A First Step Toward Peace

Obama’s punitive strike against Assad will not bring peace, so say the experts and so it should be clear to Washington. The American president has been put on the spot by the talk of red lines. Now he is glad to have the opportunity to pull out of the escalation without losing face.

The Russians and Americans are finally taking joint action. Both want to force the Syrian regime to give up its chemical weapons. The story of how this surprising alliance came into being should go down in history as proof of chaos theory or as an example of the intuition of U.S. Secretary of State Kerry. No matter whether he spoke of this possibility consciously or not, it is a blessing that a solution to the stalemate has been found.

If the Assad regime genuinely engages with the deal, many would have reason to celebrate. Moscow would no longer face accusations that it was standing idly by and watching the massacre. Washington would not need to embark on a military adventure with an uncertain outcome. Tripoli would not need to fear a decimation of its conventional arsenals. And the Syrian population would at least be safe from the cruelty of chemical weapons.

But that would still only be the first step. Every day, people are dying in a hail of bullets and shells. Family members can hardly be comforted by the thought that their loved ones are not dying from sarin, but from steel. Two million refugees have had to leave their homes and often live in inhumane conditions.

They are waiting in desperation for a world community that does not look on without doing anything, but one that acts. Not in a showdown, but with pressure on all parties in the civil war. If America, Russia and China remember their collective responsibility, a solution could be reached which would truly help people in Syria. Only negotiations will bring peace.