Maher's Blog

The Arab League delegation visit to Syria last year led by ex-Janjaweed mercenary; produced nothing, promised nothing and imposed nothing of substance on the brutal regime of Bashar and Maher Assad. Now comes the supposed peace-keeper Kofi Annan to negotiate a halt for the brutal killings and sexual assaults on innocent Syrian women and children.    But Kofi is no stranger to atrocities and genocides, scandals and briberies. Inept and incompetent leader himself;  Kofi’s oversight of UN peacekeeping forces allowed the Rwandan genocide to go on to claim hundreds of thousands lives killed and/or disappeared.  Kofi’s oversight of the UN, dismissed sexual harassments and “abuse of authority” charges brought forward by four women workers against Ruud Lubbers, then the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as well many testimonials of refugees of sexual abuses.  But in November 2004 the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) issued a report to the UN General Assembly indicting Lubbers of the charges. Then came the Oil-for-Food scandal when Kojo Annan, Kofi’s son took huge kickbacks to allow Saddam Hussein to maneuver around the program restrictions.  And you probably guessed it right; Kofi claimed no knowledge of his son’s dealings. Off course no one expected him to acknowledge otherwise.  And the war that most of Europe hate to admit they allowed it to go on –before Bill Clinton forced NATO to stop it- ; was the Kosovo war and the genocide of civilians and mass graves discovered which led the ICC to charge several leaders including Slobodan Milosevic for crimes against humanity and war crimes.  So this is the legacy of Kofi Annan who wants to negotiate peace with brutal Assads; seriously?  Kofi may have negotiated with Bashar and Maher Assad, but it was not peace negotiations.  Sadly the US and the EU do not care about innocent Syrian civilians; and definitely Russia and China are benefiting from Bashar and Maher Assad, so the notion of peace in Syria rests not on the West; but on neighboring States.  No one can benefit more from peace in Syria than Turkey.  Turkey should impose safety zone in northern Syria, and should pressure Jordan to do the same in the south.  It is incomprehensible for Maher Al-Assad helicopters to fly just miles away from Turkey and shoot on fleeing civilians ; violating every International war rule and every human rights law in the books.  Kofi Annan mission was a failure; was expected to be failure, since he is a self-serving corrupted individual.

The brutal army and Shabiha militia of Bashar and Maher Assad have ravaged the city of Homs, Deraa, and others since the beginning of the uprising nearly 13 months ago in Syria.  The regime spared no one and has truly showed its color to the Syrian people and the international community.  It’s the color of brutalities, atrocities and genocides.  The ICC and the HRW are collecting hard evidence, videos, and testimonies of these atrocities committed by the Alawites controlled army and their mercenaries.  And it was declared by the Arab League, UN, US and EU that the regime has lost legitimacy. And when a dictator loses legitimacy and is boxed in; history tells us that the leader commits crimes, genocide, and street-gang-like executions.  But when the opposition gives birth to an armed movement and clashes occur daily with regime forces; then this by definition is a civil war.

The question now becomes, how long will the regime and the opposition”s” sustain this conflict? and at what cost to human lives?

Bashar and Maher Assad will be captured and prosecuted or may be killed at the end along with their Alawites cronies and puppets.  No one in Syria or Lebanon will shed a tear over that; they will indeed cheer for their deaths.  But the wounds will last for long time and every time a mass grave is discovered by inspectors, the pain would linger ever longer.

The sooner the Assad regime is terminated; the better chance to avoid a very dark period in Syria’s history.

Yes; Syria is engaged in a civil war; and it’s going to get much more violent than what happened in Libya.