• ISIS’s political Islam the latest Arab tragedy - Talal Salman
    http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2014/06/iraq-syria-isis-arabism-political-islam.html

    The Baath was able to come to power in Syria, then in Iraq, by relying on the army. The party ruling experience ended in tragic consequences at the national action level, especially since the party quickly melted into the “leader” who drowned in never-ending conflicts between left-wing and right-wing currents. The political scene was then cleared for leaders who hailed from the armies, which were often made up of one sect. The slogans promising unity, freedom and socialism were used to cover for the “historic leader” and minority rule based on the military. That expanded the work of the Islamists, who complained that the majority was being excluded from power.

    […]

    In short, the governments in Syria and Iraq, which were accused of sectarianism, have gutted the secular parties and the authority that hid under its slogans. Nationalist movements that called for Arab unity no longer had an effective presence. Only the Islamist organizations that had gone “underground” returned to the surface and turned very extreme, demanding the establishment of an “Islamic state” and recalling the history of the Sunni-Shiite schism in its worst form, whether in slogan, behavior or practice that leads to “fitna” [strife].

    Power is often more valuable than religion. Religion was often used to hide the race for power. When someone reaches power, he leaves religion to God and focuses on worldly matters.

    We are now living the first of many chapters of the new political conflict in its awfully honest sectarian language and in its bloody practices that eliminate politics and religion.