Could be a Last Chance to Fix Syrian Crisis



Return to Diplomacy and a Political Resolution

B1 Bomber in Qatar being prepared for departure. - US DOD Photo
B1 Bomber in Qatar being prepared for departure. – US DOD Photo


Barzah Chemical weapons Facility

Syria’s Barzah Chemical weapons Facility – Photo: DigitalGlobe

A Modest Military Message Against using Chemical Weapons is followed by Diplomacy and an effort to Achieve Political Solutions

France,  Britain and the United States have circulated a joint draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council that  calls for humanitarian aid, enforcement of a ceasefire and a demand that Syria engage in UN-led peace talks.

This fulfills the promise of Emmanuel Macron of France whose message was pretty much a stick and carrot routine that has been well received.

“We cannot tolerate the trivialization of chemical weapons, which is an immediate danger for the Syrian people and our collective security. This is the direction of the diplomatic initiatives put forward by France at the United Nations Security Council.

“From today, France and its partners will renew their efforts at the United Nations to allow the establishment of an international mechanism to establish responsibility, prevent impunity and prevent any recurrence by the Syrian regime.”

Pay Attention to Antonio Guterres

Throughout the Syrian chemical weapons crisis beginning April 7, 2018 United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has been an extraordinarily calm and stable voice of reason despite the horrible, heart-breaking images that must be on his desk evidencing violence toward women and children in Douma.
Read: UNSC Responsibility for maintaining Peace

heart-breaking evidence of violence toward women and children in Douma

The UN has all the mechanisms it needs to find a diplomatically-reached political solution to the Syrian Crisis. What doesn’t exist as a formal protocol the UN has mechanisms for their creation.

UNSC members need to use the diplomatic protocols and statutes available to implement solutions without squabbling and throwing vetoes around. These members have not been very helpful for decades thus allowing their institutions and public confidence to die. Wake up and do your jobs. Global peace for human development is your only goal.

Humanitarian aid is needed in Syria but UN members have been stingier than ever. This is horrible. Maybe the April 7 chemical massacre was an opportunity for you to see what civil society workers see every day. The horror in the women’s and children’s eyes, you never forget. Bitterness and anger must be relieved by applying the rule of law. If you don’t like the Rome Statute, do something better, but get it done. Otherwise the UNSC has lost its usefulness.

The horror in the women's and children's eyes, you never forget.
The horror in the women’s and children’s eyes, you never forget.

*Medical staff take note: What’s wrong with this picture? The worker is untrained in using an inhaler on an infant. A nebulizer is the correct device to deliver salbutamol for an infant untrained in using an inhaler device.  Secondly we have seen the video and the worker is using a failing technique. That’s a shame because this could mitigate symptoms if the obstacles of using the wrong clinic-based apparatus are overcome. Finally a trained medical worker would not use a ventolin on a child without an extension. Even if one is not available they are easy to improvise. Clearly there is not sufficient trained medical help allowed to access all the people of Syria. Shame on the Assad Regime.  We have used Albuterol/salbutamol with positive results as a  medical mitigation agent against both upper and lower chemical-induced pulmonary injury by agents such as chlorine gas, mustard gas, phosgene and nerve agents sarin and soman.

Sneaking humanitarian aid to Syrians in need should not be necessary. The RINJ Foundation Women have been in Syria since mid-2012 from smaller to larger efforts. Our teams have been driven out of Aleppo (to Gaziantep) and Eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor and ar-Raqqah (to Mosul in 2013) more times than we can count. The costs have been painful. There are thousands of patients who will never see their care-givers again, because they are dead. Human suffering doesn’t seem to matter to the militants on any side of the multiple disputes. It’s mostly about men behaving in a very disgusting way, killing women and child civilians. What the hell is wrong with these violent people. End malicious & hateful ideologies fuelling violence & terrorism by leveraging the rule of law, winning gender parity, energizing our tolerant kindness, caring, & sharing.

The murders of certain classes of Syrian people and the military violence must both stop in Syria, Yemen and all around the globe.

Bring Monsters to the Hague for Trial

Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad is a monster. There is no mitigation, no forgiveness for his crimes against humanity. His Prime Minister and his cabinet are no different. These thugs are not needed. They belong in prisons or on the gallows depending on what jurisdiction’s laws are applied. They should not be running any country.

