Syria Is Already More Violent Than What Iraq Ever Was

Damaged buildings covered with snow are seen at Jouret al Shayah area in Homs January 10, 2013. Picture taken January 10, 2013. – Photo by Reuters)

Syria Is Already More Violent Than Iraq -- David Kenner, Foreign Policy

And its destruction will define the Middle East for years to come.

The year 2006 was pure horror for Iraq. It was hard to imagine the war going any worse: Sunni groups, spearheaded by al Qaeda's powerful local affiliate, launched a series of bloody suicide bombings against Shiite holy sites and civilian areas. On Feb. 22, 2006, a bomb ripped through the golden dome of the al-Askari mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam -- though no one was killed in the attack, more than 1,000 people were killed in just the first day of sectarian bloodletting. Meanwhile, Iran-funded Shiite militias were making a mockery of the Iraqi government's claims of authority, controlling huge swathes of territory and attacking U.S. forces that tried to stop them.

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My Comment: At least in Iraq there was a perception among most Iraqis that the U.S. would put a stop (or at least try to put a stop) to the sectarian violence that was occurring .... in Syria .... there is no one there to put a stop to it. In short .... the Syrian civil war will only stop when one side has been entirely vanquished and ethnically cleansed. But with both sides not having a clear military advantage to win .... this civil war has become a war of attrition that may continue for another year and two and claim a minimum of 200,000 lives and 4-6 million refugees. And in the end .... the probable scenario will be a Lebanese type of resolution .... a deeply fractured country based on sectarian lines and a central government that is in name only. And from a Syrian perspective .... Iraq will look like paradise.