Video of the day -- the devastation
This is what Homs, the third-largest city in Syria, looks like after almost five years of civil war:
Knowing the region as I do and having been to Syria, I found this gut-wrenching. With cities in ruins and millions of people displaced, Syria is being destroyed. This war needs to end. And the harsh fact is, wars end when somebody wins them. Right now and for the foreseeable future, the only force strong enough to establish control over the whole country and end the war is the government -- the Asad regime. With Russia's recent intervention, the regime is recapturing territory and regaining control. Yes, this reconquest is itself a brutal process, and Asad is a monster, and Putin is intervening solely for reasons of Russian geopolitical advantage -- but this, not farcical "peace talks", offers a real possibility of ending the war.
(The one other force that might be strong enough to control all of Syria is Dâ'ish (ISIL), but I shudder to imagine the fate of Syria's two-and-a-half million Christians and similar number of Alawites under Dâ'ish rule. It would mean even worse horrors than the war itself. The Asad regime has at least generally not persecuted religious minorities. I wouldn't trust any of the Sunni factions, even the US-supported ones, on that score.)
It's daunting to realize Syria's situation is so dire that Asad is the least-bad option. But that's the reality.
And to those narcissistic Americans who treat the Middle East as a mere stage prop to assign blame or praise to this or that American leader or policy: Stop. Just stop. This isn't about us.
Video found via Green Eagle.
Knowing the region as I do and having been to Syria, I found this gut-wrenching. With cities in ruins and millions of people displaced, Syria is being destroyed. This war needs to end. And the harsh fact is, wars end when somebody wins them. Right now and for the foreseeable future, the only force strong enough to establish control over the whole country and end the war is the government -- the Asad regime. With Russia's recent intervention, the regime is recapturing territory and regaining control. Yes, this reconquest is itself a brutal process, and Asad is a monster, and Putin is intervening solely for reasons of Russian geopolitical advantage -- but this, not farcical "peace talks", offers a real possibility of ending the war.
(The one other force that might be strong enough to control all of Syria is Dâ'ish (ISIL), but I shudder to imagine the fate of Syria's two-and-a-half million Christians and similar number of Alawites under Dâ'ish rule. It would mean even worse horrors than the war itself. The Asad regime has at least generally not persecuted religious minorities. I wouldn't trust any of the Sunni factions, even the US-supported ones, on that score.)
It's daunting to realize Syria's situation is so dire that Asad is the least-bad option. But that's the reality.
And to those narcissistic Americans who treat the Middle East as a mere stage prop to assign blame or praise to this or that American leader or policy: Stop. Just stop. This isn't about us.
Video found via Green Eagle.
posted by Infidel753 at 5:41 AM
2 Comments:
Just my opinion, but it was obvious from the day he was made dictator that this guy was hopeless as a leader, even as a brutal one. I agree with the sentiment of your post, but I am afraid that no cessation of hostilities can last for more than a couple of weeks, as long as he is calling the shots. I just don't think things can really work out while he is in charge.
God, where is Saddam when we need him?
This "cessation of hostilities" that has been in the news is, as I said in the post, farcical. Russia has already said it won't stop their airstrikes, for example. As for Asad, why would he stop when he's finally winning?
I certainly wouldn't want to live under Asad, but I don't see any other alternative except endless fighting.
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