While Syria's opposition is unlikely to prevail unaided, extremists seem intent on driving the conflict's deep sectarianism
Abdel Bari Atwan
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 May 2012
"....Whoever governs post-revolutionary Syria is unlikely to rule over a united country, but rather sectarian or ethnic pockets, engaged in ongoing battles with each other. The historical precedent here is Lebanon, which was mired in civil war from 1975 for 16 years.
Nor is the prospect of sectarian conflict confined to Syria's borders. Regional polarisation might see a Sunni bloc, headed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia and incorporating any number of extremist groups, facing off a Shia alliance led by Iran. Here we have an even more chilling template – from 1514 the Sunni Muslims of the Ottoman empire and the Shia Safavid of Persia battled over the region for more than a century, fuelled by their religious differences."
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