Diplomacy in a World of Extreme Violence

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A day before celebrating Prophet Mohammad’s birthday and two days after the 30th anniversary of the massacre of Hama perpetrated by Hafez al-Assad and his brother Rifaat (Who still to this day is a free man in Europe working behind the scene to shore-up the regime), the Syrian regime, held by another Assad, massacred over 200 people in the city of Homs overnight.

If there is a message in this non-coincidental new massacre in Homs, it is that Assad will continue massacring as long as he is in power. No let down and no let go.

Meanwhile, diplomacy is entering a dangerous phase because of its incapacity to solve human tragedies when dealing with men of extreme violence. Deadly missiles pointed at Syria’s neighbors and raging artillery firing at its own citizenry is as predictable of the Assads as the glow of a kid’ eyes the first time in a toy store.

Yet, we let Assad and his regime of terror fester for 42 years. Leaders from around the world hailed Hafez al-Assad as a man of peace and stability and ignored the total savagery of this brute family. I still, to this day remember, the forward looking words of Secretary Albright uttered in support of the younger Assad upon attending the funeral of his father in June of 2000.

Russia is standing between NATO missiles and the regime. The price it is paying in world public opinion is immense, yet it still stands solid behind this violent family, which is a sign that the family’s value exceeds what the world thinks of Russia and Russians in general. If international diplomats are as savvy with numbers as they are with words, they would realize, with simple cost-benefit analysis, the futility of convincing Russia to back the demise of Assad if it is willing to pay for him with the currency of its own global image and the negative public opinion it will harvest from that support.

As a result of the massacre of yesterday, Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria (Population 5 million) is moving towards confrontation with the regime. The Shabeeha showed-up in Aleppo yesterday firing in the air and killing one Syrian. With scant resources and burned-out security men, it shows how Assad fears the rise of Aleppo. Almost immediately, Aleppians from the Hananu district started chanting “God is great”. The protests outside the Old City walls are increasing in intensity and numbers.

Because of lack of action on the part of the international community (Covertly included), Syrians in the Diaspora are not standing still and some are taking matters in their own hands. In Kuwait, the Syrian Embassy was stormed by Syrians protestors and the Syrian Ambassador to Tunisia wasÂ expelled by the Tunisian Government. It won’t be long before every Syrian Embassy and Mission overseas meet the same fate. Let those Ambassadors return home and fight in the streets for Assad if they think this benefits Syria.

The Syrian crisis seems to top every agenda of every foreign ministry around the world. It also has the full attention of the US, France, Britain, Germany, and Russia as well as the UN. As nations of laws, every attempt at finding a solution to the Syrian crisis is being explored. In my humble opinion, this wake-up call is really 42 years late.

Messages to Assad with promises of safe passage to him and his family are falling on deaf ears. It’s a last minute effort but if the international diplomatic corps fully understood the Assad family, they would not have bothered. What to say about a family willing to put its Alawite sect of 2 million Syrians in jeopardy just to save themselves? That’s the part when diplomacy should simply yield to a drastic and immediate solution.

In my estimation, the Syrian death toll has exceeded 10,000 Syrians. The media is under reporting the death toll just because it cannot verify the numbers. The truth will be known soon and I am certain that an AssadÂ Genocide Museum is already being planned in someone’s head.

May the will and strength of my people help them overcome this bloody history.


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