Today as the world watches another massacre in Syria, we hear all the usual arguments for non-intervention amid the images of murdered civilians. Like the ignominious and murderous riot that took place in Srebrenica by the Serbian forces, we are seeing thousands butchered so that the Alawi rulers under al-Assad can continue their terror hold on the nation. The Russian TV channel RT has been broadcasting a news segment arguing that the Syrian assault against rebels is no different than the American repression of the Sunni uprising in Fallujah, Iraq (http://rt.com/...). Assessing this
assertion in the context of Putin's remarks in the FT recently (February 8th 2012), leaves one with the conclusion that the Russians are taking the position that the Allied efforts in Iraq were illegal and should have been stopped. Here he argues that interventions from outside a country aimed to stop the killing of citizens is fueling a
"culture of violence", but assaults against citizens by a nation's military, as in Syria or Russia in Chechnya, are positive anti-violence. The logic is certainly tortured, and unfortunately, so are the results.
Confusing, however, in this scenario, would be the attempt to fit Russia's invasion of Georgia into the argument. Should not Russia have abstained from getting involved? Was that not an internal matter between the Georgian government and rebels? Russia cannot have it both ways, either it recognizes its responsibilities in a consistent fashion on the world stage or it sinks to the level of the old authoritarian
remains of the 20th century. However, a sinister subtext is apparent in Putin's remarks and that is that none of the former Soviet republics are outside of Russia's true and real boundaries and therefore they can act with impunity in these nations without any expectation of international concern and certainly not international intervention.
What should be done? The Washington Post has reported (Nov. 11, 2011) in an article by Greg Jaffe that the US military began to fly unarmed drones out of Turkey before that date. Work in recent months has moved the necessary infrastructure into Turkish bases to begin selective drone strikes into Iraq and perhaps into Syria. More important unarmed drones from Turkey can direct Tomahawk cruise missiles from American warships in the Mediterranean to Syrian military and political targets. Syria has few friends left in the UN and horrific scenes proliferate from actions by the Syrian military against unarmed civilians. The time has come for intervention. Military analysts estimate that the Syrian military is stretched to its limit and that selective hits against its command and control nodes would give anti-government forces the needed edge to push the military into splintering. The time to act is now. 50 to 100 Tomahawks could disorganize Syrian army communications and 8 or 10 drones disable or destroy Syrian tanks and support forces in and around Homs. The message would be clear. In the best of all scenarios Turkey would use its air power to destroy Syrian air cover after the American Tomahawks. Then al-Assad can ask to talk before he loses more. He will not stop unless it is costly to go on. Obama cannot afford to be that someone in history who stood by and watched thousands murdered and raped as Clinton did when the moment called in Srebrenica and Rwanda. Let's not sit back and wait and end up regretting what could have been done (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...).http://www.youtube.com/...
Maybe the French should be made to be responsible for this mess. It was their colonial administration that imposed a change in name among the Nusayris or Ansaris, followers of the bab, Ibn Nusayr to "Alawi" or follower of Ali. Up until that time these people were a religious minority and one traditionally persecuted by the Sunnis. The French administration also encouraged these "Alawis" to join the colonial military and thus they became the dominant sect where officers of the Alawis in 1960 began concerted efforts to take control of the army and the Ba'th Party. Since the greatest density of Alawi followers is in the province of Latakia, and they only make up 12% of the population, it would seem reasonable to create a separate Syrian semi-autonomous region for the Alawis to guarantee their safety after the fall of the regime.