Hypocrisy and intervention in Syria.

By Ghaleb Kandil

Many states, governments and political formations are increasingly using the expression “the rejection of foreign intervention in Syria” while tackling the Syrian events and the ways to deal with them. This expression features blatant hypocrisy, as it does not condemn the states involved in the war on Syria and does not hold them responsible for the support of terrorism. Indeed, this gives the impression that what is happening on Syrian soil is not external or foreign intervention and that the embracing of the Syrian events is not some sort of intervention to manage a war by proxy on behalf of America and Israel to destroy the Syrian state.

Firstly, the direct external or foreign intervention sought by the Syrian opposition movements that are engaged in infighting would be difficult – if not impossible - to achieve, due to strategic elements which have become clear and known and result from the equations established by the Syrian strength, the regional reality surrounding Syria, the existence of the resistance movement and its deterrence capabilities, the overall strategic international reality, Syria’s alliances with the Russians and the Chinese and its close and extremely close relations with Iran and the resisting powers in the region. It has become clear and recognized in the planning centers in America, Israel and NATO that Syria’s military invasion will lead to major war in the region and around the world, one against which Kissinger warned and whose repercussions are feared by the West as they could pose an existential threat to Israel, all the American interests in the region and the fates of the governments collaborating with the West.

Secondly, if what is happening in Syria on the political, military and intelligence levels does not constitute foreign intervention, what does? The United States, France, Britain, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar which compose the alliance of war and aggression against Syria are dividing the roles in placing funding, weapons, sophisticated communication devices and information drawn by satellite or from the espionage networks in Syria and the neighboring states at the disposal of terrorist armed gangs for which training camps are being established on Turkish soil under American command, while the intelligence apparatuses of the states that are part of the aforementioned alliance are spreading groups providing support and logistic and financial backup in all of Syria’s neighboring states and especially in Lebanon and Jordan. The states involved in the war on Syria are bragging about their actions which can only be described –scientifically and objectively- as being an intervention in Syrian domestic affairs and an attempt to destroy the Syrian state by drowning it in anarchy and blood and attempting to provoke civil war through the support offered to terrorist groups that are specialized in killings, the perpetration of massacres and decapitations. At this level, the Western press revealed irrefutable evidence saying that the states involved in the war on Syria are mobilizing Takfiri groups and ones belonging to Al-Qaeda organization, including thousands of elements calling themselves jihadists and being brought in from Libya, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Pakistan, the Gulf states and Jordan. Moreover, it has become known that intelligence officers from these states are present inside the Syrian territories and are participating in the fight against the Syrian Arab Army.

Thirdly, the only parallel action for the rejection of the intervention in Syria would be the condemnation of the states involved in the war and are led by the United States, considering that they are the ones fueling the violence and the infighting through their military, logistic and security role in supporting the terrorist gangs. These are the same states preventing political dialogue, as they have been pressuring the political fronts of the opposition movements abroad and domestically since the beginning of the crisis. This has become known by the states and the sides that deployed efforts and positive attempts and earned a Syrian assignment to convince the leaders of these political fronts to cooperate with the calls for dialogue.

The existing foreign intervention in Syria is preventing dialogue and trying to escalate the violence in a way that can only be disregarded by those intentionally conspiring against Syria, its people and its state, while using political hypocrisy and assuring they reject foreign intervention. The facts reveal that Syria is resisting a colonial attack led by the United States with the support of Israel and the participation of regional governments opposed to the resistance. Hence, there is no value for any proposition in regard to the Syrian situation if it does not take this reality into account. As to the free and the resistance fighters who are truly struggling to achieve liberation from colonial hegemony and develop the capabilities to confront Israel, the real confirmation of their credibility lies in their clear position towards the Syrian situation, through their clear bias in favor of the resistance of the Syrian people, army and state against the colonial aggression being carried out on Syrian soil.

The Tehran conference.

Despite the attempts of some who stood behind Morsi’s speech to change the impression which the Syrians had of the Tehran summit and to provoke questions doubting Syrian-Iranian relations, the Non-Alignment Summit in Tehran remains an important event at the level of the Syrian crisis. Indeed, it ensured:

The establishment of international balance between a gathering including 130 states under the name of Syria’s friends and is led by Washington under the headline of war, and another international gathering including an equal number of states calling for a political solution under Tehran’s command.

The besieging of the hostile forces towards Syria during the closing statement of the conference, based on the rejection of foreign intervention, the discontinuation of violence and the adoption of dialogue to reach a solution.

The formation of a contact group, including Iran, Egypt and Venezuela to follow up on the decision, knowing this is the first committee that includes a team supporting Syria and another that is hostile to it after Washington froze the work of the Geneva contact group and rejected its statement.

Political initiatives do not mean the imminence of a political solution, rather the existence of a race between two international alliances that are divided in regard to the Syrian crisis in order to control the political file.

A dead end is facing the war alliance on the military field thanks to the heroism of the Syrian Arab army. Hence, the political course will be adopted and this is where the importance of an appropriate platform set up by Tehran resides.

Arab File.

Syria.

On the security level, the Syrian Arab army is continuing to cleanse several areas in Syria from the armed gangs, at a time when the Syrian authorities released dozens of people whose hands were not drenched in blood from the provinces of Homs and Damascus.

