by Dr. Reuven Berko
The horrific pictures
of the children of Ghouta, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Damascus,
laying side by side in deathly silence in ditches, are still splashed on
screens across the world as evidence of atrocities that refuse to be
silenced. Syrian opposition spokespeople continue to blame the Assad
regime for using chemical weapons and demand foreign intervention, while
the regime is claiming it has found evidence of chemical weapons stored
in the rebels' tunnels.
The discussions at the
U.N. Security Council this weekend only produced one sterile decision,
that a U.N. delegation already in Damascus should be dispatched to the
affected chemical zone to examine it before anyone is found guilty.
Indeed, Angela Kane, the U.N. high representative for disarmament,
accompanied by Swedish chemical weapons expert Professor Ake Sellstrom,
arrived in Syria on Saturday.
The barrage of
condemnations and accusations continues unabated. French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius blames the Syrian regime; U.N. Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon is asking that inspectors be allowed to investigate what
appears to be a crime against humanity. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
openly accused China and Russia for their obstinate stance against
taking any measure that would objectively try to determine whether
chemical weapons were used and by whom.
Turkish Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hosted his Qatari counterpart in Istanbul.
These latter two adamant supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, who
support the Syrian rebels of course, demanded an immediate U.N. search
in Syria to prevent the tampering of evidence. Even Iran's new
president, Hasan Rouhani, described the use of chemical weapons as a
crime against humanity, called the victims "shuhada" (martyrs), and
self-righteously said these types of weapons should not be used.
As per his custom,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Syrian opposition for
preventing the U.N. inspection team from investigating the disaster
zone. In a telephone discussion with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
on Saturday, the two decided that the U.N. team would finally be allowed
to enter Ghouta, with both sides guaranteeing that the inspectors will
be allowed to work unhindered. This agreement signifies progress, as
both the Syrian regime and its Russian patron agreed to the
investigation despite their claim that the rebels were behind the
chemical weapons attack.
Something dramatic,
nevertheless, is changing. American Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
announced that national security officials and White House advisers
would gather later this week to formulate their next steps depending on
the outcome of the U.N. inspection. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey said he would present President Barack Obama
with target options in Syria, despite Russia's muscle-flexing.
Meanwhile, there are
signs of heightened alert along Jordan's northern border with Syria,
with the deployment of Patriot missile batteries and F-16 fighter jets,
and multinational military preparations that include reinforcements and
the fortification of the American headquarters in Amman -- all of this
outside the framework of the U.N. and the Security Council. The Arab
media claims that within this framework army commanders will examine the
possibilities for acting in Syria if the order from Washington is
given. On the naval front, the Americans ordered four warships stationed
in the eastern Mediterranean to be prepared for battle and a fifth
battleship is being deployed to the area.
The Americans are
unable to help the divided Syrian opposition because most of its
fighting force comprises radical Islamic terrorist groups that cannot
serve as an alternative to Assad. These groups have recently expanded
their activities across the Lebanese border, attacking Hezbollah, and
they in turn were hit back in a double mosque bombing in Tripoli on
Friday.
The composition of the
military force in Jordan, including Western and Muslim nations,
resembles the umbrella of legitimacy provided by the coalition prior to
the U.S. attack against Iraq in the Second Gulf War. Senior officials in
the Syrian regime warned that they would not let the West use the
fraudulent chemical "trick" against them, which they claim was used
against Saddam Hussein as a justification for invading Iraq.
The tense multinational
standoff surrounding Syria is reminiscent of the U.S.-Soviet standoff
during the Cuban missile crisis. That crisis, which began on October 14,
1962 and ended 14 days later, could have realistically ignited a war
between the two superpowers.
It appears as if the
West is willing to act in Syria. The time has come for the Americans and
their allies to hit hard at the criminal Syrian regime and a nuclear
ambitious Iran. The Russians will get the message.
We're lucky that someone already destroyed Syria's nuclear reactor.
Dr. Reuven Berko
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=5483
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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