The initiative, presented by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to the United States of America for the United Nations to take control of Syrian chemical weapons in order to destroy them, saving the world from greater humanitarian disaster.
In accepting this proposal to hand over Syrian’s chemical weapons to the United Nations for destruction, President Bashar al Assad shows his willingness for peace. It also shows that as president of his country that he has the interest of his country at heart. If the rebels and their leaders have the interest of their country at heart they should seek peaceful solution to their demands and solve their problem rather than destroy their country for selfish reasons.
There are those who may have wished that President Obama ought to have insisted on his earlier pronouncement two years ago that Assad should step down. But that will not make Obama a good leader if he does not weigh the outcome. Egypt was allowed their demand for Mubarak to step down and Morsi a member of Moslem Brotherhood took over. At his swearing in he said that he would be president for all. But was he? We know what happened before he was toppled. President Obama acted appropriately. The show of military might was welcome and helped to diffuse tension in that region; this is because Assad and those in that region would have seen that a military strike would not only affect Syria but the neighbouring countries. The strike would precipitate a world crisis. Iran would have been greatly affected because the leaders of Iran might be tempted to flex their muscle because of their acquired nuclear reactor and will then be destroyed.
Is President Obama weak?
If the Obama Administration had taking a similar action as that of Menachem Begin when on 7th June 1981 he ordered the disabling of the Iraqi nuclear reactor, the whole world would have cried out against him. The road to peace is not through warfare or such military strike but through a negotiated settlement. In this case the two parties will smile at each order whenever they meet thereafter. I do not accept Joe Klein’s claim in his article in Time Politic of 11 September 2013 titled Obama and Syria: Stumbling Toward Damascus, that ‘Obama’s uneven Syria response has damaged his office and weakened the nation,’ rather the president’s response shows matured mind and that he does not only have world peace at heart but peace in the Middle East.
I wish to refer Joe Klein to the book of Jonah in the Holy Bible. God wanted to destroy Nineveh but speared Nineveh because of the children and innocent people who would have perished as a result of the destruction, that did not make God weak. We should applaud the president and all those in support of peaceful resolution to the Syrian chemical weapon issue particularly British law makers who began the process.
Joe in his article wrongly wrote that; “He (President Obama) should do what the Israelis did when they took out the Syrian nuclear reactor: they did it, without advance bluster, and didn’t even claim credit for it afterward.” He also got this wrong as the Israelis permanently disabled Iraqi nuclear reactor and not Syrian’s. Joe failed to tell his readers what that action resulted to, an outcry all over the world particularly from Britain and the USA. After the disablement Menachem Begin was interviewed on why he took such action, his reply was a re-count of what the Nazis did to his family and the Jews. He emphatically retorted never again will there be another holocaust in Israel, Time 22 June 1981. That was a good reason.
What reason would Obama give if he did what Joe wants him to do than to attract more terrorist activities against his country and American citizens all over the world? Joe must not forget that the world is no longer what it was in 1981 when the Israelis did that. Any good leader must not create more enemies for the United States of America and the West. We must not forget that day by day children are being born in different countries of the world whose origin comes from Syria or the Middle East. Any action a leader takes that will adversely affect that another country may not be kindly taken by those children as they grow into adulthood. Bearing this in mind therefore, any action in favour of world peace is what counts and makes a President or Prime Minister a great leader.
The opposition:
The opposition at the moment should think of settling this dispute without further destruction of Syria. They should spell out their demands and stop the destruction and killing of one another. The Syrian rebel leader as reported by CNN staff on 15 September 2013 urged that in addition to UN taking control of Syrian chemical weapon, there should also be a ban on the use of air power by the Syrian regime. They claim this will help. I wonder how sincere they are in their demand. The crisis in Syria could be resolved without further bloodshed and wanton destruction of property. I cannot see any legitimacy in the rebel’s demand than to ruin Syria. The mistake had already been made in the removal of Saddam Hussein. Today Iraq is unsettled. Day by day we hear and read of suicide bombing, what no one would have heard of in Saddam Hussein’s regime. The Syrian rebels should take cue from Assad, stop the war and get on to the negotiating table in order to have this war brought to an end. The West should not supply arms to the rebels as this would prolong the war and result to more humanitarian disaster and destruction of property.
Fundamentalist’s tactic
The conflict is still a tactic used by those fermenting trouble in that region, to continue to drown the call from the Israeli Prime Minister to check Iran with its nuclear program and to draw the West and the United States of America in to the Middle East crisis. But the United States of America’s show of power will sound a note of serious warning to Iran and those leaders who may think that because they have acquired one or two weapons of mass destruction that they can match power with the United States of America or Israel.
General Salim Idriss head of Free Syrian Army while talking with CNN said that Assad may have started moving the chemical weapons to other regions. I believe he is saying this to enable him get more military aid from the West and the USA. If he genuinely wants peace and the good of Syria he should get to peace negotiating table. Putin in calling Britain small Island must not forget that Britain ruled half the world and that Britain still has fire power. Britain plays important role in seeking peace in the Middle East and supplies a lot of material and financial aid to that region of the world. Peace in that region is beneficial to all, particularly, the West and United States of America even Russia where in the recent time terrorism has grown. Peace and peaceful resolution of conflict in that region will help reduce terrorism, more still home grown terrorists.
Therefore, Syrian people take advantage of the initiative presented by the Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to bring the civil war in your country to an end. It is for your good and the good of all the countries in that region. It is also important to note, as reported by Reuters 5th September 2013, that Pope Francis joined the calls for peaceful settlement as he sent a letter to the Russian president who hosted the G20 summit to urge him and world leaders to seek peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria rather than pursue military action. I believe that this will be drummed into the ears of the Syrian rebels and the warring factions in the Middle East more still Iran.
Emmanuel Opiah writing in London
DISCLAIMER: The articles on our website are not endorsed by, or the opinions of Shout Out UK (SOUK), but exclusively the views of the author.
