American involvement in Iraq has created wide awareness of the situation of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein was a member of a Sunni Muslim minority whereas most Iraqis were Shia Muslims. Saddam's Sunni minority dominated Iraq via secret police and terror squads, with the tacit support of Sunni-majority nations like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
The situation in Syria is in some ways a mirror image of that in Iraq. An Alawite minority dominates a majority of Sunnis, using the same police-state techniques used in Iraq. President Assad (an Alawite) brutally suppresses his predominantly Sunni people. Assad has been supported by Shia-majority Iran which is in cold war type conflict with Sunni-majority nations like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Gulf emirates.
In both Iraq and Syria we see a strong-man leader trying to protect his minority sect/tribe/people from the predations of a majority that historically won't treat them well if in control. It is easy for us to say the majority should rule, but in this region religious or cultural minorities get rough treatment.
Examples? The Shia minority in Saudi Arabia is notoriously unhappy, as are the Shia in Bahrain. How do you suppose the Bahai and Sunnis feel in an Iran run by Shia ayatollahs, or the Arabs in Israel? Or the Coptic Christians in Egypt? Even the Christian minority in Syria. All feel mistreated by the local majority, whatever it may be.
You've gotta love the Middle East....
