ÇETİN AY, "WHILE SYRIA IS COLLAPSING, LIBYA IS BURNING, AND IRAQ IS BEING BOMBED..."

When a people begin to hate the leader who governs them, bombs can be perceived not as fear, but as liberation. This isn't politics; it's a moment of human rupture.

Normally, a person would run away from a bomb. But in some countries, people rejoiced at the bombing.

This isn't a rumor. This happened.

When Baghdad was bombed in Iraq, some people weren't afraid. They didn't run away. They didn't hide. On the contrary, they felt relieved. Some cried. Some cried with joy. Because for years, what they feared wasn't the bombs. What they feared was their own rulers.

In Baghdad, the issue wasn't the bombs. The issue was Saddam Hussein. He was a name that had been feared, silenced, and unchallenged for years. That's why, when Baghdad was bombed, citizens didn't say "we're dying." They said, "we're being liberated."

These people didn't want war. They didn't want foreign soldiers. They didn't want their country destroyed. But they wanted this: for this oppression to end, for this fear to end, for life not to continue like this.

At that point, people no longer think, "What will happen to the country?" They think, "Will I escape this life?"

Therefore, bombs were seen not as destruction, but as an escape route for them. This is not rational. This is a societal exhaustion.

The same psychology later emerged in Libya. While Tripoli was burning, people said, "Just let him go, whoever comes next."

In Tripoli, the issue wasn't the fire. The issue was Muammar Gaddafi. He was a name feared, accepted, and unchallengeable for years. While Tripoli burned, the citizens didn't look at the fire. Their hearts were already burning. That day, it wasn't buildings that were burning, but fear. That's why they didn't say, "What will happen to the country?" They said, "Just let him go."

This wasn't joy.

This was the reaction of a person who had nothing left to lose.

The same state of mind was experienced in Syria. "Let Assad go, whatever happens," they said. And it happened. Bombs rained down. Cities were destroyed. Millions of people were displaced.

In Damascus, the name Bashar al-Assad was synonymous with the regime itself. As the city collapsed, citizens didn't think about "what will happen tomorrow." They said, "Let it end today."

They left.

But they left behind no regime.

The contradiction here is very clear. People don't rejoice in death. But if oppression continues, even death seems lighter than the life they lived.

This is not betrayal.

This is a collapse.

States are often not destroyed by external forces. States collapse when the people begin to say, "whatever happens."

Bombs only hasten the result. The real destruction is when people become willing to accept the destruction of their own country. The real danger is not the bombs. The real danger is when the people become accepting of the bombs.

Çetin Ay

President of BWA

Note:

This article is limited to describing the social psychology that emerged in Iraq, Libya, and Syria during the periods of certain leaders in these countries, using three concrete examples from those countries.