Determining Appropriate Sources of Humanitarian Aid

Submitted by M. Tovey (United States), Jun 14, 2012 at 16:37

There are compelling reasons to keep the United States out of the Syrian civil war, Dr. Pipes' reasons being minimum considerations. But a further and deeper look at what the Syrian conflict puts at stake should elicit cause for the concern too few are willing to give credence to, not the least of which is what the Russian CIS has already made plain: mess with the Syrians and you mess with us.

The current relationship is an outgrowth of a formalized Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation penned by Moscow and the elder al-Assad in 1980. By certain accounts the relationship deepened by the late eighties, only to suffer a set back with the loss of Soviet control of Russia in the early nineties.

While the governments have changed somewhat, the resurgence of the Russian military in the afterglow of former Soviet influences have brought about a renewal of the power sharing Moscow seems intent upon having in the Middle East. This became important in the view of some analysts as Bashar al-Assad increased his support of the Russians during certain circumstances such as the Russian-Georgian clash, where it was alleged there was Israeli support for the Georgians.

Syria has been under significant pressure from international sources such as the United States and Russia provides a certain amount of relief, to a point. As Syria's political strife goes ballistic, they are more than willing to accept any and all help then can get from the Russian presence, allowing the al-Assad regime to regain some semblance of control, however slight, under the glaring light of international scrutiny.

It will not take much for some aspect of what is happening to escalate to a world critical crisis, something that many who are wary of just that type of event are warning about. And if the Russians are caught in the middle of it and are found to be material to its precipitation, then a whole other set of problems will be in the contention.

In an another analysis, the United States is really not in the position to endure another Iraqi style 'regime change,' no matter how compelling the argument might be that America is perceived as the only nation the United Nations could use to implement its 'humanitarian reprieve' for the Syrian citizenry. In simple consideration, if the European conscience is exasperated with what is going on, then the United Nations needs to draw upon that and exert its European influences and see where that gets.

As far as humanitarian aid is concern, only the Syrian government is responsible for the protection of their citizenry and equally responsible for its dereliction in not providing such protection, its primary duty as a government. And since there is already a international presence that seems to have a considerable amount of influences upon the Syrian regime, let the Russians expend some of their 'good will' with the Syrians and be the good sports to stop it. Otherwise, they owe an explanation as to why they do not.

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