratically rule itself, or does it crack apart," Friedman would have us "bet on" those in Syria and the rest of the Muslim Middle East who "deeply long to be citizens." Sorry, Tom, but in a region where women are being stoned to death for alleged adultery, homosexuals are being hanged, persons are being beheaded for engaging in "witchcraft," the hands of thieves are severed from their bodies, and anyone abandoning the Muslim faith is sentenced to death, I wouldn't make any such wager.