The Syrian Civil War; Against Bashar al-Assad

The blood spill in Syria never stops.

It is almost three years now ever since the rebellion against the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad first erupted following the massive Arab Spring. The entire globe has witnessed in the past three years many sovereign states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region “enraging” with hatred and dissenting attitude against the regional leaders. Initiated by the Jasmine Revolution in which a fruit seller is said to have immolated himself, the Arab Spring grew into world-shaking affair. Dictators in Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt were toppled “successfully”, but not without innocent lives being slain. The Arab Spring is said to have “inspired” many other happening throughout the world, citing the 2011 pro-democracy demonstration in mainland China and the “Occupy Wall Street” movement as examples.

When Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, former President of Tunisia was ousted by the people’s power in late 2010, the virus was yet to spread into other neighbouring countries. Gradually, like wildfire, the anti-dictatorship force moved into other nations such as Egypt and Libya, and affecting the Shiite-majority country, Syria. Yet, what remains interesting in the Syrian case, whilst the dictators in other countries were removed from office, Bashar al-Assad is still standing strong.

The Syrian carnage has always been pressing from day one. In spite of various reports that have emerged pertaining to the number of casualties in the Syrian civil war, an accurate number is unlikely to be identified. Approximately, more than 100,000 lives are massacred and even more are displaced due to the on-going crisis. Seeing this happening, a smart question may pop-out…why hasn’t any international action taken to remedy this manslaughter?

Actually, seeing the severity of the civil war in Syria, the United Nations’ Security Council (UNSC) has long ago mooted the idea of sending United Nations’ military intervention to Syria, in order to halt the blood spill. This, nevertheless, never materialised as al-Assad’s ally, Russia was quick to veto against any military intervention. This was followed suit by People’s Republic of China as to their opinion, a domestic crisis is best to be solved by a country’s own nationals. So, apparently, it was three against two fight amongst the permanent members of the UNSC.

Acknowledging this failure, the Arab League and UN joined forces to form a Syrian crisis task force to mediate between the rebels and the President of Syria. Initially, this task force was led by the former Sec-Gen of UN, Kofi Annan. After series of investigations and rounds of diplomacy, Kofi Annan braved himself to resign, dictating briefly yet strictly, international military intervention is a must to put a halt to this civil war. Posthumously, Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed to succeed Mr Kofi Annan and more rounds of talks and mediation entails, while more and more lives are lost in Syria.

Recently, Syria again made its headlines as the sub-urban area of Damascus was said to be shelled by chemical agent. Hundreds if not thousands of Syrians are sent to the hospitals, with most diagnosed to suffer from muscle and nerve failure, most likely caused by hazardous nerve agent. This has prompted President Obama to reveal his planning in sending US army for strikes in Syria. Despite military actions are not sanctioned by the Security Councils of UN, US and its possible allies may launch attacks under the name of NATO. This has been done previously, in the case of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

However, this plan is yet to be confirmed. As of now, the US Congress is deliberating on approval of such attack (interestingly, many Congressman from the Democratic Party and the GOP approve). However, in United Kingdom, David Cameron was left red-faced when the Parliament has disapproved any attack on Syria. Obviously, with the loose coalition government in United Kingdom now, this Tory prime minister is highly unlikely to join the United States in any form of attack on Syria. So far, only the President of France, Francois Hollande has made his case clear that France is ready for any action to be taken on blood-soaked Syria.

When the Obama administration revealed that military attacks may be launched against the Syrian army for using harmful nerve agents in its civil war, many sceptics continue to question President Obama’s credibility. After being elected as the first Afro-American president of America, Barack Obama caught worldwide attention as he revealed his intention to mend America’s relationship with the Arab world. Thus, any attack plan on Syria should sound contradicting to his previous stand.

Pundits and analysts have also assumed that Israel may have connections in regards to this sudden change. To elaborate, Israel is a Jewish state, landlocked within a Muslim-majority region. The Israel-Palestine problem has long irked and angered the rest of the Muslim world. Iran, especially together with Hezbollah from Lebanon has always posed much threat to the security of Israel. This is much notable as when the new President of Iran, Hassan Rowhani has sent his greeting wishes for the Jewish New year, the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu has received it with much scepticism.

But, how does this exactly link up with Syria? To the uninitiated, Iran and Hezbollah are allies to the current President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Thus, with the possible destruction of the al-Assad power in Syria, threats against the security of Israel will be reduced significantly.

To cut it short, it is unfortunate to witness an entire state failing to provide security for its own citizens. While international understandings such as the “Fourteen Points by Woodrow Wilson” and the “1648 Peace of Westphalia” dictate that a fate of a country should be left to its own nationals, the international bodies like United Nations and others cannot stay put and do nothing due to political affiliations. Actions need to be taken before these 100,000 casualties grow into millions.