That's the latest charge being thrown around by critics of Obama's plan to launch a three-day strike against the Syrian regime. Syria's Christians have generally been pro-government during the civil war, since they fear they would be persecuted under a new regime dominated by Sunni Muslims. Christians have generally fled areas controlled by the rebels. Numerous stories about fundamentalist rebels desecrating churches and raping nuns are in circulation, and as usual it is very hard to tell how much truth is in them. The latest flashpoint has been the town of Maaloula, an ancient place whose Christian inhabitants still speak Aramaic. Or did until most of them fled the fighting last week.
Which is a more important part of "democracy", majority rule or the protection of minority rights?
Another moral question to ask about Syria is one I have long pondered about Iraq: how much better does a new regime have to be to justify a war in which tens of thousands die? Is there any chance a new Syrian government would be such a shining beacon of hope that we would feel that the horrors of this war were worth it?
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