10 Feb 2012 By Tariq
Alhomayed A few days ago I wrote an article about the al-Assad
regime's massacres in Syria, entitled "100 killed in a
day". Today I am writing about "more than 200 killed
in one day", after the massacre in Khalidiya, Homs.
How many will I be writing about in the future, as
long as the tyrant of Damascus continues undeterred?
And will the tyrant solely bear the responsibility of
these massacres? Since the launching of the Arab initiative, the
tyrant's forces have killed at least fifty people per
day in Syria, sometimes a hundred. The al-Assad regime
has lost its senses. When Bashar al-Assad learned that
the Security Council was unable to reach a clear
resolution against his regime and its crimes,
primarily because of Russia, he believed that the time
was right to deliver a knockout blow to the
revolutionaries, in order to impose a reality on the
ground that would make it difficult for the
international community to adopt any kind of
enforceable decision. Therefore, his forces did not
hesitate to undertake a massacre in Khalidiya. This is not a matter of analysis; rather it is
fact. Al-Assad's interior minister, and likewise his
foreign minister, have both openly declared that the
regime will pursue a security solution. Of course, there is no difference between what al-Assad's
interior minister said, or [foreign minister] Walid
Moallem, or before them what al-Assad himself
expressed in a recent speech, and what was previously
said by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi on the first day of the
Libyan revolution, when he explicitly threatened the
Libyans. Now we see the silence of the international
community, the Russian defense of the al-Assad regime,
and even the support of some Arabs, such as the
personal representative of Algerian President
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was quoted as saying that
the Arab League resorting to Security Council is proof
that the Arab League charter is now "without ethics".
All this leaves us feeling little surprise that the
al-Assad regime's crimes continue - having now reached
the extent whereby al-Assad's forces prevent those
under the age of 50 from attending Friday prayers in
some Syrian cities – as long as the shameful
international silence continues, along with the
blatant Russian support! Therefore, what is required today is that the Arab
states, not least the Gulf States, take actual,
practical decisions that are long overdue. Those
decisions should include the expulsion of all al-Assad
regime ambassadors from their territories immediately,
recognition and support for the Syrian National
Council (SNC), and the immediate launch of shuttle
diplomacy trips. We should see Gulf officials touring
active Western capitals to ensure a genuine UN
resolution, under [United Nations Charter] Chapter
VII. Thus, if [Qatari Prime Minister] Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassim said in Cairo that the movement against Gaddafi
was necessitated by his son's statement threatening to
burn Benghazi, then the situation in Syria now is
worse. Al-Assad has threatened the Syrians himself, as
have his interior and foreign ministers, when they
openly declared the move to impose a security solution
and "cleanse Syria". So what are the Arabs and the
international community waiting for then? Here I am
talking about the Arabs in particular, for it is
unacceptable to see Hillary Clinton moving to pass a
resolution – albeit unsuccessfully - against al-Assad,
whilst the Arabs idly stand by! Now we must expel al-Assad's ambassadors, recognize
the SNC, and move immediately, internationally, to
protect the Syrians from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad.
Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, the youngest person to be appointed that position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also completed his Introductory courses towards a Master's degree from George Washington University in Washington D.C. He is based in London. Comments 💬 التعليقات |