Al Qaeda in Syria

Hi everyone!

The woes continue in Syria. Yesterday witnessed the dual car bombings of two security buildings in Syria's largest city, Aleppo, that until now had remained largely untouched by the violence that has wracked the country for the past eleven months. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts, which collectively killed 28 people and injured hundreds of others, though there is concern that al Qaeda may be taking advantage of the chaos to set up operations in Syria. Yesterday's bombings were similar to those that rocked Damascus last December, another city--and a stalwart bastion of support for Assad--that has heretofore remained mostly quiet. If indeed al Qaeda is behind these bombings, it adds another troubling layer of complexity to the situation, and one that the U.S. and most Western and Arab countries for that matter would be loath to see.

But again, the West continues to be stymied in its efforts to bring a unified diplomatic force together to oppose Assad and insist upon his overthrow. Additional meetings are scheduled on Sunday with the Arab League ministers in Cairo and on Monday at the United Nations General Assembly.  A draft of a General Assembly resolution not unlike that which was originally vetoed by Russia and China in the Security Council is currently making the rounds at the United Nations. No one has particularly high hopes that any resolution will be passed as long as Russia remains committed to pursuing its own peace plan with the Assad government. After a much ballyhooed meeting of Russian and Syrian delegates in Damascus earlier this week, it appears nothing came to fruition there either.

If indeed al Qaeda is taking root in Syria--as Assad has claimed in the past though no one gave it much credibility--and working on behalf of or in conjunction with the Syrian Free Army and its supporters, a situation that has seemed impossible up until now has just become untenable. The United Nations and its allies within the Arab League will not want to be seen supporting an opposition movement that has any connection whatsoever with the perpetrators of 9/11 and two decades' worth of horrific terrorist activity. At the same time, the United Nations isn't going to react positively to anything that gives credence to Assad's continued claims that he is battling foreign insurgents. But then...the Obama administration is openly holding negotiations with the Taliban, thereby creating a diplomatic framework within which the Taliban can legitimately take back control of Afghanistan despite ten years' of unsuccessfully trying to oust them. By that same logic...why not negotiate with al Qaeda? If you can't beat them, appease them. Right?

As history has shown time and again, appeasement doesn't work. Just look at 1938-39.

Ciao.