Hacker News Reader

Comment by wfeui3 | Hacker News Reader

Syria was fairly liberal and diverse country before all this started.

Really? I think it's more accurate to say that Syria was a repressive, violent dictatorship before all this started[0]. Since the war started the government has slaughtered more of its citizens than the rebels have.

0 - http://www.refworld.org/docid/4a1fadbcc.html

Country != Government. Through much of the latter half of the 20th century, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan were relative beacons of liberalism and diversity. Makes the current catastrophe all the more gut-wrenching.

Relative to what? Do you have citations for this claim?

Relative to the far more fundamentalist peoples of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

I'm not sure how I could provide a "citation" for a vague and judgment-based claim, other than to encourage you to read up on the history of the region in the 20th century and decide for yourself.

Syria was liberal in the sense it had multiple religions, bikini on beach and shorts in mosque. It also had elections, state/religion separation, female politicians...

> repressive, violent dictatorship

Yes. Because that's what kept extremism in check. Same with Libya and Iraq

Also check out these old photos of Afghan: http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/06/10/lost-in-time-groovy...

That's like saying Iraq was a tolerant paradise in the 1970s. Sure, but at the expense of a lot of repression, and when the repressive government inevitably falls or the people have enough the results aren't pretty.

I do not know how Iraq was in 1970, but Syrian government survived several elections, 6 years of civil war and international sanctions. I guess this 'represive murdering regime' is better than 'islamist paradise' terrorists are pushing.

He really means Society. Syrian society was reasonable open, liberal, irreligious, and tolerant of (non-political) minorities. Not as open as European societies, but more open than the Gulf or Iran. Political opponents were oppressed of course.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com