Angry Arab: Syria and Aljazeera

Comrade Hussein sent me this (I cite with his permission): "I am not sure how Syria is going to end up; but I am writing this with the assumption that the regime will fall, although it is still not very likely so far. I think al-Jazeera is covering up the highly sectarian agenda of many protesters while at the same time allowing for the Islamic nature of their slogans to be heard extensively on air to satisfy the broader Arab audience without having to deal with problematic issues at this point. This way, they cannot be accused of sectarianism bluntly, especially when they are heard chanting about national unity while slogans against other sects are swept under the rug (as when they said that it is part of 'their' religion to kill 'us' - Haytham Manna' was at pains to repudiate that slogan by all means but to no avail). Now the really secular opposition forces, who are a minority, will probably commit the classic mistake of underestimating the fundamentalists' power or their political acumen, only to find themselves victims of these people later on in case the regime falls (similar to the early Iranian scenario of 1979-1981, with the main difference between the presence of individual, almost self-financed, charismatic leadership and what we have with the Syrian MB). having said all this, I do think that no matter what, the Syrian people only have the right to decide on their government, even if it is a reactionary one."
Angry Arab