The Quest For Peace In Syria (When The Eagle and The Bear Agree)

The world witnessed a rare moment in the last few days. This was when the US and Russia agreed on a ceasefire and peace plan for Syria. This plan is supposed to gradually bring an end to the Syrian Civil War that has claimed so many lives. The whole world watched with much anticipation as the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavarov and the US Secretary of State, John Kerry met to agree on a peace plan for Syria. I had a feeling those who always prayed and hoped that these two super powers will fail again to agree on a peace plan for Syria.

It is a known fact that the Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad is being backed by the Kremlin likewise the various rebel movements notably the Free Syrian Army is also being backed by Washington. Both super powers are fighting a proxy war in Syria. But certain rebel groups such as the Al Nusra Front which is an affiliate of Al Qaeeda have to be forced to accept the ceasefire plan. In the plan the rebels have been granted the right of self defence if attacked by the Syrian Government. With ISIS also lurking around in Syria, I hope this plan will bring the various forces together to fight them and push them out of Syria. The world is watching as the two super powers have taken a bold step to ensure that they find a political solution to the Syrian Civil War. President Bashar Al Assad will definitely listen to the Russians as they have been his main backbone throughout the civil war. If not for the involvement of the Russians with their airstrikes on rebel targets, the Syrian President would have been long gone. The future of Syria is to be determined in the next few days if the ceasefire is to hold and that is if all the warring factions implement their parts in the agreement. So much blood has been spilt, women and children have borne the brunt of the carnage going on in Syria. Their attempt to flee the conflict too is being hampered by most of the countries bordering Syria refusing them entry. This has created a humanitarian crisis in the Middle East as Syria’s neighbors can’t take any more refugees with Europe being the worst affected.

The ceasefire holds for now, Bashar Al Assad has been emboldened but the opposition is wary and observing this latest initiative with caution and will be seriously monitoring the next moves of the other parties or factions involved in the civil war. Lets all hope the Eagle and the Bear continue to agree on major issues in this world. This will go a long way to reduce the tension between these two super powers in the international arena as they are both jostling to overpower each other in terms of diplomacy, intelligence and military capabilities. Don’t forget to #PrayForSyria and all the conflict zones all over the world.

Whatever Happens In Ukraine...

Once again the world is seriously on tenterhooks as to what is happening in the Ukraine, Crimea to be precise. One side is talking about the illegality of what the other has done and the other side is also saying that they have the right to protect their interests if they feel threatened. First of all, how was the former Ukrainian President, Victor Yanukovych kicked out of office? Who engineered the whole crisis and currently who are the ones benefiting from the mess created?

 I presume the beneficiaries would be licking their lips by now as they have gotten what they wanted. But the former president agreed to most f the demands of the protesters and it suddenly took a dramatic twist as he had to flee for his life.  The Ukrainian  crisis seems to be a test case for the balance of  global power as some world powers such as the USA and her European Allies behave with impunity any time they feel their interests are threatened. They lied to the whole world about WMDs in Iraq , invasion of Afghanistan, Libya, the use of drones in Pakistan and other places where innocent civilians were killed. The UN just sat down and allowed all these atrocities to be committed without any condemnation. 

Whatever happens in the Crimean region of Ukraine would have far reaching consequences on the global economy and the world is not ready for another war that would distort the peace that is being enjoyed currently despite the pockets of conflicts going on in some parts of the world. Russian President, Vladimir Putin would not sit down for the West to have their way in Crimea. He would do everything to secure Russia's military bases in the Crimea. These bases must not fall into the hands of rogue elements who took part in the ouster of  Victor Yanukovych.

I have a hunch there is a well cooked out plan to isolate Russia and make her look vulnerable in the eyes of the western allies. This plan would definitely lead to serious repercussions on the whole world. The price of crude oil and other important commodities would shoot up and those of us in the developing countries will feel the full brunt. War must be avoided as much as possible and diplomacy must be employed to solve this crisis. As at the time of writing this post the Crimean Parliament had voted overwhelmingly to join Russia and had set a date for a referendum for the people to decide on the issue. I hope and pray the whole world will respect the outcome of the referendum because whatever happens in the Ukraine affects the whole world. The hypocrisy must end now as some of the powers take some bad decisions which their allies deem to be good and sees nothing wrong with them but when similar decisions are taken by Russia then, sanctions and other punitive measures must be applied.                                                                                             

Friends Today, Enemies Tomorrow.

Have you ever been in a friendship that seems to be everlasting, and all of a sudden the two best friends become sworn  enemies? When that happens all types of strategies would be employed to get rid of each other or to make one look bad. This enmity has come down to us in this our modern world, and it is happening between countries who were once good allies and fought for a common interest. The USA used to have friendly and warm relations with Iran during the 1970s when the Shah of that country was at the helm of affairs. But this relationship turned sour and cold when the Shah was overthrown by the fundamentalists led by the spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini. The US then fought a proxy war with Iran by propping Saddam Husein of Iraq and sending him weapons. This was the Iran/Iraq War from 1980-1988. This war ended with no clear victor. Saddam Husein was then branded an enemy by the USA when he decided to invade Kuwait. That was the biggest mistake he did. We all know what happened after that invasion. Then in the early part of the 21st century Iraq was invaded by the USA and her allies, Saddam Hussein was eventually captured and later executed. All these were done on the pretext that Saddam Hussein was having Weapons Of Mass Destruction (WMDs). But the whole world never got to know where those weapons were being kept in Iraq. In fact no WMDs have been found in Iraq up to date. The late ruler of Libya Muamar Gaddafi was once an avowed enemy of the west, he then became friendly towards them. But later events led to his country being bombarded by NATO after a rebel insurrection in the Libyan city of Bengazi. Syria is now paying dearly for refusing to do the bidding of the west in an ongoing civil war with the western powers trumpeting that Assad must leave power at all cost giving little room for any political solution. Innocent lives are being lost in a senseless war. I know for sure Iran would be the next stop for the western powers. They did it to Manuel Noriega of Panama, tried it on Fidel Castro of Cuba, but it never worked. So as the saying goes, "Beware of the Greeks when they come bearing gifts", these acts of friendship by the western powers might end up being a "Trojan Horse". We all have to be careful when entering into a friendship, because that friendship can turn into enmity tomorrow. Just be careful who you become friends with, it might later spell your doom.