Syria at a dead end: listen to the Pope (and Kofi Annan)
Rome (AsiaNews) - Kofi Annan's resignation from the post of UN peace envoy for Syria has cast a dark shadow over the present and future of the Middle Eastern country. The daily reports of massacres on both sides; the deadly bombing of cities by the Syrian army, coupled with the oppositions use of increasingly heavy weapons demonstrate that what has become a civil war is unlikely to have winners or losers: with all involved having decided to eliminate their opponent and plan a future without them, the two sides have unleashed a war to the bitter end.
Even
if Assad thinks he will prevail, Syria will never be the country it was before
the uprising: he will not only have to battle al Qaeda, the Free Syrian
Army, or "terrorists", but the majority of the population who are now
demanding a role in the future of the country.
And
if the opposition wins, it's almost certain that there would be another civil
war: so far, in fact, the is opposition frayed with each group pursuing its own
path and unable to stitch together a semblance of future unity among themselves.
Kofi Annan's lucid analysis denounces - openly and explicitly for the first time- both sides for the escalation of the conflict, taking away the aura of "partisan heroes" which the rebels have enjoyed so far.
But Kofi Annan especially accuses the UN Security Council
and the international community of being divided of continuing to "point
fingers" and "offend" each other.
United
States, Britain
and France have continued to
criticize Russia and China for
blocking decisive UN resolutions against the Syrian regime. But
they - and especially the U.S.
- have made the overthrow of Assad and his government an integral part of the
resolution. By
demonizing Assad they run the risk of another Iraqi failure, when at the fall
of Saddam Hussein, the U.S.
eliminated the bureaucracy and the administration of the Baath Party,
condemning the country to years of anarchy and violence.
For their part, Russia
and China (and Iran) flaunt their patronage over Syria, but they have never once offered any
reasonable path for peace, contenting themselves to defend their relationship
(even commercial) with Damascus.
The
Arab League, and especially Saudi Arabia
and Qatar,
an unlikely pulpit, continue to condemn the Assad dictatorship in defense of
the Arab revolution provided that it stays outside their borders. And
to combat a feared Iranian hegemony, they prefer to deliver Syria into the hands of al Qaeda and other
Islamic fundamentalists, who have difficult lives in Riyadh
and Doha.
The
arms trade would deserve a chapter all on its own. In support of its chosen side each nation
provides the following: helicopter gunships (Russia),
communications and intelligence tools (France,
Great Britain, United States); heavy weapons and money (Saudi Arabia and Qatar). The
very nations that mandated Kofi Annan to seek a possible peace are all involved
in the arms trade!
In
an editorial published on the website of the Financial Times, Mr Kofi Annan asks
the great and small powers to take the situation seriously. The
former UN secretary says Russia,
China and Iran
"should take joint efforts to persuade the Syrian leadership to change
course and embrace a political transition," even if it means the departure
of Assad. The
Western powers, the Saudis and Qatar
"must put pressure on the opposition to follow an inclusive political
process - which must include communities and institutions that are currently
associated with the government."
The
profound harmony between Annan's pleas and those of Benedict XVI during the
Angelus on July 29th is striking. The
pope, who follows the events in Syria
"with apprehension," said he is praying to "God for wisdom of
the heart, particularly for those who have the greatest responsibility, so no
effort is spared in the quest for peace, even on the part of the international
community, through dialogue and reconciliation, for the proper political
settlement of the conflict. "
The
point is that the pope has at heart, "the tragic and escalating episodes of
violence in Syria with the sorry sequence of dead and wounded, including
civilians, and a large number of displaced and refugees in neighboring
countries." What
we don't know however, is what the Security Council or Arab League members have
at heart. Perhaps only
the meanest of interests.
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