Comrade Hussein sent me this (I cite with his permission):  "I am not sure how Syria is going to end up; but I am writing this with  the assumption that the regime will fall, although it is still not very  likely so far.  I think al-Jazeera is covering up the highly sectarian agenda  of many protesters while at the same time allowing for the Islamic nature of  their slogans to be heard extensively on air to satisfy the broader Arab  audience without having to deal with problematic issues at this point. This  way, they cannot be accused of sectarianism bluntly, especially when they are  heard chanting about national unity while slogans against other sects are  swept under the rug (as when they said that it is part of 'their' religion to  kill 'us' - Haytham Manna' was at pains to repudiate that slogan by all means  but to no avail). Now the really secular opposition forces, who are a  minority, will probably commit the classic mistake of underestimating the  fundamentalists' power or their political acumen, only to find themselves  victims of these people later on in case the regime falls (similar to the  early Iranian scenario of 1979-1981, with the main difference between the  presence of individual, almost self-financed, charismatic leadership and what  we have with the Syrian MB). having said all this, I do think that no matter  what, the Syrian people only have the right to decide on their government,  even if it is a reactionary one."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
