Syria’s ongoing tragedy
SO NOW the Russians have entered the Syrian conflict.
No wonder this terrible war has raged on for four years, destroying Syria’s infrastructure and reducing half the population to poverty, forcing hundreds of thousands into exile and taking countless lives.
By supporting so-called ‘moderate’ rebel forces, the US and its western allies have prolonged this horror for the Syrian people and strengthened IS. And we can’t help wondering how many weapons intended for the ‘moderates’ end up in IS hands.
President Obama and his supporters, including David Cameron and others of all political hues in this country, should be deeply ashamed of having supported this policy.
My suggestions f or ending the conflict would be for the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop arming the Syrian Arab Coalition (50 tons of ammunition were air- dropped to them recently) and persuade these rebels to declare a truce.
An amnesty should be negotiated for ‘moderate’ rebels and safe passage guaranteed for those of their leaders who wish to leave Syria until peace has been established and the country’s future is settled.
The US and other Nato powers should join Assad and the Russians and develop a co-ordinated plan to defeat the bloody butchers who call themselves Islamic State.
Agreement should be sought with Assad that after the self- termed Islamic State is defeated and peace restored, the Syrian people will be free to choose their own leadership in free, independently supervised and verified elections.
Assad was overwhelmingly returned to office in a multi-candidate election less than two years ago, but the US and other western powers didn’t accept the outcome because it wasn’t the result they wanted.
Let’s do it again in more peaceful circumstances with the western powers doing the verification.
This plan could work but, sadly, it won’t happen because western politicians, including Obama, won’t admit that they backed the wrong horse, and continue to portray Assad as an evil dictator who can have no role to play in the future governance of his country.
It’s for the Syrian people to determine the future governance of their country. The western powers toppled a dictator in Iraq without any idea as to who would replace him and that unhappy country has been in abject misery ever since. It seems crazy to me that we’re making the same mistake in Syria.
HUGH LAMONT, Formby, Liverpool.