Hi everybody! Hope y'all had a good weekend.
Lots of interesting developments in the news today, not the least of which is the fact that the Arab League voted over the weekend to increase the number of observers in Syria from its existing 165 to 300. I'm still not sold on the effectiveness of this mission--the first of its kind from the Arab League--due to the fact that the number of people killed seems to increase with each passing day, another 15 just yesterday, despite the observers' presence. The numbers of dead keep mounting. The current estimate is already at about 6,000, which is more than the number of U.S. soldiers dead in almost ten years in Iraq.
The mission is due to wrap on January 19th, just 10 days from today, with a report on whether or not Assad's regime has complied to the Arab League mandate. As I've indicated before, I am extremely skeptical of this whole mission. I just don't see how things are going to change. Assad's brutal crackdown of the Syrian people has been going on for almost a year now. What's changed? How are the protesters being helped by the Arab League? Government forces are still killing innocent men, women, and children on the streets of Homs and Hama with an alarming hubris. The Syrian army escorts the observers, making sure to steer them clear of any hotspots. I don't know, but when that report is issued on the 19th, I'd be surprised if it offers more than a perfunctory slap on Assad's wrist. Then what happens?
What particularly irks me is the fact that because of Russia and China, the U.S. and/or NATO is not considering airstrikes like they did in Libya, which had a proven rate of success. I could be wrong but from a strategic standpoint, Syria has a helluva lot more influence in that part of the world than Libya under Qaddafi ever did...and is a much greater menace. Syria essentially rules Lebanon by proxy through Hizbullah..it's agents are reputed to have been responsible for the car bomb assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005, not to mention the fact that Damascus has served as the main base of operations for Hamas, though the latter is said to be distancing itself from the Assad administration while it seeks greater international legitimacy.
While I believe that countries should be allowed to govern themselves without the participation of occupying forces, something has to be said for at least some outside assistance when and where it's due. Nation-building doesn't work--just look at the fiasco that was (and increasingly continues to be) Iraq. But in Syria's case, from an international perspective, relying solely on the dubious word of Arab League observers (however well-intentioned), headed by a Sudanese general with a proven history of human rights abuses, is like the blind leading the blind. And once the Arab League mission ends on the 19th and the observers pack up and go home, what's to stop Mr. Assad from furthering his reign of terror?
Please, people, don't let Syria be the final word on the Arab Spring.
Ciao.
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