On Sunday, the al-Assad minister of state for national reconciliation, Ali Haidar, visited Teheran to discuss matters related to the conflict in Syria. He said it was completely unacceptable for al-Assad to step down at the request of “western capitals” and opposition leaders.
At the same time that Haidar was in Teheran, a key Iranian leader, Alaeddine Boroujerdi, was in Damascus, to deliver the message to al-Assad that Iran now believes the fighting in Syria is at an “impasse” and that it favors “a political solution.”
Al-Assad responded immediately that he would put down “at any price” the rebellion led by “terrorists” and paid for by “foreigners.”
Not to be rebuffed so easily, Iran will present its plan for a solution at a conference of non-aligned nations that will meet in Teheran on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, a ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council will discuss what to do about humanitarian aid, since there has been no agreement from Russia to stop its support of al-Assad’s regime.
Humanitarian aid is key now because there are an estimated 80,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey, which has temporarily closed its border to give it time (3 days, it hopes) to build two more camps to welcome another 20,000 refugees. Turkish officials say this is the maximum number their country can manage and is suggesting a holding zone along the Syrian-Turkish border, under international control, to take the excess Syrian refugee flow.
Jordan, which has seen tens of thousands of Syrian refugees cross its borders, is asking UNICEF for USD 500 Million to help it in caring for them properly.
All this is occurring against the horrific backdrop of 320 bodies found in Daraya, 5 miles south of Damascus. The al-Assad regime seemed to take responsibility for the execution-style massacre, saying that it had “eliminated terrorist mercenaries” from the Daraya area.
Paris said it was “profoundly shocked” by the discovery of the bodies, while Washington said the Daraya killings were new proof of the “brutal repression” of al-Assad and called for him to step down.
The rebels themselves say they shot down a helicopter over Damascus as retaliation for the Daraya massacre.
And so, dear readers, we have put another chain in the already long chain of death, retaliation, massacre, failed diplomatic efforts and al-Assad’s impunity in the face of international pressure that cannot seem to rise above words.
Russia is still holding the UN at a stand-off, but the fact that Iran is now calling for a political, i.e., negotiated, settlement is obviously a problem for al-Assad because Iran is one of the few allies he has left.
Can Iran succeed where the UN and the world have failed? It sounds like al-Assad has sent a strong message that he will not bend to Iran’s will anymore than he has to world opinion. And, because Iran has other matters on its plate - the petroleum embargo that is almost worldwide, frozen external bank assets - as well as a wary Israel watching its nuclear program very closely, will Iran actually try to stop al-Assad. Or will Teheran merely make the noises needed to maintain its role as the leader of the opposition to the UN and the world.
The key remains Russia, because Russia is supplying the al-Assad regime with the weapons and materials it must have to continue to bomb its own cities in the hope of either killing all the opposition or driving the Syrian people away from the rebel Free Syria Army that is leading the revolt.
There must be a key to bringing Russia to its senses while there are still Syrians alive who can be saved. If talk will not work, what about an embargo on a percentage of the exports of a number of important Russian products (petroleum, natural gas, aluminium, agricultural products), or a freeze on some of its external bank assets, or a refusal to allow Russian banks to do business in Europe.
There must be something the UN and its leaders could do, it they really wanted to.
Otherwise, we will continue to watch as doctors in make-shift bombed-out hospitals try to patch up the shrapnel wounds of small children hit by al-Assad bombs that often find them because they are oblivious to the sound of bombs and cannot run fast enough in any case - children who scream in terror that they don’t want to die as the few doctors and nurses available work to save them.
I think that you have hit on the 2 major points.
ReplyDelete1. Russia is the key player here. At their signal this could be over in a matter of days, at most a few weeks. The stench of death could be lifted from the neighborhood where these wounded children once played.
2. And secondly there are many consideration that the UN could get behind and push towards a settlement. The UN has become a very large "black hole" where money enters and is never seen again. Except for a couple incidences the UN has lived up to none of it's hopes and dreams. It's a bunch of third world politicians that are playing a game they are ill equipped to play. And adding that this isn't a game at all, but life and death for tens of thousands of people slaughtered by Assad.
When we speak of useless slaughter let's also look at the recent beheading of 17 young adults in Afghanistan for simply attending a party where there was music and dancing that the local (South eastern Afghanistan) Taliban thought was unbecoming their religious beliefs. We have more of this to look forward to in Afghanistan in the future a we step up our withdrawal of forces via Obama decision.
Let's look to Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, etc. as the Taliban steps in to rule with an ISLAMIC IRON HAND.
I don't think Assad brutality will be the exception to the rule in the Middle East in months to come. Though I wish it were.
The civilized nations need to ban together, if only for this forthcoming massacre of innocent lives that is on the horizon, and stop it with any force necessary. And do it quickly and swiftly and without any kindness to these barbarian dictators.
Killing and harming innocent children...the bastards deserve to hang.
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