The al-Assad regime's killing machine is committing one massacre after another, and then preventing international observers from accessing the massacre sites, as occurred in al-Qubeir for a period of two days, in order to cleanse the scene. However despite all this, Mr. Annan continues to look for a way to implement the points of his Syrian initiative! This is truly astounding!

Mr. Annan must announce the failure of his initiative, and as we previously stated, the failure of this six-point plan does not represent a personal failure for Mr. Annan, because Bashar al-Assad is the one who voided this initiative, in the same manner that the tyrant voided all the initiatives that were put forward to deal with the situation in Syria since the beginning of the revolution. Therefore, it is Mr. Annan's duty now to announce the failure of his initiative, not its development or that he is searching for a new way to implement this, such as by involving Iran, which represents a completely unacceptable step, for how can we call on the killer's accomplice to be a part of the solution? The problem in Annan not announcing the failure of his plan is that this grants Russia and China an opportunity to manipulate the international community and block any real movement within the UN Security Council, whilst also allowing the current US administration to avoid its responsibilities towards Syria, and this is because Obama is preoccupied with the forthcoming US elections!

This is the problem behind Annan's adherence to this initiative and his refusal to announce its failure, namely this grants everybody the opportunity to avoid protecting the unarmed Syrian people, whilst it also grants al-Assad the tyrant a new opportunity, and this is not to eliminate the revolution – for this is unlikely – but rather to kill more Syrian people and thereby endanger the future of the Syrian state, and place the entire region at risk. Therefore Annan announcing the failure of his initiative would mean that everybody must shoulder their responsibilities towards what is happening in Syria, and this would then put an end to the exploitation of the Russian and Chinese position, whilst the Americans and the international community would also have to bear their responsibility to protect the Syrian people. More importantly than all this, the announcement of the failure of the Annan plan means that al-Assad would be facing one of two possible outcomes, namely either the UN Security Council invoking Article VII or a confrontation with a coalition of the willing outside of the framework of the UN Security Council, as occurred in Yugoslavia. The issue is not out of a desire for war, but rather the need to stop the al-Assad regime's killing machine which is claiming the lives of the Syrian people in the most brutal manner, and even Washington described the latest al-Assad massacre as being an "affront to human dignity and justice." This is what the al-Assad regime and its Shabiha militia is committing against the Syrian people on a daily basis, so what is the international community waiting for in order to take action against those who are insulting the human dignity of the Syrian people, killing men, women and children in the most brutal manner?

What is certain is that everybody today is looking for any excuse regarding the need to wait for Mr. Annan's answer on the enforceability of his plan. However it is Mr. Annan's duty to protect the Syrian people, who are being subject to one massacre after another at the hands of the tyrant of Damascus and this is by announcing the failure of his plan so that al-Assad can face his inevitable fate, rather than granting the tyrant another new opportunity!

A Saudi journalist and expert on Islamic movements and Islamic fundamentalism as well as Saudi affairs. Mshari is Asharq Al-Awsat's opinion page Editor, where he also contributes a weekly column. Has worked for the local Saudi press occupying several posts at Al -Madina newspaper amongst others. He has been a guest on numerous news and current affairs programs as an expert on Islamic extrem.

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