Russian initiative pulls rug from under the feet of warmongers

Syria has accepted the Russian initiative on the chemical weapons to withdraw the justifications of the US aggression on the Syrian people and to pull Syria out of a spiral of sorrow and death, because war is always a defeat for humanity.  The agreement stemmed from the Syrian leadership’s responsibility to prevent the catastrophic Western aggression on the country and preserve the Syrian citizens’ lives and the infrastructure of the country. It is also based on confidence in the Russian leadership which has proved itself as a truthful partner in averting U.S. aggression on the Syrian people. The initiative is positive and constructive since it gives a push towards finding a solution to the crisis in Syria. It provides a chance for a political settlement in Syria among the Syrians themselves away from foreign diktat. Putting chemical weapons in Syria under international supervision pulls the rug from under the feet of those who seek an aggression and opens up a realistic way out of the crisis without any military intervention or foreign diktat.

The support for the Russian initiative came out of keenness to prevent the occurrence of war whose repercussions could go beyond the region. Any war against Syria would be devastating to the whole countries in the region and would immerse the region in the vicious circle of violence and instability for decades and generations to come.

Solution to the chemical weapons issue in Syria would be a positive step towards solving the crisis through a comprehensive national dialogue that encompasses all spectra of Syrian society. But implementing the initiative does not only depend on Syria and it requires cooperation from the US side which should first halt its aggressive policies towards Syria.

The White House has two options now: one of them is to consider Russia’s proposal in earnest and to work seriously to make it implementable. This will mean the Americans will avail themselves of the opportunity to abandon their military action, war mongering campaign and halt belligerency towards Syria. This option might provide the U.S. and President Barack Obama, who positions himself as a peacekeeper, with a way out of the complicated political situation, the one the American officials  have driven themselves into by their cruel statements and baseless accusations against Syria.

The other option is to ignore Russia’s proposal and to leave the military scenario as the only way to resolve the crisis in Syria. But this would be a bad and very grave decision, since the strike on Syria would belittle the U.S. prestige across the world because of its catastrophic repercussions. Hope is pinned on Obama and his aides to cancel this option and benefit from the previous failing military intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan from which the peoples of the two states and the region are still suffering.

Throughout the American response, the world will be able to judge the authenticity of the intentions and the true objectives of the U.S. foreign policy as regards the crisis in Syria.

Syria has immediately started to implement the Russian initiative by joining the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Syria has become a full member of the Chemical Weapons Convention. But this move wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, as Syria had submitted to the Security Council in 2003 a draft resolution for making the entire Middle East free from WMDs, but all Syrian efforts in this regard were thwarted by the refusal of Israel and its supporters.

 The US seriousness towards the initiative will help avert war and pave the way for the settlement of the crisis in Syria peacefully.

K.Q.