Voice of Russia
June 5, 2013
Syria has the right to peace and to self-defense, despite western claims
John Robles
There can be little doubt that the lifting of the arms embargo to the armed insurgents and terrorist groups operating in Syria is one of the most egregiously callous, self-serving, reckless and irresponsible moves made by the international community since the beginning of the internal conflict in the country.
The West’s complete and total lack of regard for the precious lives of innocent Syrian civilians, including all non-Muslims, non-Sunnis, Jews, Christians and ethnic minority groups is mind-boggling in its persistency, premeditation and complete and total lack of anything resembling humanity.
The West has once again truly shown the entire planet, that is anyone with their eyes half open, its monstrous and evil face when it comes to Syria. It is evident in everything the West has done in Syria. From the day the Western “masters” decided that elected President Bashar al-Assad had to go because he was not a Western puppet, to the instigating and fueling of the internal conflict, to the bellicose rhetoric and endless sanctions, to the actual real and documented funding, arming and importing of every kind of terrorist, mercenary and killer under the sun, the West has shown time and time again that they will do absolutely anything to bring about their ends, while packaging it in marketable terms evoking righteousness and pride by calling it “iron resolve”, “taking the lead” and “ridding the world of evil”.
Even the world’s “poster boy of persecution” Israel, which has been allowed to do what it pleases, act with impunity in violating international laws and norms and has remained untouchable since the Holocaust, has shown that they too have forfeited their humanity for mere geo-political goals, by bombing Syria with reckless disregard and using the Nazi pretext of preventive attacks, disgracefully showing ignorance to the lesson that should have been learned from the Great Patriotic War, that all life is precious and no group has the right to eradicate another.
There is nothing noble in what the West is doing in Syria. There is nothing noble in war and death and destruction and those who promote it and use it and spread it have forfeited their right to be members of humanity.
Recently the new U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that it was too late for the U.S. to take an active role in seeking a peaceful settlement in Syria; he may be right after the years of rhetoric and the importing and funding of terrorists into the conflict, but I beg to differ, it is never too late to do the right thing, and the right thing here would be to completely ban all weapons deliveries to Syria, to sanction those who would use them, to force the warring factions to the negotiating table, sanctioning those who refuse and to bring about an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
That would be the noble and humane thing to do but will the West do that? Perhaps Kerry would, but then again he is not the “decider” and the those who make the decisions in the West want war and are obtuse and ignorantly stubborn in their foolish and unyielding “resolve” to forcefully remove a leader who has stated time and time again that he will leave if he is voted out of office.
Who is suffering in the Western power play in Syria? The Syrian people, the civilians, the women and children. And anyone who keeps the vicious cycle going must be restrained and removed from the conflict, even if that is the mighty dictator of the world, the United States of America, and all of its surrogates.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stated regarding the lifting of the arms embargo to the terrorist groups: “We have, of course, given our assessment to the decision adopted by the Foreign Ministers of the EU last week on the lifting of the embargo on arms supplies to the Syrian opposition. I will not hide the fact that it has disappointed us.”
The president very wisely noted: “Any attempt to influence the situation by force or direct military intervention is doomed to failure and will inevitably lead to grave humanitarian consequences.”
The main proponents of lifting the arms embargo within the EU were the UK and France, classically U.S. surrogates, while a number of other states rightly opposed it, knowing it would only aggravate the already difficult and violent situation in Syria.
President Putin also recently spoke about the supply of S-300 air defense systems to Syria; “The S-300, is really one of the best air defense systems in the world, if not the best. The best, I think. This, of course, a serious weapon. However we do not want to disturb the balance in the region. Russian arms supplies to Syria are solely and entirely within the framework of international law and transparent, internationally recognized contracts that do not violate any international regulations.”
The supply of S-300s to Syria has of course been met with bellicose and indignant rhetoric from the West and in particular from Israel, with comments such as “this will upset the strategic balance between Israel and Syria” taking the forefront. This is of course true: Israel reserves to itself the right to bomb Syria with impunity whenever it so chooses, and the West of course does not want anything to interfere should it bring about the conditions for a military intervention. It is of course more convenient for the West when they can bomb and destroy a country and do so with no threat to themselves, as they did in Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan.
The U.N., perhaps the last voice of reason in the world and the last hope for peace, recently released a report on the matter asking the nations of the world to “counter the escalation of the conflict” by not delivering weapons “given the clear risk that the arms will be used to commit serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.”
The report says right at the beginning: “Anti-government armed groups have also besieged towns, especially in the Aleppo governorate. They are committing war crimes on an increasing scale, including extra-judicial executions, torture, hostage-taking, and pillage. The violations and abuses committed by anti-Government armed groups did not reach the intensity and scale of those committed by Government forces and affiliated militias.”
The UN report also states: “The desperation of the parties to the conflict has resulted in new levels of cruelty and brutality, bolstered by an increase in the availability of weapons. Increased arm transfers hurt the prospect of a political settlement to the conflict, fuel the multiplication of armed actors at the national and regional levels and have devastating consequences for civilians.”
Peace can never be attained with the barrel of a gun and anyone who would tell you so is either delusional or has their own agenda, and those would supply terrorists with arms and promote the killing of civilians have forfeited their place among civilized nations.
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