When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cautioned Syrian President Bashar Assad to back away from his violent crackdowns against peaceful demonstrators and oppositional political parties, not to mention a planned Arab League visit that was canceled due to concerns over numerous military assaults against rebellious cities, one must wonder if Syria's rulers are committing the same mistakes of those who forged the Assyrian Empire thirty centuries ago.
The Assyrians, who lived on the upper Tigris River and developed iron weapons, started to expand southward into Mesopotamia around 1100 BCE. Through warfare and brutal suppression, they soon conquered Babylon, the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. Assyrian rulers and warriors not only gained a reputation of being warlike, but they maintained a harsh order and uneasy peace. Autocratic rulers would recognize no regional treaties, nor would they share political and economic power.
After conquering Babylon, one Assyrian ruler boasted of burning 3,000 captives to death and wrote, "The city and its houses, from top to bottom, I destroyed and burned with fire." King Assurbanipal bragged how he tore out the tongues of his enemies and then cut their corpses into small pieces, feeding them to the wild animals. Other rulers conquered without mercy by impaling the vanquished and raising them up to be displayed like criminals outside of city walls and along roads.
Around 600 BCE, a local leader and neighboring peoples from southern Mesopotamia united their forces and finally defeated the once-dreaded Assyrian armies. Unlike the Assyrian rulers, Nabopolassar and the Medes and Chaldeans established numerous treaties. And unlike the Assyrian administration which isolated through autocratic rule and psychological warfare, Nabopolassar and the Medes and Chaldeans were more inclusive of other ethnic rulers and their gods.
Again on Thursday, Assad ordered Syrian security forces to unleash a deadly assault against the rebellious city of Homs. Explosions and machine gun fire killed 20 Syrians. Other cities where Syrians have protested for political and economic reform have been met with brutal tank assaults, sniper fire and indiscriminate killing. Recently in Rastan, a 15 year-old activist and woman was shot dead. It is estimated that almost 2,500 people have been killed in Syria's six-month uprising.
Despite numerous killings by Syrian forces, false arrests and imprisonment, and torture, Syrians are still demonstrating each week-some numbering into the millions. Syrian rulers have labeled protesters as "terrorists" and foreign spies. Assad claims the Syrian army is merely acting out of "duty to the state" and confronting "outlaws." Meanwhile, Syria has banned journalists and the media, creating a blackout. In response to such actions, the European Union has implemented a ban on crude oil imports to Syria.
Like the Assyrian Empire, it appears modern Syria is sadly isolating itself from the rest of the world. Regional nations and groups, like Iran, Turkey and Arab League, are calling on Syrian rulers to find a peaceful solution, instead of a military solution. They are also requesting Syrian leaders to open a dialogue with oppositional leaders and groups and to listen to their legitimate demands. The 21st century should be more civilized. There is no place for psychological warfare or "impaling" protesters and demonstrators.
Actually, King Assurbanipal, like other Assyrian warriors, was also a scholar. Not only did he pride himself on his ability to read in several languages, but he collected over 25,000 clay cuneiform texts-from conquered Babylon-to be housed in one of the worlds first libraries at Nineveh. He was specifically interested in omen texts that predicted the future through constellations. One text read that if rulers governed with goodness and kindness and in accordance with the will of the gods, their kingdom would last a long time.
The question President Assad, his administration, and the Syrian army must ask themselves, then, is if they are really governing with goodness and benevolence. If not, their administration may soon collapse like several others have in the region. After all, Assurbanipal, one of the last of the mighty Assyrian leaders who spread out his military power too thin, found out that just like the stars in the heavens fall, leaders can also fall from their high places.
Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)
(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2011/09/10/Will_Syrian_Leaders_Ever_Learn/
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