During a press conference in London in 2004, then Foreign Minister of the Assad regime, Farouk al-Sharaa, described UN Resolution 1559 as absurd. That description was dictated by the illusion that America would not be serious about his regime, which was reassured by the great services it provided historically. That reassurance was evaporated by an American message of a few words, which expelled “the protectors of the home of the regime” from Lebanon, well before the date of the exit order.
Two decades separate us from that date, when America took that decision as a red card and raised it in the face of the Assad regime to expel from Lebanon, knowing that it did not need such a card. The irony is that years have passed since the issuance of Resolution 2118, which contains red and black cards, but that card was not removed even though the resolution stipulated in Article 21 the following: “It shall be decided in the event of non-compliance with this resolution; including the unauthorized transfer of chemical weapons, or the use of chemical weapons by anyone in the Syrian Arab Republic, measures under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.”
And now, suddenly, we are witnessing a remarkable presence of this resolution and heated debates about it in the Security Council, as if a red card was looming on the horizon. We do not believe that this is happening to blacken the eyes of the Syrian people or to continue their tragedy, nor to stop the destructive wave of normalization with the Assad regime, which was proven to have committed the chemical crime, and remained in possession of some of those weapons, and some of them were leaked to neighboring friendly militias, and its repeated use of these weapons. behind her. What does it mean for more than half of the discussion to be about Russia and its role and miserable pleadings regarding the “regime” chemical file?! {The words here are for the daughter-in-law, so that the neighbor can hear} as in the common Arabic proverb.
The circumstances of using the red card of Resolution 1559 are different from those of Resolution 2118; The forces present on the Syrian soil, and their intertwined interests are null and void, and the type of conflict in Syria differs. The Caesar and Captagon laws do not give legitimacy to any behavior under Chapter VII.
This strong invocation of Resolution 2118 may indicate a real change in the US strategy, not towards the Syrian issue (as if America was driving from behind in this issue, and now it decided to lead the procession) but towards the conflict represented by the Russian war on Ukraine. This war must not end without a resolution. There must be a victor and a vanquished. It is known to whom America wants to defeat. America seeks by all means to remove Russian influence from the international political and non-political arena. Perhaps the region dear to Putin chose the Middle East to torpedo those “US-Russian” understandings (especially in Syria) and kick them in the wind. America knows perfectly well that the Russian military “genie” on the Syrian scene, if it is not crowned with a political genie, then it has no value, as it records black points and participation in the crimes recorded by the Assad criminal regime. And she knows how to make the “dynamo” of Russian normalization with that “regime” spin in vain.
America knows the political fall into which Assad fell when he announced his alliance with his Russian protector in the war against Ukraine. Hence, he is included in the cutting off of those Russian arms. The other arm that needs to be amputated is the one that provides Putin with drones and other weapons in his war on Ukraine. It so happens that the “Russian-Iranian-Assad” trio is in an alliance. In addition, Iran’s nuclear file is worrisome to Israel, America’s main ally.
And by virtue of the Iranian expansion in Syria; It is deeper than the Russian one that has become there in the eye of the target; and the “Russian-Iranian” and even Turkish harmony in demanding the removal of America from northern Syria; Dangerous messages must be making their way to the American decision-maker. Thus, any defect in any side of the triangle or square (if China is added to it) becomes an imbalance in the structure as a whole.
Even if America had given an “orange light” to the “Iranian-Saudi” rapprochement, this is calculated by possible reactions by Iran to what is to come, if Israel decides to remove its thorns with its own hands towards Iran’s nuclear file and its increasing geographical proximity to Israel. At the regional level, America is aware of what Iran wants from al-Qaeda, and America is aware of the bumpy road to normalization with a criminal system that bears all these burdens on its shoulders.
Within this crowd comes the awakening of some Arab countries, which feel neglected by America, and enter without far calculations in the wrong direction, and reach out to those who have a criminal record that no force in the world can remove. The draft law against normalization with this “regime” is only a reminder that the gatekeeper is still present. This “natural rescue” arm coincides with the strategy of cutting arms, so what if this arm was blind and was already spinning in the void?!
Finally, if the Western, and exclusively American, focus is on holding the Assad regime accountable and not escaping punishment, then the goal is to devote the same principle to the Putin regime and its crimes in Syria previously, and in Ukraine at present. The international criminal warrant for Putin’s arrest is only one manifestation of this trend. From here comes the recall of Resolution 2118, and the Assad regime’s violation of it. It is the real legal cover for amputating all arms. In any case, the comprehensive implementation of Resolution 2254 remains the obligatory corridor and exit. Otherwise…..
Written by: Dr. Yahya Al-Aridi / Source: Nedaa Post