You can speculate about what happens when a dictator is removed from power as a rule-of-law enforcement of international statutes against crimes against humanity.

Whatever happens as a consequence of losing a criminal dictator, and no matter how many screw-ups take place as the people try to form a new government, the right of self-determination by the people of Syria trumps everything. Syria’s population have no idea what a democracy looks like. The world needs to set a better example. That being accomplished there should be no reason why the global community cannot indict these criminals and arrest them; allow their surrender;  or by capture with force. Thereafter helping hands from around the world will help Syrians rebuild their country, with or without new borders for autonomous regions. Let the people themselves decide at the ballot box.

M. O’Brien

Additional reading:

  1. UNSC Responsibility for Maintaining Peace – António Guterres
    Published: Sun, 15 Apr 2018 08:18:42The following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ complete briefing to the UN Security Council on Syria I have been following closely the reports of air strikes in Syria conducted by the United States, France and the United Kingdom. Last night at … Read 

  2. Could be a Last Chance to Fix Syrian Crisis
    Published: Sun, 15 Apr 2018 08:11:17Return to Diplomacy & Political Resolution B1 Bomber in Qatar being prepared for departure. – US DOD Photo Syria’s Barzah Chemical weapons Facility – Photo: DigitalGlobe A Modest Military Message Against using Chemical Weapons is followed by Diplomacy and an … Read 

  3. Syria Chemical Attack Report: France Releases Intel
    Published: Sat, 14 Apr 2018 12:12:27US DOD Photo – James N. Mattis US Secretary of Defence created plan to strike Syria’s Chemical weapons Facilities this weekend. Above: Britain’s PM Theresa May and France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Their statements appear below France’s INTELLIGENCE REPORT. UN Secretary … Read 

  4. USA, Britain, France Attack Syria – Putin Angry
    Published: Sat, 14 Apr 2018 11:36:11In a modest attack on Syria, a coordinated mission done by the USA, France and Britain using air-launched cruise missiles with high-explosive (HE) warheads, Bashar al-Assad lost some sinister chemical weapons assets. We wonder how much of that was from … Read 

  5. “No military solution to the Syrian conflict.” – António Guterres
    Published: Fri, 13 Apr 2018 21:17:33April 13, 2018 – UN Secretary-General António Guterres Addresses UN Security Council Today “The situation in the Middle East is in chaos — to such an extent it has become a threat to international peace and security. The region is facing … Read 

  6. MAD Prevails. Humanity Lost In Syria
    Published: Fri, 13 Apr 2018 02:23:59Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) between the USA and Russia has prevailed. The (is-it-real-or-is-it-Twitter) Donald Trump in Washington has been backed into the shadows while Russia’s Vladimir Putin wins a diplomatic coup against the USA? It doesn’t matter.  Neither the USA … Read 

  7. They Used Sarin on Children: Assad & Putin
    Published: Wed, 11 Apr 2018 15:13:33Associated Press Video Capture – April 7 While the World Health Organization (WHO) demanded free access to the Douma suburb of Damascus hours ago, many hundreds of medical workers operate in clinics while others freelance as EMS responders. — by … Read 

  8. Assad Won Syria Civil War. Only Humanity is Needed. Not U.S. Bombs.
    Published: Mon, 09 Apr 2018 22:27:14— by Melissa Hemingway (feminine-perspective.org staff writer) Military retaliation against Damascus only hurts more women & children. Making the institutions of peace and humanitarianism work is the only way ahead. Syria’s despicable dictator Bashar al-Assad, his brutal confreres, and Russia’s … Read 

  9. Douma Chem-Attack: UN Secretary General Issues Calm Statement
    Published: Mon, 09 Apr 2018 20:32:17UN Secretary-General Voices Deep Concern over Renewed Violence in Douma, Syria, Stressing that Chemical Weapons Use, if Confirmed, Requires Investigation UN Secretary-General António Guterres says he is deeply concerned about renewed and intensive violence in Douma in eastern Ghouta over … Read 

  10. Ethics & Truth Fail in Syria on Two Men of bad Character.
    Published: Sun, 08 Apr 2018 21:44:44Once Again Syria’s Assad Kills Civilians Near Damascus with Chemical Weapons as Russia’s Putin Provides Air and Ground Support Raqqah, Syria, April 8, 2018 — To say that the world is furious at the Syrian government and its allies is … Read