The Collapse of Democratic Movements in Syria and Libya Is the Result of US - UN Negligence

The tragic events in the Philippines have riveted the world for the past week and I hope we are all doing whatever we can to help the 2 million Philippinos displaced by the worst typhoon ever to make landfall. But, this fully warranted media focus has masked two important stories coming out of Syria and Libya. ~~~~~ Some of us have been watching with dismay as Bashar al-Assad gradually regains control over rebel-held territory in Syria. Al-Assad forces have captured rebel strongholds in both the north and in areas around Damascus, where al-Assad has made the most of his Lebanese Hezbollah ally, capturing five towns since October 11. The latest to fall to al-Assad was Hejeira, which army troops swept through Wednesday. And in the north, al-Assad forces outside the country's largest city, Aleppo, have reinforced the regime's position. The more the government advances, the easier it is to dismiss the weak and divided opposition's demands in the critically important city of Aleppo, where rebels have fought the regime since mid-2012. Al-Assad forces have retaken a military base near the Aleppo airport, a large war prize. Momentum around Aleppo is now favoring al-Assad. His army's advances around rebel strongholds have slowed the rebel effort to retain the north. In addition, rebel infighting, with al-Qaida-linked jihadists taking over more moderate rebel brigades, has left hundreds dead on both sides of the rebel units. And both moderate rebel groups and jihadists have undertaken a brutal side conflict with Syria's Kurdish minority, which has a large presence in the northeast and Aleppo province. While rebel infighting has sidetracked their resources and undermined their effort to oust al-Assad, rebels also have been frustrated by US President Obama's decision to seek a diplomatic path to disarming Damascus of its chemical weapons. Many had harbored hopes that even limited American military intervention would arrive and help tip the scales in the rebels' favor. Supplies of weapons and gear from neighboring Turkey has also slowed to a trickle, rebels say, as Ankara has grown increasingly concerned about the increasingly prominent role of Islamic extremists in the rebel effort. ~~~~~ And in Libya, renewed fighting has broken out between rival Libyan militias around the capital, Tripoli, after at least 43 people died and 500 were wounded in Friday clashes. The latest violence is in Tajoura, the suburb where local militiamen are confronting fighters arriving from Misrata. Friday's clashes occurred when civilian protesters were fired on as they marched on the Misrata militia headquarters to demand that it leave Tripoli. Today, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan confirmed that fresh fighting had occurred in Tajoura. He urged all sides to "exercise maximum restraint,...No forces from outside Tripoli should attempt to enter the city....The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution." BBC's Rana Jawad reported from Tripoli that Tajoura is seen as the gateway to the capital and said the latest fighting was sparked when an armed convoy from Misrata entered it in an apparent attempt to make its way to the center of Tripoli. Jawad said armed groups halted the convoy, which retreated 15km (9 miles) away, but that live rounds were still being exchanged. Government-linked militias have set up checkpoints across the capital in tightened security for the funerals of many of those killed on Friday as thousands filled Tripoli streets where the coffins were being carried overhead. The Washington Post reported that the clashes serve to underscore Libya’s deteriorating security two years after Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi’s death, as bands of former rebels have morphed into well-armed militias which increasingly vie for power in Libya. The central government is weak and divided. Some ministers and lawmakers are suspected of having links to the militias, which control enormous stockpiles of heavy weapons and have recruited thousands of young men. Efforts to absorb the militias into a national army and police force have not succeeded. Instead, the militias threaten to use force in order to intimidate politicians, government officials and each other, even pushing through legislation. Recently, the militias shut down oil infrastructure to pressure the state into meeting their demands. More than 30 people died in the eastern city of Benghazi in June when one powerful government-sponsored militia, the Libya Shield 1, clashed with armed protesters and another state-sponsored group, the Libyan special forces. Benghazi was also the scene of the attack on the US diplomatic mission on September 11, 2012, that left four people dead, including US Ambassador Chris Stephens, and sparked the first popular mass protests against the militias. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Syria and Libya are really two sides of the same coin. In Syria, the lack of US and western support for the original rebel cause has led to its infiltration by al-Qaida linked jihadists that threaten to overwhelm the moderate rebels and give al-Assad the upper hand in any eventual Geneva negotiation, if he even sees a reason to negotiate about the future of what is beginning to feel like the latest lost cause of Syrians wanting to be free of the vicious al-Assad family dictatorship. The other side of the coin is Libya, where the US and the UN thought that in eliminating Qaddafi and allowing elections to proceed their job was done. They abandoned Libya to its fate. Only the martyred Chris Stevens was left to try to provide the longterm support that was an afterthought for everyone but him. In both Syria and Libya - we could add Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon - democracy cannot begin to grow without a US-UN commitment to ongoing support. Killing Qaddafi and destroying chemical stockpiles is simply not enough. If the Middle East is to gain a stability based on people instead of dictators, the US and the West must stay engaged.