We live in a time of wars and rumors of wars. With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, the color revolution attempt in Georgia following a right-wing election victory, and the resurgence of “Syrian rebels,” it appears that the Biden Administration is fomenting war and instability on its way out. But after years of stagnation on the front, it is genuinely shocking how fast the Syrian government fell to Islamic forces. While President Bashar al-Assad was a nominally Shite Muslim, he was broadly supported by Christians in Syria.
Evidently, the Islamic forces in the Idlib region had been highly trained over the last several years and were able to overpower the Syrian Arab Army with ease in Aleppo and move southwards. Also preceding these events were several attacks by the Israeli Defense Forces into Syria which contributed to the weakened state of the Syrian military. Israel announced it had launched a military incursion into Syria.
Analysis
American foreign policy has been a disaster for the church. In Iraq, America reduced the Christian population by taking out a leader, Saddam Hussein who made some concessions to them. In Afghanistan, the region is less Christian after 20 years. In Nigeria and Armenia, the American government is indifferent to the plights of Christians.
However, America has fought multiple wars to bolster Israeli strength (Iraq) at the expense of Christian minority populations in the Middle East. No doubt the Israeli government welcomed the fall of Assad and played a role in its demise as did the United States which has forces in Syria. The original “Syrian rebels” were CIA-backed terrorists that got a little too much notoriety under a certain black banner. Though the branding, a frequent occurrence in the Syrian Civil War, has changed, the motis operandi has not.
It grieves me as an American to know that our government played a role in helping terrorists take over a country that was more tolerant of Christians than the bordering nation America supports. Pray for the Christians in Syria.
4 Responses
Thanks for this Ray, well said.
I pray it will be better under President Trump. It has been a disaster under Biden.
It’s interesting that Israel’s foreign policy interests are contrary to Christianity in that region. Big surprise. We are also responsible for the Christians plight over there. No more neo-con nonsense.
Assad is a faithful monogamist with a Western -educated wife. He never attacked America or supported terrorism. So why on earth are people here happy about his downfall. We overthrew Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qaddafi, who were actually wicked men, and that was a disaster too. When will we ever learn? Well, at least Mr. Assad and his family are safe in Russia. Makes one wonder who the good guys are these days.