29 May 2012 By Tariq
Alhomayed Even Hezbollah and the
Israeli Prime Minister could not ignore the Houla
massacre in Syria, whose death toll stands at around
108, mostly women and children, and have condemned
this. The question that must be asked here is: if
Hezbollah and Israel have agreed to condemn the
massacres in Syria, then what is left for the tyrant
Bashar al-Assad and his brutal killing machine?
Hezbollah issued a
statement expressing its "deep pain and shock at the
terrible massacre in the Houla region of Homs",
condemning this massacre and those who carried it out,
without making reference to any specific party! Along
the lines of Hezbollah, Israeli Prime Minister
[Benjamin Netanyahu] issued a statement expressing his
"disgust over the relentless killing of innocent
civilians by al-Assad forces, which continued during
the weekend in the village of Houla and included
dozens of children". So if even Hezbollah and the
Israelis are united in condemnation of the massacres
taking place in Syria, when will the world say that
enough is enough with regards to al-Assad's crimes and
acknowledge that the time has come for his departure,
even if this must take place via military
intervention? The crimes of the tyrant of Damascus are
endless, and we are now witnessing a new massacre in
Hama, following the Houla massacre, which was
condemned by the UN Security Council. Therefore the danger
of what is happening in Syria today, and this is
something that the international community has failed
to notice –particularly the US president – is that the
situation has reached a phase where there is no room
for rational thought, and this will only serve to
encourage sectarianism and extremism, as well as all
forms of violence. Evidence of this can be seen in the
fact that Hassan Nasrallah and Netanyahu were not able
to remain silent, issuing condemnation of the Houla
massacre. This is not fishing in murky waters, but
clear evidence that both men are well aware of the
gravity of the situation and the threat that is
present in the days to come, whether to Syria, or the
region as a whole. The brutality of the crimes
committed by the tyrant of Damascus exceeds even the
brutality of the crimes committed by the terrorist Al
Qaeda organization; for the al-Assad regime is
literally slaughtering women and children, and all of
this points to the alarming presence of sectarianism
and desire for revenge, which is what prompted both
Hezbollah and Israel to condemn the Syrian massacres,
particularly as the death toll in Syria has reached
13,000. So what is the international community,
particularly the US, waiting for? Is the UN Security
Council, or the international community, still
counting on Russia? I believe that this
would be absurd, for the Syrian revolution has
exceeded Moscow, and the time has come to take action
from outside the UN Security Council. The time has
come to establish a regional operational cell in
cooperation with NATO, as well as willing regional
countries, to engage with the project to topple al-Assad
by force of arms, as well as support the call made by
Mr. Burhan Ghalioun for the Syrian people to liberate
themselves. This will not take place without the
establishment of buffer zones inside Syrian territory
along its borders, namely along the Turkish – Syrian
border and the Syrian – Jordanian border, with NATO
support, as well as Arab and western states that are
willing to cooperate with this, in order to rescue
Syria from al-Assad the tyrant. Therefore the world
must take action today, for now that all solutions and
initiatives have been exhausted, what is the
international community waiting for? What is the
international community waiting for, if even Israel
and Hezbollah are condemning the Houla massacre in
Syria? 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.
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