NEW SYRIAN PEACE ENVOY – YET ANOTHER HOPELESS BET IN THE SYRIAN GULAG

Impossible – has become a word synonymous with the fate of Syrians and so when the newly United Nations-Arab League Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said he was aware that his task in Syria was near-impossible, it didn’t come as surprise.

Last week in Syria has been the most bloody yet killing over 1600 Syrians in the state sponsored terrorism of Bashar al-Assad. An all out civil war has broken out in the country and the state militia are carrying out human cleansing by targeting the Syrians in the different parts of the country. Their ultimate aim is to establish a regime of fear that would help Assads sail through.

Syria has been always a difficult prospect since the revolution began some 16 months ago and Mr. Brahimi has taken over the peace mission in this difficult time midst the fast that the earlier Peace Envoy had resigned from his assignment sighting a hopeless situation with serious lack of intent among the stakeholders involved.

Kofi Annan was appointed the UN-Arab League peace envoy on Syria February this year to mediate and work out a peace solution. He prepared a peace plan that came into effect on April 12, 2012. He worked consistently but we never came across any development that could tell us the international community was heading towards a positive solution on Syria.

Instead, what all happened was the contrary to the expectations. Midst the international flip-flops, Assad continued with his killing machines. The international community never looked united, was never able to put significant pressure on Assads. Annan blamed he never got the support from the responsible international community members that was required to effect a Syrian peace solution. Annan blasted the UN and the international community on its sluggishness and on increasing local militarization in Syria as he stepped down.

Similar was the fate of the United Nations Supervision Mission In Syria (UNSMIS). UNSMIS had to suspend its operations this June attributing it to the intensifying violence. The 300-member strong group that was mandated April this year under the former UN-Arab League Peace Envoy Kofi Annan mediated plan to monitor the ceasefire leading to a political transition in Syria, found the violence too extreme and was not ready to risk the lives of its members. Halting the operation midway called the international community’s bluff. Its field activities already suspended, the UNSMIS team left Syria as its term expired on August 20.

While the Syrian state is threatening to use chemical weapons, the international community is busy doing what it has been doing till date – the lip service. It has become so routine that now statements like “should Syria use chemical or biological weapons against the international community, our response...would be massive and blistering” by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius just add to the sham of the international community that has left thousands to be killed every passing week.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the 78-year old Algerian, is a renowned UN career diplomat who has worked in many crisis hotbeds as UN envoy and advisor. He has had a long outstanding international career and is credited with brokering a peace deal that ended the Lebanese civil war with Syria as a major stakeholder. As UN envoy in post-Saddam Iraq and post-Taliban Afghanistan, he played significant roles in establishing further roadmap in the countries. He has been in UN envoy in countries like South Africa, Haiti, DR Congo, Yemen, Nigeria, Liberia and Sudan on different UN missions.

Some analysts say Mr. Brahimi is best hope yet for the Syrian deadlock but given the way things are happening, nothing is going to work for Syria until and unless the international community takes a proactive military intervention to isolate Assads. Already, Assad is having support of China and Russia and the recent resumption of arms supply by Iran will embolden him even more to crush the opposition come what may.

The primary role has to be military; Mr. Brahimi can pitch in with his expertise to help Syria stabilize once the Assads are gone.

Every one is waiting to see when the international powers realize it. Till then, Syria remains an impossible proposition for anything that human.  

©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/