Watching the fall of the
ancient Syrian city of Aleppo has been excruciating. Civilians who survived
weeks of intense shelling have reportedly been slaughtered by the forces of the
Assad government as they have fled the battle zone, some shot in house-to-house
searches.
Thousands more are trapped with no food, water or shelter. “This is a
message from someone saying farewell and who could face death or arrest at any
time,” a medic wrote on a messaging service.
The United Nations called the catastrophe a “complete meltdown of
humanity.”
The Assad forces are close to
retaking Aleppo, the last major city not in government hands. In 2011, President Bashar al-Assad ignored the demands of
peaceful protesters and unleashed a terrifying war against his people. More
than 400,000 Syrians have been killed while millions more have fled across
regional borders and to Europe.
But Mr. Assad could never have
prevailed without the support of President Vladimir Putin of Russia and, to a lesser extent, Iran. That is a truth that
President-elect Donald Trump, a Putin apologist who is surrounding himself with top aides who are also
Kremlin sympathizers, cannot ignore. During the presidential campaign, Mr.
Trump praised Mr. Putin for being “a
better leader” than President Obama. This would be a good time for him to
persuade Mr. Putin to end the slaughter.
Mr. Putin’s bloody actions —
the bombing of civilian neighborhoods, the destruction of hospitals, the
refusal to allow noncombatants to receive food, fuel and medical supplies — are
all in violation of international law. At the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, Samantha Power, the United
States ambassador to the United Nations, said to Mr. Assad, Russia and Iran
that they had put a “noose” around Aleppo’s civilians and: “It should shame
you. Instead, by all appearances, it is emboldening you.”
At the start of the conflict,
when hard-nosed diplomacy in the Security Council might have forced Mr. Assad
to make political compromises and avert war, Russia used its veto to shield him from
criticism and sanctions. By October 2015, when it looked like Mr. Assad was
losing, Russia sent jets and troops and became an active
combatant on the government’s behalf against the rebels, including those
trained and assisted by the United States and Arab nations.
Hezbollah, backed
by Iran with arms and money, has also been a vital asset for the Assad regime,
reportedly deploying at least 5,000 fighters in Syria. The chaos has let the
Islamic State establish a headquarters in Syria and become a major terrorist
threat.
After calling on Mr. Assad to
“step aside” in 2011, Mr. Obama was never able to make it happen, and it may
never have been in his power to make it happen, at least at a cost acceptable
to the American people or to Congress, which has refused to authorize military
action against the Assad government. Mr. Obama, reluctant to approve direct
military intervention, was restrained in supporting the rebels and struggled to
mold them into an effective fighting front.
Mr. Obama worked with Russia
to remove most of Mr. Assad’s chemical weapons from Syria. But other attempts
at cooperation — especially the search for a political deal that would end the
civil war and enable a unified focus on fighting ISIS — all failed. There is
little doubt that Mr. Putin used diplomacy as a feint to enable Mr. Assad’s
military victory.
On Tuesday, Russia and Turkey
brokered a cease-fire that was supposed to allow thousands of civilians and
fighters to leave Aleppo. Yet on Wednesday, bombing by pro-Assad forces
continued against the dwindling number of people left alive in the city. When
will it stop? That’s up to Mr. Assad, Mr. Putin and Iran.
The picture: Roman Muradov
No comments:
Post a Comment