My heart bleeds for Syria; the country famous for its rich historical past and ancient artifacts is dying a slow, excruciating death; yet another truce designed to save the country from complete destruction has crumbled after just a week of observance.
The ceasefire calculated to keep the warring factions apart and away from the battle field, sadly did not materialize, and the guns of war are once again thundering across the vast Syrian desert.
The bloody carnage that is the civil war will rage on for the unforeseeable future and innocent Syrian civilians, men, women and children will once again bear the brunt of the relentless violence.
Crafted by the two major players in the Syrian strife, Russia and the United States, the truce was doomed to failure from the onset. The hostility between President Assad and the collection of rebel groups fighting to kick him out is so strong that the possibility of a cease fire prevailing was practically zero. The emerging reality is that Assad and the rebels will continue to visit death and destruction on war exhausted Syrians.
This is not the first time the warring parties have agreed to a truce only to renege on it after a few wrenching days of observance. Assad is determined to hold on to power and the rebels equally determined to see him go.
Indeed, the collapse of the truce is a sad commentary on the inability of the Syrian government and its enemies to put their interests aside and promote the interest of their country which has suffered prolong devastation, with almost 500,000 Syrians killed, millions displaced, and billions of dollars in property destroyed.
But in as much as the Assad regime and the Jihadists…the Free Syrian Army, Al Nusra Jamat and ISIS lined up against him bear the blame for the bloodshed, the world bears a responsibility, too. The world seemed to have thrown up its hands in frustration and looks on unperturbed as Syrians are viciously mowed down and slaughtered from the air and on the ground.
So, there is an impasse now, and neither the Russians who openly support Assad, nor the Americans who have aggressively armed the rebels with the exception of Al Nusra and IS can get their boys to stop the carnage, and what has been achieved so far is the continuation of a senseless war that leaves thousands maimed and dead, and many more crossing the dangerous and vast Mediterranean sea to Europe where the welcome mat is being pulled out by an increasingly frightened Europe.
Sad as the Syrian tragedy is, it is nonetheless a perfect example of why civil wars are not the best alternatives to protracted political problems. They, indeed, are not the answers to stolen elections, a dictatorship or authoritarianism. Civil wars by their very nature, are destructive and traumatic.
Dialogue, tolerance and respect for the man sitting across the table from you are the answers. If you plunge your country into a civil war, don’t for once entertain the notion that the world will come to your aid; no, it won’t and you will be left alone to deal with the devastating consequences.