Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
The flag of the Syrian regime with its three colours — red, white and black — has begun to flutter again in the Gulf as the Syrian embassy in Kuwait has been handed over to Bashar Al Assad’s government. The news comes as a huge surprise because the Syrian seat in the Arab League was given to the opposition and their representative was allowed to attend and speak at the Arab summit held in Doha.
The latest development is counter-productive. Syrians have been fighting for democracy and a better life for four years and the civil war has destroyed most of the country, and every month thousands of Syrians are thrown into poverty and unemployment. Syrians have entered the New Year amid ruins and chaos. Their only mistake was to demand freedom from 44 years of Assad’s family rule. The regime used brute force to suppress the peaceful protests and the country slipped into a civil war.
According to the UN, the war has claimed more than 191,000 lives. The situation is getting worse every day on humanitarian, security and political fronts and this is happening not because of the revolution or the opposition, but because of the inaction of the international community. The West has turned a blind eye to the fact that terrorist groups like Al Qaeda are filling the vacuum in Syria by reorganising themselves and mobilising fighters against the horrible crimes of the Assad regime, which is supported by Iran and the Hezbollah who are fighting against the Syrian people to defend the Assad regime.
The uprising has degenerated into a sectarian war. At the same time, Assad has been telling the West that he is fighting terrorists. Unfortunately, some in the West have bought his argument and this has caused anger and resentment among people in our region.
The sad truth is that the revolution hasn’t succeeded in ousting Assad and the previous autocratic regimes have come back to power in Yemen and Egypt. But the return of the totalitarian regimes doesn’t mean the end of the struggle. The fire of the revolution will continue to burn and achieve its goal one day.
The Peninsula
