Collateral Damage

The days go by and conditions in Syria turn worse. Millions of innocent civilians have been affected by the ongoing struggle between the pro- and anti- Assad protagonists in this grim 21st century war, either killed, displaced or bereaved by death of their dear ones. The innocent cries of a three year old sitting near his parents’ corpses in a government hospital, does stone our cursory eyes, to think the contours of the struggle that lies ahead. Thousands of other survivors like this little kid shall brave the rest of their lives without parents, carrying a motive at their heart’s bottom, for revenge against pain that has been afflicted to them, by one of the two warring sides, oblivious as to who shall bear the brunt of their anger in times to come.

The world stands witness to a labyrinth, bearing unfazed warriors, driven by fables, created every passing hour, creating a disturbed ambiance, leaving no room for any side to consider an accord. The stories of the common man’s family members killed by either of the two sides are hard to be verified, and afflict the damage to the listener’s sentiments in a go.

The problem with Assad and FSA:
The problem in Syria under the Assad regime, who took over the reins after his father, to address a nation ravaged by tensions, worsened with armies and police personnel attacked daily in various planned attacks. The situation worsened with the advent of Arab Spring, which started in Tunisia and spread across the Arab World toppling autocratic regimes, paving way for federal governments, but creating a disturbed atmosphere for Syria, where armed insurgents took over an already tense scene. “The war”, the pro- Assad group says, “is an unjustified advantage usurped by the terrorist fragments to topple the existing secular rule.”

The FSA (Free Syrian Army), as the opposition identifies itself, however contradicts these claims calling the regime utterly brutal and one violating the fundamentals of modern democracies, unlawfully and unethically supported by Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah. It is, they say, a lampooning body that has wounded and then clapped at the sobbing of the common man. The FSA, as identified by several international watchdogs and scholars coming from all over the world to study the local problem, is a conglomeration of Assad’s regime’s defectors, ordinary locals and a minority of Jihadis, infiltrated into the area, following a displacement of power following the American War, and rising opportunities of establishing power in the Arab Spring disturbed zone. The access to weapons has been credited to the West’s interests in maintaining a strong stand against the regime, and its failure in acquiring a veto in the U.N. for the NATO’s direct intervention, which has been repeatedly thwarted by Russia and China, favoring Syria every time the issue has sprung for discussions. The Turks, Libyans and Israel are suspected as the rebels’ accomplice in carrying out the offence with modern warfare equipment, without which prime cities like Aleppo could never be taken under their direct control.

Factors halting peace initiation:
A peculiar problem affecting peace talks and external intervention in the region is the impossibility of looking at the subject objectively. When the undesirable loss of lives occurs to one, the strength of an objective outlook takes a back-stand. Every non- desirable element to resolve the issue is involved in the issue.

The internal peace talks have been refused repeatedly and a viable option in the country to halt the opposition is in no sight. The external intervention on the other hand is difficult to reach due to the very act the opposition has resorted to. The movement deals with complex problems and due to its legitimate grievances, it has metamorphosed into a popular one, but the very taking up of arms by the opposition has made it lose the moral ground. The suspected alliance with the gulf and conspicuous killings of the innocents, or for that matter, anyone at all, has made the outside world abstain from helping an opposition which itself lacks face. There is no clear unity in the opposition itself, and the NATO has repeatedly mentioned this worry to America and Israel.

What lies ahead:
The hope of toppling the other side, resting with both factions has halted the need for negotiations recently. The travelers to this disturbed nation, include doctors providing the much needed medical aid in violence affected areas, researchers and international media persons providing daily accounts of events and tempers rising on both sides, and also the common people, many who left this country to settle or work abroad, are returning to raise their opinions in these tough times and trying to give the contemporary situation a shape, according to their beliefs and interests. The international observers have expressed concerns over the possibility of Muslim Brotherhood acquiring its place, as was seen in other neo-born democracies out of the Arab Spring, which would prove detrimental to the secular order seeking population. All would agree that a Free Syria is what the region needs and the 40 thousand deaths, 70 thousand missing and another 70 thousand in jails today, pave way for another historic victory, in the Arab belt, where the winners are the people and not the orthodox factions fighting for power.

I hope that the people discern that:
“Two wrongs do not make a right,
And two rights may also not be fruitful.”