Tags
Aberdeen Bestiary, al-Assad, chemical weapons, interview, Le Figaro, provocation, Rwandan genocide, Syria, The Middle East, the United Nations, war as the greater evil
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When I posted my previous article on Syria, I was afraid. I thought that my colleagues at WordPress would not look upon my post as a call for peace. I was wrong. Many of my WordPress colleagues also think the US should not enter into war. Banishing the use of chemical weapons can be addressed without entering into a military conflict.
However, I then watched CNN and heard many individuals express the view that America should saddle up — knights in shining armour — and enter Syria as though it were America’s mission to save the World. It is not America’s mission to save the world and I still feel the gassing to death of 1,429 Syrians by fellow Syrians could be provocation.
Provocation
Given the confidence the Syrians are expressing, I suspect they have powerful allies. It is therefore possible that the intended “narrow” intervention of a coalition led by the United States would escalate into a war and that the United States would again be seen as the “ugly American” who meddles into the affairs of the Middle East. Under Barack Obama’s Presidency, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won diplomatic victories that should not be jeopardized.
An Illegal Act of War
It is incumbent upon the World to make sure the “criminals” who gassed to death 1,429 innocent individuals are brought to justice. “Punishing” criminals is legitimate. Nobody wants a reenactment of the Rwandan genocide. However, attacking a sovereign “nation” could be construed as an illegal act of war.
The International Community
Consequently, it remains my opinion and conviction, that the US should continue to leave the Middle East, where it has long been despised, and let the World deal with the criminal acts committed under al-Assad’s dictatorship. The World has institutions, the UN and other agencies, whose duty it is to look after such matters.
I can understand that President Obama and his administration are motivated to intervene because 1,429 innocent individuals were gassed to death near Damascus. But it could be that 1,429 innocent citizens were gassed to death so President Obama and his administration would be motivated to intervene?
All things considered and as horrible as this may sound, war is a greater evil than the despicable gassing to death of 1,429 individuals. In the event of a war, there would soon be 14,429 victims, and then 144,299 victims.
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was interviewed by France’s Le Figaro.
“President Assad: From my perspective, power lies in your ability to prevent wars not in igniting them. Power comes from ones ability to stand up and acknowledge their mistakes; if Obama was strong, he would have stood up and said that there is no evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, he would have stood up and said that the right way forward is to wait for the results of the UN investigations and work through the UN Security Council. However, as I see it, he is weak because he succumbed to internal pressure from small groups and threatened military action. As I said strong leaders are those who prevent wars not those who inflame them. Malbrunot: What do you say to members of congress whose vote will determine whether or not there will be any military action? President Assad: Members of congress are entrusted to serve in the best interests of their country. Before they vote, they need to weigh up their decision in the interests of their own country. It is not in the interests of the US to perpetuate instability and extremism in the Middle East. It is not in their interests to continue – what George Bush started – spreading wars in the world. If they think logically and in the interests of their country, they will not find any benefits to these wars. However many of them they have not mastered the art of logic in their political decision-making. Malbrunot: How will you respond to these strikes, should they happen? President al-Assad: If we think of the Middle East as a barrel of explosives close to a fire that is coming ever closer, then it becomes clear that the issue is no longer contained to a Syrian response, but rather what will happen after the first strike. The architects of the war can define the first strike – in other words they can determine what they will do, but beyond that it is impossible for anyone to predict what will follow. Once the barrel explodes, everyone loses control; nobody can determine the outcome, however what is certain is the spread of chaos, wars and extremism in all its forms everywhere.” http://www.syriaonline.sy/?f=Details&catid=12&pageid=7073
© Micheline Walker
4 September 2013
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