Heavy fighting over police academy in north Syria

[Xithras]

6. You're dangerously conflating two very different concepts.

I've heard it repeated many, many times and it always pisses me off.

Assad's government is based on a minority of the population, similar in percentages to the white government of apartheid South Africa back in the day. The majority (70%) of Syria's population is Sunni just as the similar percentage of South Africa's population was Black (70% Black, 20% white, 10% Asian and mixed.)

Sunni is a RELIGION. Black is a RACE. Sunni, Shia, Alawites, and Christians in Syria are all the same race, have the same skin color, speak the same language, share the same traditions, and have the same history. They just attend different "churches".

The argument against the Alawites in Syria seems to boil down to "they're a religious minority, so they can't fairly rule a country that follows another religion". That entire argument makes NO sense to me. That's like saying a Catholic can't run a nation full of Protestants! Furthermore, there is NO comparison between that situation and the situation in South Africa, where the descendants of outside white invaders were keeping the native black population subjugated based on the unchangeable color of thier skin. In Syria, the only difference between the sides is the faith they profess, and the Alawites-dominated government has always been secular (unquestionably authoritarian, but all sides admit that it's secular).