Syria: Agreements and Shortages

Fortunately for the Syrian population and the international community, the possibility of an American military attack against the Syrian regime — in retaliation for the sarin gas attack against civilians this past Aug. 21, for which Washington has blamed Bashar al-Assad’s government — has been temporarily suspended after the U.S. and Russia signed an agreement yesterday. This agreement accepts that the Syrian government has one week to disclose the exact amount and locations of its chemical weapons stockpiles and establishes a period of two months for international inspectors to confirm this information. As a consequence, the Syrian government has applied to join the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention.

The signing of the aforementioned agreement is worth praising without a doubt because it ends the immediate possibility of military intervention that would have increased the violence and brutality currently developing in Syria. Surely, this attack would not have benefited anyone except for the U.S. military-industrial complex, which usually finds great business opportunities during times of war.

However, the roadmap diplomatic representatives from Washington and Moscow have drawn is not enough to guarantee peace in Syria and the region. Eliminating Syria’s chemical arsenal — scheduled for the middle of next year, according to the aforementioned agreement — could alter the delicate balance that prevails in a region characterized by a large population, an important geostrategic position, and an area rich in natural resources, by eliminating the few existing deterrent elements that could potentially stop Israel’s militarism: Israel currently has the only known nuclear arsenal in the region. The Israeli government has systematically eluded inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and rejected signing the U.N Chemical Weapons Convention and, therefore, represents a permanent point of instability and regional threat.

Without a doubt, even though the possibility of a U.S. attack would have increased the amount of violence and suffering the Syrians are experiencing, canceling the attack does not help at all to reduce the amount of brutality being carried out there. The conflict has already taken the lives of about 100,000.

Because of these events, it is impossible to ignore the undeniable interference of Washington and Brussels against the Assad regime and in favor of the rebels. This has added fuel to the conflict’s flames and prolonged Syria’s civil war. As a matter of consistency, the end of western military intervention in Syria should also accompany the end of Washington and its allies’ actions in backing opposition groups. Paradoxically, this includes militias that belong to al-Qaida, which Washington says it is fighting.