Dear All
The US hasn’t of late covered itself in
glory over foreign policy decisions.
In the case of Syrian, a lot was said that
in the cold light of reality proved to be premature and incredibly unhelpful.
We live in a dangerous world, and it isn’t getting
safer in the present climate, across the globe people are unhappy with their
governments, some have taken to the streets to protest.
This is isolated to the Middle East.
I am not a fan of ‘regime change on the
cheap’, this appears to be a policy that the West is using in the Middle East
and the results have been disastrous.
The jist is to stoke up groups who dislike
their government, they take to the streets, then there is trouble, fighting takes
place and the usual scenario of being 'appalled' is trotted out by the West.
Syria is a classic example of a bad
decision and situation being made worse; how many people; have lost their lives
as is normal in these types of things we will never know, we will get the
highlights.
When John Kerry the US Secretary of State
uttered that Syria should hand over its chemical weapons stockpile, he by
default presented a solution to stop military action by the West in Syria.
It was ‘off the cuff’ but the Russians
jumped in and picked it up, now the US has an opportunity to do a rethink, via
our Russian cousins.
Accidents happen, now US President Barack
Obama has put military action against Syria on hold and vowed to pursue
diplomacy to remove the regime's chemical weapons.
It is right decision, on the ground there
is chaos, people about 2 million have been displaced, one million are children,
it is a war zone, aid is needed to prevent a humanitarian disaster. The United
Nations has a track record in this type of work; however, the US should
facilitate aid in a logistical sense by making the US surface auxillary fleet
available to get much needed supplies into Syria.
China is an example of the way forward; the
Chinese have for some time extended their influence in the world not by war,
but by trade and proving infrastructure support and projects to countries. In
return, they get access to resources, for everyone it is a win win.
Something that America could do well to copy
for future diplomatic success.
However there needs to be a change in
mindset, ‘regime change on the cheap’ needs to be abandoned, it isn’t helpful.
The Syrian Government in Damascus admits it
has chemical weapons and has agreed to abide by a Russian plan to hand over its
arsenal.
On the wider picture, the US should remember,
that the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front pose them a serious problem of
credibility, we can’t support these people even by proxy.
A solution has to be diplomatic, the US
must really sit down; how they got into this mess is an internal debate for
them to have later. The problem for them is to turn this around and work with
the wider international community to find a political solution.
America needs a stable Syria, President
Bashar al-Assad represents still the best possible person to do this; other
issues regarding Syria also need to be addressed, so this can be included in
talks.
Like many people I can’t get it round my
head that President Bashar al-Assad would use chemical weapons on his own
people, and especially since the Syrian Army is winning on the ground. I don’t
know al-Assad but he doesn’t strike me as a person who signs up for mass slaughter
of his own people.
As well as dealing with the Syrian
Government, the US must deal with the Free Syrian Army, they have to stand down;
we need a ceasefire. The Syrian Army must retake the Christian town of Maaloula,
al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front isn’t known for tolerance!
As
to the chemical weapons, although there is a disagreement between Russia and
Syria regarding whether the weapons should be destroyed, the Russians should
make it clear that the Syrians are on the brink. And they should make the choice
between complying and losing their strongest ally.
At the UN, Russia has also said any draft
resolution putting the blame on the Syrian government would be unacceptable,
and urged a non-binding declaration backing its initiative.
The time for face saving is over, the time
for a new strategy is clearly now here, the US has the option of military
strikes in the future, that remains, and the President Bashar al-Assad knows
this, as do his Syrian Government.
Every day the US doesn’t launch a military
strike, some people are getting an extra day of life, regards Syria still
remains a right bloody mess politically.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
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