Sectarianism and Idiots

I just read a good piece on Syria by the New York Times' Anthony Shadid. It paints a worrying picture of tit-for-tat sectarian and kidnappings that have started happening in Homs. In a way, the lawless situation there and the absence of security are making everybody paranoid, and the brutish and thuggish Syrian security services are the root of this. But this is no justification for the ugly sectarianism that is rearing its head and the people wishing to dislodge the regime have as much a share of idiots as the pro-Assad "we love you" brigade. The longer Assad stays in power, the more likely this reality will spread across Syria, in spite of the lethargic mutterings of our foreign minister Walid Mouallem at his recent press conference.

The problem with sectarian and civil wars, and wars in general, is that stupid people thrive in them, whilst intelligent and reasonable people are relegated to irrelevance. Once stupid people control a country, they can only be dislodged at a great cost and with much difficulty, like these idiots: