Syria and us

Fleeting moments

When the Saudi government announced in December last year that Pakistan was part of a military alliance of 34 Muslim countries, it surprised everyone, including Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry. Chaudhry told journalists that he had asked country’s ambassador in Riyadh to clarify the matter with the Saudi government. Two months later, Pakistan is part of an alliance of 20 Muslim nations forged by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism.

The Syrian war has led to the death of hundreds of thousands and made many more homeless. Who is fighting against whom? There are ‘moderate rebels’ and ‘bad rebels’.

The Western powers, Turkey, and some Muslim countries in the region are supporting the ‘moderate rebels’ that they have launched to dislodge Assad. Of course, this is with the tacit support of the US, because ‘Assad has to go’ has been the constant refrain of the US, its wWstern allies, and the Muslim countries that finance the war in Syria.

There’s been talk of setting up a ‘transitional government’ in Syria on the pattern of Libya after Gaddafi was removed from power, humiliated, and assassinated. The then French president Sarkozy had cautioned Arab kings and rulers to learn from Gaddafi’s fate lest they entertained other ideas. This was despite the fact that Qatar had sent some of its air force planes to participate in US-led bombing sorties on Libya.

The embattled Assad’s recent interview with the AFP suggests he has a balanced mind and thinks logically, unlike the way he is portrayed by the Western media – a ruthless despot who would kill any number of his own people to perpetuate his power.

When asked if the solution to Syrian fiasco rested in his departure from power, he replied: “The president of any state in the world takes office through constitutional measures and leaves office through constitutional measures as well. No president can be installed or deposed through chaos.” “The state is like a ship; and when there is a storm, the captain doesn’t run away and leave his ship to sink. If passengers on that ship decided to leave, the captain should be the last one to leave, not the first”.

Further, when asked, if he as a captain was prepared to face a fate similar to Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, Assad replied, “A captain doesn’t think of life and death, he thinks of saving his ship. If the ship sinks, everybody will die, so we would rather save the country.... But we as Syrians will never accept that Syria become a Western puppet state. This is one of our most important objectives and principles.”

Assad deserves credit for his resolve not to allow Syria to be a puppet state of the West. We already have many puppets and only one puppeteer.

President Assad even vowed to take back those parts of Syria that the Western proxies fighting under different names control. Had it not been for the timely intervention by Russia, Assad might have faced an uncertain end. And Russia would have had to wind up its only hot water naval facility at Latakia in the Mediterranean.

President Vladimir Putin, by his assertive policy in the Middle East, has come a long way in a short time to build his stature as a prominent leader in international politics. His intense gaze seems to melt his opponents. Any leader who strove to put an end to Western powers’ arrogant and detestable policy of ‘regime change’ in defenceless countries had to be instantly popular. Putin has played the right chord. The days of regime change are over and likely so are the days of the US’ invincibility.

Moreover, we should not embroil ourselves in the Syrian conflict. It would needlessly affect our relations with Iran. Instead, we must single-mindedly focus on developing our relationship with China. The salvation of our over populated country lies in developing ourselves economically with the support of China, our long-time friend.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore. Email: pinecity@gmail.com