06 June 2012 By
Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed Russia's stances have
not only been negative towards Syria, but also with
regards to most major issues. Thus, when we look for
signals from Moscow in the hope that it will change
its stance on the Syrian tragedy, perhaps we are
deluding ourselves. In fact, all the justifications we
make for the Russians are not true; they will not
change their stance until after Bashar al-Assad's
fall. I can give a long list
of similar Russian stances dealing with dangerous
international crises, from Bosnia to Herzegovina to
Kosovo to Libya, and now to Syria. In all these cases,
Russia stood alongside the villain until the end. Even
its stance on the Palestinian issue - which is better
than that of the US – has always been a mere stance of
solidarity. Russia's position in support of Iran has
encouraged the latter to go to excesses in its nuclear
project, and has led to dangerous regional and
international ramifications in the Gulf region.
Of course, all
superpowers have their own policies; they do not
behave in accordance with the pressures of the news
and the media. In major crises, however, we expect
these states to be realistic when it comes to serving
their interests and the interests of others. The
Americans were pragmatic when they realized that their
ally Hosni Mubarak was a hopeless case in Egypt.
Before that, the Americans were also realistic when
they saw that Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was unable to do
anything. As for Moscow, it always adopts a bizarre
stubborn policy. In the 1990s, Moscow backed the
butchers of Belgrade until the last moment, and later
did the same in Libya. For the past 15 months, it has
been supporting Bashar al-Assad despite the horrific
crimes that his forces have been perpetrating since
April of last year. Not a month passes without
horrible scenes and acts of widespread killing and
torture throughout the country against the civilian
population. Russia is supporting a falling regime, a
regime that has no value or popularity in the region,
a regime that is not productive or influential in the
wider world. The truth is that
Russia's stance has prolonged the Syrian crisis, and
perhaps it has also hurt Moscow's ally al-Assad. A
compromise political solution could have been agreed
upon in the beginning. However, Bashar al-Assad's
attitude that he can disobey the world – confident
that Russia will protect him in the Security Council
against any resolution to fight him – has led to the
adoption of a savage and oppressive policy. This
policy has since made it impossible for him or for any
member of his regime to be rescued in the future,
regardless of the duration of the crisis. Now, despite
all their efforts to support it and protect it, the
Russians will not be able to keep the regime standing
on its feet, it will suffer an ugly fall. A war
consisting of more than 70 percent of the Syrian
people against the regime is now under way. Al-Assad
will fall no matter how long it takes. With their stubborn
stance and support for the Syrian regime, against the
wrath of the Syrian people and Arab and international
indignation, the Russians are imperiling al-Assad just
as they did with their ally Muammar Gaddafi last year.
At one stage during the confrontations, the Libyan
dictator was prepared to accept a solution proposed by
the government of South Africa that would have allowed
him to step down and live in exile with international
guarantees. It was a political solution that would
have preserved Libya. However, Gaddafi was then
reassured by Russia's military and political support;
he thought that he was leaning on a solid wall. In the
end, however, he suffered a horrible fall. Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai. Comments 💬 التعليقات |