The Syrian Conundrum

Syria was a very peaceful country with a lively population a decade ago. Damascus, the capital city used to be one of the oldest cities in the world. In fact Syria had one of the World Heritage Sites at Palmyra with well preserved historical artifacts. All of a sudden this peaceful and lively country was thrown into a never ending confusion with some citizens calling for the stepping down of the President, Bashir Al-Assad. These protests started six years ago which later turned into a full blown civil war which has been raging on ever since. More than half a million people have lost their lives in this never ending conflict. At first all seemed to be going well for the so called moderate rebels who were being sponsored by their western friends through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman with military hardware and money. Since Russia saw it as very strategic to support Assad due to her interests, the Syrian government started gaining the upper hand with the help of the Russian military and air support.

The Assad regime had to deal with rebel factions and ISIS on several fronts and this stretched his army thin, so Russian support was so welcoming and this helped the Syrian government to push the so called moderate rebels out of their controlled territory. Russia also joined the fight against ISIS in Syria and used her military base at Latakia in Syria as a launch pad for airstrikes against the terrorist organization. In 2013 the Syrian government was accused of allegedly using chemical weapons on its citizens, but Assad’s regime denied this accusation. Russia and the US then called for a destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. These two powers had representatives on the ground to supervise and ensure that Syria’s chemical weapons were destroyed.

Fast forward to April, 2017, the Syrian government is suspected to have launched a chemical attack in Khan Shekoun in the Idlib Province killing many children. The Syrian government comes out to deny this accusation and they accept the fact that they launched an airstrike against a rebel warehouse with no knowledge of chemical weapons in it. The western biased media decide to blame the Assad government for the deaths. In the early hours of 7^th April, 2017, the US launches a barrage of cruise missiles, more than 50 missiles against a Syrian airbase near Homs. Before they did that they contacted the Russians to make sure no Russian was caught in the strike. Several questions need to be answered.

Why will Assad gas his own people? Knowing very well that the international community will never forgive him for such an act, why will he do that? Is it true that the sarin gas that was the cause of the deaths of these innocent children was shipped from Libya to the Syrian rebels with the tacit approval of a former US Secretary of State? Why will the UN Security Council allow the US to take a unilateral decision to launch strikes on Syria? Is it not a breach of international law? Why was the US and her allies quick to blame Assad for the gas attack hours after it happened? Why didn’t they allow independent investigators to do their work?

The world must tread cautiously in relation to the Syrian civil war, because the exit of Assad will burn the Middle East. Isis and the various factions in the Syrian conflict will resort to fighting each other once Assad is kicked out and another Iraq and Libya will rear its ugly head in the region. The Syrian people should be allowed to choose their own leaders. There should be no meddling from any other foreign power. Syria needs peace and a political solution should be found as soon as possible to end the suffering of the Syrian people.

The Road To Damascus

Once again, the US and Britain are deceiving the world into believing the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its people. We all know what happened in Iraq where no WMDs were found but the country was invaded. This is a tinderbox which will set the Middle East ablaze. The world is watching. Who helped Saddam Hussein to gas the Kurds and also who gave chemical weapons to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s?The war rhetoric by top government officials in the UK and US on Syria has gotten to a high level. Its just a matter of time for the military intervention by these two powers to happen just like what happened in Iraq. The world is waiting and watching when the strikes will start. What will Assad gain from gassing his own people? We all know of the consequences of the US and Britain helping the Syrian rebels to overthrow Assad. Iraq should be a reference point. No evidence of WMDs were found in Iraq yet she was invaded. What's in for the US and Britain if they launch strikes on Assad's regime? It seems Bashir Assad was targeted to be overthrown the moment he refused to help in disbanding the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.  I also have a hunch that  Saddam Hussein's WMDs are alleged to be hidden in Syria so the so called "Coalition Forces" are on the "Road to Damascus" to make sure they find it. But i also don't support Assad nor the Syrian rebels in the entrenched positions they have taken as dialogue would have been the best solution to the Syrian Civil War. Assad will surely go very soon either into exile or by an air strike from the "Coalition Forces" which will eventually terminate his stay on this earth. I also foresee the "Road to Damascus" to be a very tortuous and dangerous one. Russia has a military base in Syria and do you think they will just sit down and watch the US and UK have a field day? We all know that this evidence the UN investigators are looking for was cooked up by the US and their collaborators just to give Bashir Al Assad a bad name and hang him. Any major intervention in Syria would surely affect the whole of the Middle East. The war hawks in both the US and UK are surely planning every detail of their military strikes in Syria. Why would the US Department of Defence authorize the sale of cluster bombs worth $641 million to Saudi Arabia? The last time i checked cluster bombs have been banned by the UN and we know where these bombs are heading to as Saudi Arabia is being used as a proxy in the Syrian Civil War. The rebels would use these bombs and later present them as evidence against the Syrian government. The UN is still in its "toothless dog" mode as they always do not conduct thorough investigations before coming out with a decision. What happened to the first UN investigation that found out that the Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons some months back? As usual, that report has been swept under the carpet as if it never happened.  We now live in a world where rebels are now seen as legitimate governments because the ruling group in a country refused to kowtow to the whims and caprices of a world super power. I guess by now, the Iranians are watching this unfolding threat of military intervention closely. The "Road to Damascus" will surely not be a walk through the park. The oldest capital city in the world, Damascus with its historical sites now lie in ruins. Lets find a political solution to the Syrian Civil War and stop escalating the conflict. God help us all.