Syria: Chemical Weapons and Poisonous Rhetoric

Now that he has recognized — for the first time and “with varying degrees of confidence” according to intelligence agencies — that the Bashar al-Assad regime has used chemical weapons in the course of the civil war, what Iraq-like narrative would compel President Barack Obama to decide what to do in Syria? The Damascus dictator has crossed a red line, and as a result, there needs to be a response. Thus has spoken Obama, a number of times.

There are ghosts of Iraq in 2003, when erroneous or spiced reports about weapons of mass destruction led to an invasion of the country. For this reason, and because Syria is a hornet’s nest, President Obama is reluctant, although his cautious statement on the use of chemical weapons intensifies the pressure for undertaking some sort of vigorous action. In the end, President Obama made a statement Thursday, one day before raising doubts over allegations by Israel, the U.K. and France about the use of chemical weapons.

There are phantoms of Iraq in 1988 when Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against his own people, Kurdish citizens, killing at least 5,000 in the city of Halabja. Saddam was able to do this because of a complacency and cynicism among Western countries when the Iraqi dictator used chemical weapons, in great part furnished by Western countries, in the war against Iran. There was no red line to stop the genocide of the Kurds.

Now, it is likely that al-Assad is using small quantities of chemical weapons to test the Western disposition, especially that of the U.S., and its ability to detect chemical material. Assad leads a “gangster regime,” which acts with brutality, sadism and perseverance to survive.

An escalation of denunciations over the use of chemical weapons happened at a strange moment this week: It was at the same time as an escalation of propaganda from the Syrian regime, expressing confidence that the worst was over in the civil war. And to think that this regime accused the rebels of using chemical weapons. Where did they get them? Along his arsenal of lies with forged images of the victims of chemical weapons used by rebels in the city of Aleppo, the one who has an arsenal of chemical weapons is the dictator. (In truth, many of the accusations and much of the evidence the rebels have presented also deserve a dose of skepticism.)

Lately, the dictator has opened the doors to foreign journalists. (He did not show the same generosity to U.N. inspectors and an independent group of human rights defenders.) In the public relations battle, the “gangster regime” wants to convince Western countries that the “bandits” are the opposition in the civil war or that, in fact, extremist jihadists control the rebels. Through this narrative, government authorities exaggerate the importance of the international brigades of Islamic terrorists.

As I said, Syria today is a hornet’s nest. The opposition is fragmented, and the best fighters among the rebels are radical. It is not easy, however, to decide to intervene militarily — and Obama evades such moves, as with the Iranian nuclear crisis. Once again, I was among the earliest to speak of the end of al-Assad, but now, the conflict could drag on without external support to the moderate factions. Already, there are two civil wars in Syria: one between the rebels and the regime and another between the rebels themselves.

I am not suggesting sending in combat troops, but possible actions might include air strikes against chemical weapons stockpiles or the use of special forces to take possession of them. This would also prevent them from falling into the hands of jihadists or the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which is allied with al-Assad. Another scenario would be the creation of no-fly zones to help the rebels and protect the civilian population from government bombings.

Today Syria is a hornet’s nest, but one must not forget that the rebels became radicalized because of escalated repression from security forces that started to massacre protesters during peaceful protests two years ago. We must never forget that this civil war was the original sin of Bashar al-Assad, son of another dictator with a record of decades of atrocities.

However, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqui told foreign journalists that his country is a “partner” with the West in its fight against terrorism. (Count me out of this.) Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi added:

“It’s a war for civilization, identity and culture. Syria, if you want, is the last real secular state in the Arab world.”

The minister misinforms to the point of denying the mere existence of chemical weapons. This is poisonous rhetoric.