Stop funding violence in Syria

Re: Welcome to Hell, Sept. 24.

The Nour el-Din el-Zinki rebel group in Aleppo says that the government and its allies want to impose “a military solution” to Syria’s crisis. Similar accusations have been made by other rebel groups, by several diplomats, and by international commentators.

Actually, the decision to seek a military solution to the conflict in Syria was made early in 2011, when the Free Syrian Army was formed and foreign governments promised to pay rebel soldiers, to supply them with arms, to train them, to provide a safe haven for training, and to encourage and assist foreign mercenary soldiers to join them.

It is clear that many countries were encouraging a violent solution to Syria’s conflicts. The fact that no Syrian government would accept this and simply surrender was also clear. In other words, the desire to impose a military solution is not new and cannot be attributed to the government side alone.

The way out is not a “diplomatic solution” but a democratic solution. In his speech at the United Nations, Syria’s foreign minister stated his government’s intent to “begin by establishing a government of national unity comprising representatives from the government and the opposition, in all its factions, and tasked with creating a constitution drafting committee.” He went on to say, “Once the new constitution is approved by Syrians through a referendum, parliamentary elections would follow and a new government would be formed under the new constitution.”

The only road out of the Hell that the resort to violence has created in Syria is to accept that proposal and to withdraw all support from groups that are unwilling to participate in the process. David Lorge Parnas, Ottawa