The Island Editorial

Syria down a spiral 

Friday 30th October 2015

Syria continues to be the world’s biggest problem. Russia’s airpower has effectively put the brakes on the IS advance on many fronts, but the situation has not taken a turn for the better by any stretch of the imagination. The terrorists remain as resilient as ever in spite of having suffered heavy casualties. That is the way with all bloodthirsty, lunatics fighting for macabre causes.

What’s this world coming to when its military super powers cannot put up a united front and bring a terrorist outfit to its knees? IS poses a threat not only to Syria but also the entire world, and the global super powers are fully aware of this simple truth. But, they are busy peddling their geo-strategic agendas in Syria instead of doing their damnedest to defeat the terrorists once and for all. What is the UN doing?

Assad is, no doubt, a problem, a huge one at that. But, attempts to dislodge his administration at this juncture are fraught with the danger of plunging Syria into anarchy like Libya and Iraq. It is imperative that the status quo remain in Syria with the repressive regime and the resistance movement being made to agree to a truce until the IS threat is neutralised effectively. None of the world powers involved in military operations against the IS in Syria are willing to have their boots in the deserts. They are only unleashing hell from heaven from safe altitudes. The real war is on the ground and only Syrian troops under Assad’s command are ready to take the battle to the IS-held terrain.

A change of command is sure to confuse, divide and demoralise the Syrian troops who must be able to march with the single-minded pursuit of defeating the IS though it is a tall order for a weak army. The US-backed anti-Assad rebels are no match for the marauding IS fanatics against whom they are only sitting ducks. The first batch of Syrian rebels trained in Turkey crossed the border some time ago only to be annihilated by the terrorists; they did not know what hit them!

Thus, it may be argued that the Vienna talks on Syria to be held at the behest of the US are aimed at changing horses in midstream. Washington ought to heed Donald Trump’s contention that Libya and Iraq would have been better places had Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein been around. Had the US acted with restraint in dealing with those dictators who were erstwhile allies of the West the world would not have been faced with the IS threat which continues to defy conventional military remedies.

Whether the US and its allies like it or not, Russia, under Putin, has made a comeback with a bang and the Cold War II has reached a new level. Russia’s military operations against IS in Syria are also aimed at showcasing its military prowess. Its missile attacks on IS targets from warships anchored about 1,500 km away in the Caspian Sea are a case in point.

Meanwhile, the chaotic new world order, as it were, resulting from unresolved global conflicts and the irresponsible conduct of the world powers and the pathetic failure of the world community to face emerging threats have necessitated a dispassionate reassessment of the role of the UN in preserving global peace. The UN has become a highly politicized, bureaucratic behemoth which is fast becoming an anachronism in the present global context where threats and challenges are completely different from those the world, at the end of the World War II, sought to deal with. Stuck in a time warp, the UN is fast becoming irrelevant vis-à-vis new challenges such as terrorism which has not even been defined properly.

Unless the world powers stop playing political games on the pretext of fighting terrorism in Syria the IS will be the ultimate winner. Perhaps, the terrorists are aware of the situation and readying for a low intensity war of attrition.