President Obama, who has come under considerable criticism from his Saudi Arabia allies, is considering escalating the conflict in Syria by providing more assistance to Free Syria Army rebels.
Under one proposed plan discussed by David Ignatius, the US would double the number of fighters training under the CIA at one time, provide anti-aircraft weapons for the first time, and line up more financial support for the FSA. People getting training from the US would be vetted in a move that the US says would screen out fighters from extremist organizations.
While US and Saudi ties are close, there are fundamental differences over Syria and Iran; the Arab News editorial says that Obama should have bombed Assad early on in the conflict.
From the outset three years ago, it was clear that Syria was experiencing a popular uprising against the endless repression by Bashar Assad regime. The final straw was the police murder of children who had sprayed anti-regime graffiti on a wall in Deraa. A fast-spreading popular revolt was met by brutality that appalled a watching world. Refugees began to flee as the violence unfolded. In the early days, the insurgents only had the light weapons of defectors or those they had seized from Assad’s troops and arsenals. With these they fought back against well-trained government forces heavily armed by Syria’s all-important ally, Russia.
The Arab League’s valiant efforts to broker a truce and end the conflict, not least in the beleaguered city of Hama, were from the outset exploited by Damascus to replenish and regroup its forces while continuing assaults on insurgent positions out of sight of the international media. At this point, firm international action, led by the United States, could have stopped the fighting for real. It did not require more US boots on the ground. It simply needed the strategic destruction of key Assad military infrastructure. The message would have been that if he did not negotiate for real, the Syrian leader would see the same detailed obliteration of his aircraft and tanks that had been visited on Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi. But since no action was taken Assad continued with his killing spree.
While Obama is coming around to Saudi Arabia's point of view on Syria, there is no sign yet that he is doing so on Iran even though they are aiding Assad. The President has been reluctant to aid Syrian rebels in the past, concerned that they would derail talks with Iran over their nuclear program and concerned that aid would fall into the wrong hands.
The problem is that this is not our fight. While the FSA purports to be about democratic rule, there have been gross human rights violations by all parties, as documented by the latest Independent Commission sponsored by the UN Human Rights Council. Syria has denied the UN access to the conflict so that they could monitor the crisis and document human rights violations, which led to this condemnation Friday:
In a resolution (A/HRC/25/L.7) on the continuing grave deterioration of the human rights and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, adopted by a vote of 32 in favour, 4 against and 11 abstentions, the Council decides to extend the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry through to the twenty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council, and requests the Commission to present a written report during an interactive dialogue at the twenty-seventh and the twenty-eighth sessions of the Council and to provide an oral update during an interactive dialogue at the twenty-sixth session; demands that the Syrian authorities grant the Commission of Inquiry immediate, full and unfettered access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic; strongly condemns the continued gross, systematic and widespread violations of human rights and all violations of international humanitarian law by the Syrian authorities and affiliated militias that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity; demands that all parties demilitarize medical facilities, schools and other civilian facilities; strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons and all indiscriminate methods of warfare in the Syrian Arab Republic; expresses its support for the efforts of the Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States to find a negotiated political solution to the Syrian crisis; encourages the full participation of women in political talks; strongly condemns the intentional denial of humanitarian assistance to civilians and deplores the deteriorating humanitarian situation; strongly condemns the use by the Syrian authorities of starvation of civilians as a method of combat, and further condemns the besiegement of civilians; further strongly condemns all acts of violence directed against humanitarian actors; and urges the international community to provide urgent financial support to enable the host countries to respond to the growing humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees.
The vote was 32-4:
In favour (32): Argentina, Austria, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Gabon, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Maldives, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Peru, Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States of America.
Against (4): China, Cuba, Russian Federation, and Venezuela.
Abstentions (11): Algeria, Congo, Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Namibia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, and Viet Nam.
However, it is important to note from the report that there were gross violations of human rights documented against all parties, including the "moderate" Free Syrian Army. There are no good actors whatsoever in this conflict. Therefore, President Obama's moves to escalate this conflict are unwarranted, especially since it could undermine critical talks with Russia over Ukraine or Iran over its nuclear program.
The US has strong ties with Saudi Arabia which will continue to develop despite the differences.
The US highlighted the progressively growing relations with the Kingdom in diverse fields — counterterrorism, defense, economy, education, science, health and the environment.
There are more Saudi students in the US now than ever before, with over 80,000 students representing the Kingdom’s future political, business, and social leadership.
But the President tacitly sent a message to the Kingdom that more had to be done on human rights.
Before leaving Riyadh, Obama had presented the US State Department’s Women of Courage award to Maha Al-Muneef, a well-known Saudi social worker who was honored for her role in combating domestic violence.
The ties that the US has with Saudi Arabia have
already led to some reforms, but more must be done. Otherwise, this will undermine the credibility that any UN resolutions that the US and Saudi Arabia push regarding Syria.
And the fact that the Saudi king is confining four of his daughters in cages and the fact that President Obama did nothing about it, as gleefully reported by Russia Today, undermines the credibility of President Obama and Saudi Arabia on human rights in Syria even further. Yasmin Alibhai Brown, writing for the Independent, says:
A story appeared this weekend which has really shaken me up. It was about four Arab princesses – Sahar, 42, Jawaher, 38, Maha, 41, and Hala, 39 – daughters of the ailing King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who have, allegedly, been held under palace arrest, for 13 years. He has given his sons control over the captives. They are allowed no visitors or staff. Two are held in one gilded, echoing cage, the other two in another. Their mother Alanoud Alfayez, 57, lives in London and has been trying all these years to free her daughters who are unmarried, childless and fading away. Hala has serious mental problems. Two of the sisters contacted the British-Lebanese Sunday Times writer, Hala Jaber, via email and she wrote about their cruel incarceration. Jaber is an inspiring award-winning investigative journalist. I am in awe of her, more so now than ever before.
We don't know what goes on in other peoples' heads except through their actions. But we know that based on Obama's indifference to the plight of these girls as well as the King's treatment of them that Obama's newfound openness to sending more covert aid to Syrian rebels has nothing to do with human rights and everything to do with maintaining our alliance with Saudi Arabia.