West should topple Assad
Op-ed: There is no excuse for world’s ongoing inaction in the face of Syrian president’s murderousness
Just like his father before him, Assad Junior is a cold-blooded murderer who will do anything to stay in power. As the leader of a minority, he will do everything to maintain his hold on Syria – apparently based on the knowledge of what his fate and his family’s fate would be the moment they fall into the hands of the masses.
We must grimly admit that thus far, his strategy of firing in all directions and accusing the world of staging a conspiracy against him has proven itself. Neither Arab League condemnations nor Security Council threats have undermined his regime. At times it seems that the horrific images coming out of Syria almost daily have become part of the news routine.
The West must intervene in order to save the Syrian people from the nightmare they are caught up in. However, in Assad’s case one must be very cautious about creating a situation whereby the Syrian leader decides to bring down his foes as he goes down himself.
After all, the Alawite regime is armed to the teeth, among other things with long-range missiles that can hit Israel too. The danger is that the moment Assad realizes that he has no other way out he may fire them in order to stir a global commotion and disrupt the world’s plans.
Hardest nut to crack
The West should not delude itself: No operation, as successful as it may be, would be surgical. Assad’s removal would likely draw the whole of Syria into a terrible bloodbath and many innocents will be paying with their lives. However, his survival in power is already a stain on the West’s face, headed by the United States.
Nobody has any expectations from Putin. Yet does the whole world, and the honorable US president, have to remain paralyzed in the face of the ongoing horror until the Russian bear wakes up from its moralistic winter slumber and agrees to cooperate?
One must not think that one way or another, Assad will fall – as part of the energies unleashed by the “Arab Spring.” Should the world not topple him, he will not fall, and at the end of that day may even get to hand over power to his son.
Compared to the leaders toppled in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, by now it’s already clear that Assad is the hardest nut to crack. Hence, removing him is the most urgent mission.
