Syrian uprising raises the specter of sectarian war
Assad has played his survival card well, says Gerges of the London School of Economics , "I don't believe that the Syrian crisis is about sectarianism," he says. "This is not about Sunnis vs. Alawites and Christians. This is about national security and regional security. And President Assad has been basically relentlessly hammering this particular point: 'Do you want to be another Iraq?'"
Everyone in the region — already suffering from a dangerous sectarian divide — is watching Syria closely.
The Sunni powers, led by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have lined up to support the protests. Meanwhile, Syria's allies — Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah, the Shiite power in Lebanon — stand against them.
A sectarian war in Syria would inflame the broader region. Fears of that nightmare scenario have left some countries paralyzed when it comes policy choices, discouraged international intervention and has helped keep the Assad regime in power.
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/04/144626452/syrian-uprising-raises-the-specter-of-sectarian-war
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