No end in sight for Syria’s years of blood, despite international efforts

By Wafa Shabrouney Source:Global Times Published: 2013-4-21 19:08:01

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT
Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Two years after entering the dark tunnel, there's no glimmer of light in Syria. All the international scenarios and equations that have been applied in different countries and regions in the world have failed. The Syrian situation is unique, and does not yield itself to the solutions of other crises within the region.

It seems that every party is looking for ways to halt the ongoing violence in Syria. But on the ground the battle continues, no one heeds to reason, and more lives, both civilian and military, are being lost daily.

The bloody conflict in Syria for the last two years is no longer just between the armed rebel groups and the Syrian Army. Syria has become the first destination for extremist and jihadist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, which not only fights within the ranks of the rebel fighters, but is also fighting them.

War has engulfed many areas and neighborhoods in different Syrian provinces. The armed groups have tried to infiltrate to these areas via the borders with the help of neighboring countries and with huge funds provided by others.

The armed groups have failed over and over again in their attempts to infiltrate to the capital Damascus via the nearby countryside, which is open to the Lebanese borders. These attempts are being made with the help of some Lebanese political currents and parties, known for their long-standing hostile attitudes toward the Syrian regime and their adaptation of the Wahabi Islamist ideology. These factions provide the armed groups with arms and fighters.

Failing to infiltrate to the heart of the capital has pushed the armed groups to fire mortar shells and carry out suicide bombings to kill as many Syrians as possible in a desperate act of revenge claiming the lives of university students, sportsmen and journalists.

The situation is not different along the Syrian-Jordanian borders. Intelligence reports have indicated that many camps have been established in Jordan to train Syrian fighters by foreign trainers. The fighters are sent afterward to Syria. This has been witnessed on the ground recently, as fierce fighting between the Syrian Army and the opposition fighters has been seen in Daraa, the bordering province between Syria and Jordan.               

Some Arabian and international parties have made relentless efforts to unite the Syrian opposition and bring it into a Shiite axis that includes also Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah. This union would stand in the face of the West's main ally in the region, Israel.

But these efforts seem to face a deadlock as these parties have failed to push the UN Security Council to issue a resolution that paves the way for a military intervention in Syria.

European countries and the US, in particular, have taken a cautious stance vis-à-vis providing the Syrian opposition, which seems to be divided and lacks strong military or political leadership, with arms.

This division has become more apparent with the attempt to assassinate Riad al-Assad, commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), a defected colonel from the regular army. Al-Assad has blamed groups within the FSA for attempts on his life, accusing them of betraying the opposition.

The vicious cycle of accusations and counter-accusations and assassination seems to be endless. The war drags on, and only God knows when it will end.



The author is a reporter based in Syria. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn



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