Russia Rescued Syria from Libyanization
(Photo: Russian FM Sergei Lavrov arrives in Damascus for talks with the Syrian President Bashar Assad in February 2012. Source: Reuters)
IRD: The West and Arab powers all have the right to be angry with Russia and China. From overt opposition to a military attack against Syria to showing teeth in the UN Security Council and vetoing the anti-Assad draft resolution, Beijing and Moscow have unabashedly displayed support for the troubled Syrian president. The West, besides Arab powers and Turkey, are striving to overthrow Assad, while the leaders in Moscow and Beijing are concerned about the obscure opposition and prospective rulers of a new Syria whose political line is not clear at all. Jahangir Karami, Russian affairs analyst, has written for Iranian Diplomacy on Moscow’s Syria policy after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on March 10 to co-write a five-point plan for Syria, which stated the need for a complete cease-fire, monitoring procedures, no foreign interference, humanitarian aid supplies and support for former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s mission to promote dialogue between the government and the opposition:
A dialogue between Bashar Assad and the opposition would be a strong blow to relentless US efforts followed via the UN Security Council, that is, recognition of the Syrian opposition, foreign intervention in Syria and violating Damascus’ sovereignty. During recent months, Washington has been actually trying to replicate the Libyan experience in Syria, the elements of which are military intervention (through NATO and allies), arming the opposition, and ultimately toppling the ruler.
Through suggestion of dialogue, Russia intends to block the West’s decision to launch a military attack on Syria, and to drop the Syrian issue from the UN Security Council’s agenda. As the fruit of Moscow’s diplomacy, what we see now is that the Arab League and UNSC’s resolutions are devoid of military suggestions, and are of a non-binding nature.
Despite what some analysts argue, I believe that Moscow’s and China’s early February vetoing of the anti-Syrian draft resolution put forth by the Western powers (and backed by countries such as Qatar) has in fact helped to curb violence in Syria, rather than fuel it. Had the procedure suggested by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the West been enacted, no doubt the same fate as Libya would have been awaiting Syria. What we witnessed then would have been a civil war and the utter suffering of the Syrian nation.