November 10,2008: On November 7th, Syrian TV broadcast a show featuring eleven Islamic terrorists confessing their guilt for a September 27th car bombing in Damascus. The attack killed 17 people, and Sunni terrorists were suspected, because the explosion took place near a Shia mosque. The TV confessions included the terrorists admitting they received help from the LFM (Lebanese Future Movement), a Lebanese political group dedicated to eliminating Syrian influence in Lebanese politics. The LFM is believed to receive support from Saudi Arabia. The LFM denied any involvement in the September bombing, and accused the Syrians of coercing the terrorists to implicate the LFM.

The population of Syria is about 55 percent Sunni, but is run by a dictatorship composed largely of Alawites (a Shia sect that comprises about 20 percent of the population). About twelve percent of the population is Christian. The Alawite dictatorship, run by the Assad family, has controlled Syria for nearly 40 years. Syria is a typical Middle Eastern police state, where the rulers stay in power through a combination of terror and playing various groups off each other.

Over two decades ago, Syria allied itself with Iran, which is over 90 percent Shia. This made Syria unpopular with most other Arab states, which are run by Sunnis (as was Iraq, despite being 60 percent Shia, until Saddam and his Sunni cronies were deposed in 2003). Syria hasn't changed anyone's minds in the last twenty years, especially with its support of Shia terrorists (Hezbollah). In the last five years, Syria has provided sanctuary for Sunni terrorists on their way to Iraq. But even this was done at the behest of Iran, which was supporting al Qaeda and their ilk only because this was a way to kill Americans. Normally, al Qaeda prefers to kill Shia Moslems (who they consider heretics). Many Syrian Sunnis have organized terrorist groups and aimed their violence at the Syrian Alawite dictatorship. The Alawites have responded, as they always have, with efficiency and savage reprisals. It is believed that the televised confessions were coerced by threatening death, or worse, to close family members. This is a traditional technique in the region, and it usually works.