EDITORIAL
United States Secretary of State John Kerry hit the nail on the head on Friday when he said that Russia's plans to deliver S-300 air defence missiles to President Bashar Assad in Syria were "not helpful" to peace efforts. The same can be said of any efforts of parties outside Syria to provide arms or men to either side in the civil war that is raging in the country and has now taken 80,000-plus lives. It applies to the Hezbollah fighters streaming in from Lebanon to bolster Mr Assad's regime as well as the arms supplied to the so-called Free Syrian Army by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and to alleged military support given to the rebels by Western nations by way of Turkey and to the government by way of Iran. It also applies to last month's decision by the EU, pushed forward by England and France, not to extend an arms embargo on rebel forces.
Simply put, the only thing military aid to either side can provide is the means for more slaughter and suffering. Satellite photos of the Al-Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan show it has grown from approximately 5,000 shelters in November 2012 to more than 28,000 in May 2013. According to Al Jazeera, the camp can sometimes receive as many as 3,000 Syrian refugees a day and will soon become the world's largest refugee camp.
Despite Mr Assad's assurances to the contrary, it doesn't look as if either side is close to victory. Unless a settlement is reached the bloodshed might go on for a long time and continue to undermine the stability of the entire region. By backing one side or the other, and especially by providing military assistance, members of the international community are in effect legitimising the conflict, when they should be denouncing the lethal actions of both sides outright.
Mr Kerry's comments on Friday were made against the background of a planned high-level meeting of US and Russian officials in Geneva next week to lay the groundwork for peace discussions between the two warring parties. It now looks as if direct negotiations will be postponed.
Russia's promise to supply sophisticated air-defence missiles was in part a reaction to the EU's decision to lift its weapons ban. As yet no EU country has committed to supplying arms to the rebels. Meanwhile, Russia says it may be up to a year before the missiles are delivered. This leaves a window of opportunity to initiate peace talks.
So far US President Barack Obama has shown commendable restraint in not committing to military aid for Syrian rebels. Given the worrying resurgence in sectarian violence in Iraq and the uncertain future of Afghanistan, as well as Libya, the US may be learning that military superiority cannot guarantee the success of armed intervention in the Middle East or anywhere else.
Mr Kerry was right to denounce not only the planned missile defence shipments but also "a lot of other ammunition and other supplies overtly going in not just from the Russians ... but also from the Iranians and Hezbollah". But he should also speak out against the supplying of the rebels by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as the obvious intention of England and France to do so if peace talks are not immediately productive.
Realistically, it's hard to imagine how a peaceful Syria can emerge under Mr Assad, even if he does manage to retake all rebel strongholds. Russia should accept this and use its influence to get him to step down instead of blocking action by the United Nations Security Council. But the Russians have a point when they say that if and when Mr Assad steps down, it will leave a vacuum that might well be filled by some unsavoury characters on the other side.
The Free Syrian Army is a loose coalition of groups with often divergent ideologies. The BBC's Jim Muir writes: "What was meant to be a three-day meeting of the opposition coalition in Istanbul turned into eight days of in-fighting that has failed to achieve its stated goals of electing a new leadership, approving an interim government and taking a clear position on the Geneva proposal.
"By contrast, the regime side is unified and coherent, and has decades of negotiating experience to draw on. The opposition risks a severe defeat in the talks, unless it gets its act together very seriously."
The road ahead for Syria looks difficult regardless of what members of the international community choose to do, but at the least they should refrain from adding more fuel to the fire.
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Source: http://www.news.thethailandlinks.com/2013/06/02/dont-supply-syria-with-tools-of-war/
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