 Yesterday, an unnamed US Official disclosed to AP that the Quds Force Commander Ghassem Soleimani recently visited Syria secretly, which is a sign that Iran has been lending Assad a helping hand in its violent crackdown. The US did not hesitate to level that accusation against the Iranian regime.
In response to this visit, Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the NSC, said: “Assad is running out of money to continue financing his crackdown and has turned to Syria’s only ally left” He added that “No citizen in the world deserves to be repressed by its own government, and certainly not by Assad’s lone friend.”
When people of an oppressed country try to seek answers and cannot find any logic in the behavior of the international community, they turn to Syrians living in regions with considerable weight in international politics like France, the UK, and the US in search for these answers.Â
Many Syrians ask me why the Obama administration has not acted on Syria when it helped the Libyan, the Egyptian, and the Tunisian peoples gain their freedom from oppressive rulers.
As much as one wants to “wish” for a solution or “hope” for an end to the struggle of the Syrian people, there are really no easy answers to this question.
If the Syrian asking the question has some depth, I would point to the complexities involved in freeing Syria and the regional repercussions to any mistake. Whether we are dealing with Iranian and Syrian missiles aimed at Israel or whether Russia’s return to its old Cold War trickeries or whether of the fear Saudis have in adopting NATO tactics so close to home, the issues, I say, are not simple like they were in Tunisia and Libya.
Of course, discussions surrounding the Arab League and PM Erdogan always spoil the conversation because I do not hesitate to speak about what drives that fear to act decisively rather than dance around the problem or create solutions totally impractical like the Arab League Observers dispatched to Syria. They do it mainly to protect their self-interests and the political gains they have earned and not to help the Syrian people.Â
Between the specter of a Soviet era expansionist policy, Iranian weapons aimed at peaceful countries, oil prices in an election year, and many other known and unknown factors, the Syrian people find themselves caught in this international web waiting for help. When it does not materialize, who can blame them for defending themselves or for demanding a western military intervention with safe corridors to protect the civilian population?
But losing hope is not the answer either. Expatriate Syrians are connecting amongst themselves in ways I could never imagine. I learned from some of the people connecting with me that we are related. Their old stories about the native homeland cannot but stir you to work harder for your native country’s future.Â
COMMENTS
“there are really no easy answers to this question.”
I think there is a simple answer: Obama is determined to avoid getting into a war with Iran. Apart from anything else, there is no money – the Iraq war is not paid for yet.
No one is asking for any money. My son is involved in a disarmament program in Afghanistan assisting the US Army. Instead of blowing these weapons and the ammunition, ship them to the FSA and send some people who can logistically assist them. I will pay for the shipping if I had to.
Don, please read my next Blog with the following question to Mr. Hoff: How many opportunities the US has had in the last 42 years to depose an old Soviet invention (Still to this day) whose purpose is to wreak havoc and destabilize through terror? None. This is the first and you may be wasting it.