The latest press appearance of US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel with his British counterpart Philip Hammond in Pentagon may have catalytic impact on the briskly developing condition of Syria. Both the secretaries of defense announced that ‘they are cautiously considering the situation in Syria to provide the rebels with heavy arms’ and bring them to position to fight the government forces with full capacity. This announcement came days after the US allegations that government forces of Syria had used lethal chemical weapons in the war which had badly and directly affected the civilians of the war-torn country.
America-led allied forces are already extending all the assistance to the rebels fighting the government forces of Bashar-ul-Assad. This includes of training the rebels and providing them with strategic and planning support. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US already provides communication gear and basic rations to Syrian rebels, and could begin including body armor, night-vision goggles, rifles, and other basic arms.
This announcement was also timely as the EU embargo of arms on Syria is going to expire in May and thus it would pave a way to lift this embargo and all its benefits would go to the rebels. Making a grave picture of the chemical weapons of Assad’s regime may persuade the decision-makers in EU council to go to the extreme and take decision in favor of rebels.
On the other hand, Damascus has strongly rejected any such allegations and said that ‘the Syrian government doesn’t have such lethal arms’ and it is another of the baseless allegations of West against the ‘government of people’ in Syria. Damascus has termed this to be a lame excuse to carry out more serious actions against its government and asked the US to provide with proofs.
As far as proofs are concerned, US government, its allies in Syria and Syrian rebels have failed to come up with healthy proofs that Syrian government did use such weapons. Media has reported the usage of such chemicals but it has not been verified if they were used by the troops of Bashar-ul-Assad or the rebels. These reports have stunned the world community and it is feared that US-led allies have provided the rebels with chemical weapons and in the absence of any single and strong control in rebels, these weapons may fall into irresponsible hands and may cause serious threats to the citizens of the country and to the countries of the region.
Countries of region have showed their mixed reaction on the allegations of chemical weapons. Even the allies of US like Turkey have not shown any kind of agreement with the US reports. Some have termed it similar to the notorious ‘weapons of mass destruction’ that were never found in Iraq and became a reason of the American invasion without any proof.
Anyhow, if the US successfully persuades the world powers to lift up the embargo of arms on Syria and also equip the rebels with latest and lethal weapons, it may change the pace of the war. The war that has prolonged more than the fears and expectations of the anti-Assad ally has now entered its third year, with the cost of more than 70000 lives, mostly of the civilians of Syria. Although having the support of all the major and strong nations of the world, rebels have so far failed to show the performance that was expected of them when the armed resistance started. The main reason for this lackluster performance is given the absence or lack of adequate arms and weapons available to the rebel forces. Now, the world powers are trying their best to bring an end to this problem so that the Assad’s government should be overthrown and a democratic government should be established in the country.
The government in Damascus has also accused the allied forces of already providing full-fledged support to the rebels against the Assad’s government that includes of all the weapons and equipments but this has repeatedly been denied by the allied forces and not confirmed by independent sources.
On the other hand, the biggest supporter of Assad’s government, Russia has warned that any such step would bring an uncontrollable spread of weapons in the region and would threaten the general order and peace of the region. Almost same concerns have been raised by the other neighboring nations of Syria. It is feared that once rebels got such sophisticated weapons, they may use it against the neighboring nations as well as there is not present any strong and effective central control on the rebels. Though the rebels have recognized themselves politically but as an armed entity, they are still not under single authority and once they controlled the whole of the country, it may be very difficult to restrict them or take back the weapons. Such a force would be a threat not only for the peace and reconstruction of Syria but would also cause serious concerns to the nations of the region.
The government in Damascus has also termed the process of lifting embargo on arms absolutely illegal and asked the international community to interfere and stop the way of this dangerous development. Of course, any such step would make rebels so strong that Assad’s army may not be able to fight them.
At the same time, the US has provided the Syrian rebels with further aid of 123 million US dollars. This has been aimed to give more opportunities for the expansion of rebel operations and also aid to the establishment of the areas already in the control of rebels.
Similarly, United Kingdom urged more help at G-8 talks held weeks earlier. UK made it clear that a democratic Syria would be in the best benefit of all the countries of the world and would assure a world more peaceful and developed.
But the end result of this disastrous war appears very uncertain. The different factions present in the country may be great obstacle in the formation of a unified government after the rebels succeed in making their accession to the rule of the country. Such differences may also turn out to be more dangerous, endangering all the efforts that have been made in last three years and for which thousands of Syrians have sacrificed their lives.
Similar concerns were raised by the Jordan that was concerned about the increasing influence of Islamists within the rebel lines. According to Jordanian authorities, this might increase the threats of a government that might try to impose extremist Islamic rules and may cause threat to the regional democracies. It might also be contrary to the aims of the West that is aimed to bring a moderate government that should assure a democratic and liberal government in future.
Whatever may be the outcomes of the result, the worst victim of this war has become the civilians who have lost their loved ones and lost all their belongings. It would be difficult to estimate how many years and how much money it would take until the process of reconstruction of the country is done and how many more difficulties the Syrians will have to endure.