![]() As noted above, there are too many stakeholders for whom Syria represents the ultimate prize owing to its geostrategic significance and proximity to the Mediterranean, Lebanon and Israel. ![]() But achieving that would be a herculean task. There is no solution to the Syrian impasse except the ouster of the regime and a political solution. What is worse is how all regional opportunists have come together to destroy the lives of millions who have already suffered enough tyranny under Assad. Syria’s crisis is a disgrace on humanity, a failure on part of the entire international community. So, when it does cobble together a ceasefire, there is hope that civilians in Syria would get some respite from the relentless violence. But it has also achieved many successes and that is something we must be grateful for. Whether it is the Palestine issue and holding Israel accountable or the wars in Iraq or Syria, the UN has failed miserably as an institution. Every member country of the council has used this power with impunity, safeguarding its own and its allies’ interests over human rights and world peace. The faults within the UN lie in its structuring and decision-making bodies that render any international peace effort null and void, thanks to the power of veto enshrined with the Security Council members. ![]() And its work in humanitarian and development aid must be lauded. Even as we disdain the UN for its ineffectiveness, it is the only world body with some accountability checks in place. However futile UN’s efforts might seem at this point, especially given its past treatment of these measures, the direct involvement of a Security Council member, Russia, in the bombings would put some strictures on the otherwise unchecked use of force. A ceasefire was being pushed for to allow access to medical aid and food. Over 300,000 people live in the area and the way the rebels have assimilated themselves in them could only mean one thing: many more civilian deaths. So, what would the fall of Ghouta mean for the Syrian war? If this last rebel stronghold is to fall, would it put an end to the indiscriminate bombing of the government forces? But until that happens, thousands more civilians face a dire threat from the airstrikes. Eastern Ghouta is now believed to be the only rebel stronghold standing. Iranian support in training pro-Syrian government militias and Syrian forces as well as providing technical support and new war technologies, including drones, that are being used to gather intelligence on rebels and allegedly Israel, has helped overturn Assad’s fortunes. Hezbollah fighters along with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have been a part of the war since 2011. Iran and Russia’s support for the Syrian regime is in direct opposition to Saudi efforts to destabilise and overturn the government. The Middle East is much more complicated than that. The country has become a stage for global and regional powers to fight their proxy wars whereas non-state actors attach and detach themselves to ‘sponsors’ at the speed of lightning to carve out their own spheres of influence.īut it is not simply a question of might is right. By the power of its own divestment, it is now a seething mass of inhumanity. The Syrian conflict is now much more than just an uprising to overthrow Bashar al-Assad. ![]() This was a clear loophole since airstrikes, albeit with less intensity, and a ground offensive, continue even after the ceasefire came into effect. This widening of the ambit was done on Russian insistence. But finally when the Security Council’s resolution was adopted, calling for a cessation of further strikes by both Syrian and Russian forces to allow humanitarian access to Ghouta, its efficacy was in doubt from the start.įor one, it ruled out any discontinuation in the fight against the main rebel groups – namely Al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra that are now operating under the alliance called the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Daesh – and any individuals and groups associated with them. But even as footage of the carnage, including stomach-churning images of children wounded or dead, began to emerge, the international community was busy debating in the UN about the advantages and concessions that a ceasefire draft could draw out. Ghouta is, therefore, being touted as one of the worst humanitarian disasters since the Syrian war began in 2011.
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