Disarming the Syrian regime of its chemical weapons stockpile is a significant move. It will prevent a ruthless regime from using weapons of mass destruction against its people. The Syrian decision to get rid of this arsenal came under the threat of force, led by the United States, which insists that the military option is “still on the table” in case the deal, brokered by Russia, is not implemented.
However, as important as that step is, the Syrian crisis is far bigger that the question of chemical weapons. The bloodshed continues, albeit with conventional weapons. Thousands continue to flee the country. Helpless civilians, including children, are being slaughtered. And there is not a glimpse of a possible solution at the end of the tunnel. Western governments seem content with the Bashar Al Assad regime giving up its chemical weapons arsenal while the Syrian people are caught in the midst of an increasingly horrific civil war between the regime and its opponents.
Al Assad yesterday told a European parliamentary delegation that his government “had no option” but to go ahead with its military route to fight what he described as “an extremist opposition”, in reference to some of the Islamist groups fighting alongside the opposition. The legitimate demands of the Syrian people and the democratic voices are being drowned in a sea of blood and political deals. So what is next?
We heard a great deal of rhetoric about the need to convene Geneva 2, the proposed conference which supposedly will bring together Al Assad’s government and its opponents on the same table to forge a future roadmap — some sort of a political settlement to the crisis that has killed more than 100,000 people so far.
The conference was originally planned for the first week of July. October is upon us and yet no date has been set for the conference.
The chemical weapons deal is good. The question is: What is in it for the Syrian people?
