After escaping Syria with his life and leg injuries, British photographer Paul Conroy said this about the conflict there:
“It’s not a war, it’s a massacre, an indiscriminate massacre of men, women and children [...] In years to come we’re going to sit and we’re going to go ‘How did we let this happen under our nose’. There are rooms full of people waiting to die.”
Where is the world? Pictured: a recent protest in Syria (Reuters)
Thousands of civilians have been slaughtered in Syria since protests began there last year, and more than 100,000 citizens of Syria have been detained by the authoritarian regime of President Bashar al-Assad for their association with anti-government protests. However, beyond verbal condemnations of the Assad regime, the global community has done little to assuage the pain and suffering of the Syrian people.
From the Libyan conflict last year, America learned that an untimely effort only causes more loss of life and makes a victory more difficult to achieve. President Obama hemmed and hawed about even making a contribution to the uprising against Muommar Gaddafi, and by the end of the Libyan conflict, the US had done little more than fire a few missiles into Libyan military installations. Meanwhile, NATO countries like Britain and France, which have much smaller military forces than those of the United States, were left with the burden of providing military assistance to the Libyan rebels. As a result of this, foreign intervention was not powerful enough to sweep the rebels to a rapid victory and thus keep casualties to a minimum. Also, during the time it took for the United States to deliberate about intervention, hundreds upon hundreds of Libyans died needlessly. If indeed military action was utilized in Syria, it would need to be used quickly and with the fullest force possible.
On the other hand, the United States should exhaust all other diplomatic means before resorting to military action. Sanctions have already been enacted against the Syrian regime, but those will simply not be enough. I personally think that the United States should offer Bashar al-Assad the opportunity to flee his country with total criminal immunity and to go into hiding somewhere in the world. With international and domestic pressure increasing upon Assad’s regime, I am certain that escape without punishment presents a very attractive alternative for the embattled Syrian president. Assad would keep his life, and the Syrian people would be freed from the oppressive grip of his administration. However, the threat of military action would have to be pressing enough to cause Mr. Assad to seriously worry about the number of days he would have left on this earth, as without such worries, al-Assad will not concede to US demands and will retain control of his authority.
In any case, the United States must act quickly in this situation. We cannot allow countless innocent civilians to be slaughtered by the power-hungry, authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad. However, it is important that we exhaust all diplomatic options prior to utilizing our powerful military to compel Mr. Assad to obey the will of democracy and of his people.
Smoke rising from the devastated city of Homs.
Bullet holes and impact craters are now characteristic of buildings in Homs, Syria.