On the other hand, media reports revealed that Britain and the United States have been training militants from the opposition on the domestic arena in an office in the Turkish city of Istanbul, and have been supplying them with vital equipment.

Politically, President Bashar al-Assad said during his meeting with the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee at the Iranian Shura council while he was in Damascus that the current plot was not only directed against Syria, but also against the entire region in which Syria constitutes a main pillar.

He stressed that Syria was upholding its resisting approach to defend the legitimate rights of the people, regardless of the size of cooperation between the Western states and some regional countries to force it to change its position. He thus assured that the Syrian people will not allow the implementation of this plan and will not let it reach its goals regardless of the price.

In an interview with the Syrian Ad-Dounia Channel, President Al-Assad assured:

“This is battle of wills. We are moving forward and the situation on the ground is better. Nonetheless, all has not been settled and this needs time.”

He added:

“The army, the armed forces and the security forces are carrying out heroic acts with all the meaning of the word,” considering that “despite the numerous mistakes, there are close ties between the policies of this state (Syria) and the people’s beliefs. This wide base is the one protecting the country.”

Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stressed the necessity of seeing the reinstatement of security and stability in Syria, reiterating the willingness of the Islamic Republic of Iran to host dialogue between the opposition and the Syrian government. At this level, Salehi stressed his country’s rejection of foreign intervention in the affairs of the states of the region under whichever pretext, indicating that foreign intervention threatened the state’s sovereignty and constituted a main obstacle in the face of the people’s development. He thus called for the non-exploitation of the human rights issues to exert pressures on these states.

The Non-Alignment summit whose activities were launched in Tehran on Thursday with the participation of the leaders, presidents and representatives of 120 states, witnessed heated debates in regard to two files: the Iranian nuclear program crisis and the Syrian crisis. In a speech he delivered at the beginning of the summit, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, the supreme guide of the Islamic revolution, assured that the United States was currently heading a hegemony tendency around the world, which required the non-alignment movement to play a new role based on collective participation and equal rights among the people, in light of a new multi-polar world order towards which we are heading today.

Khamenei continued: “World peace and security are critical in our modern times and the elimination of the weapons of mass destruction which are causing catastrophes is a revolutionary necessity and a general demand. I can assure you that Iran is not about to acquire nuclear weapons and never relinquished its right to build a peaceful nuclear program. Our motto is that nuclear energy belongs to everyone and atomic weapons do not belong to anyone. We insist on both principles… The states detaining a nuclear arsenal have no will to relinquish these dangerous weapons. It is no longer acceptable to remain silent towards the Western double standards at this level.”

Israeli File.

The main topics tackled by the Israeli papers issued this week revolved around the verbal standoff between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro in regard to the American policy towards Iran, as well as the tensions affecting Netanyahu’s relations with the American administration. Moreover, the papers spoke about the request presented by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him not to order the launching of an Israeli attack on Iran for the time being.

On the other hand, the papers mentioned the decision of the Supreme Court to evacuate the Migron settlement and Netanyahu’s threat to the Lebanese government, in which he said that Israel will respond to any provocative act carried out by Hezbollah. At this level, Haaretz revealed that Netanyahu assured that the government in Beirut will be held responsible for any such action and that his message was conveyed by a senior Western diplomat with whom Netanyahu had met in the occupied city of Jerusalem a few weeks ago.

Yediot Aharonot revealed for its part the existence of secret American contacts to convince Egypt to hold a joint summit with Israel under American auspices. It assured that Washington was deploying great efforts to ensure the staging of a meeting between Morsi, Obama and Peres or Netanyahu during the United Nations General Assembly discussions in New York.

Lebanese File.

Calm has returned to Tripoli in which life has stared to regain its normal course, thanks to the security measures imposed by the Lebanese army that intensified its presence along the main axes, stormed the strongholds of the armed men and confiscated weapons and ammunition. Moreover, the army established contact with all the armed groups and clearly informed them they should evacuate the streets since no leniency will be shown towards any armed presence.

Army Commander General Jean Kahwaji announced that the army will not allow any political side to blackmail it at the level of whichever issue and will no longer remain silent towards the verbal or actual targeting to which it was being subjected, regardless of the side carrying it out.

On the other hand, Lebanese kidnapped in Syria Hussein Ali Omar was released via Turkish mediation. In this context, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said to As-Safir he expected the release of a large number of kidnapped in the next few days, stressing the necessity of keeping the ongoing negotiations far away from media spotlight and political debate to ensure their success.

The Lebanese army was able to liberate Kuwaiti national Issam al-Houti three days following his kidnapping by a gang. Speaker Nabih Berri had launched a series of contacts in which he urged the security bodies to deploy all possible efforts to liberate the kidnapped. He assured in a statement that Kuwait “has been with us in sickness and in health and the least we can do is ensure the release of the Kuwaiti kidnapped immediately and with our most sincere apologies.” On the other hand, Berri said on the 34th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr: “We swear before God, the Muslims and all our citizens from all sects that we will not head towards strife.” He stressed that the provocation of problems in our part of the world should be met with great awareness, considering that one of the main goals behind the serious developments was to maintain Israel’s security and transform the conflict from an Arab-Israeli one into an Arab-Persian and inter-Islamic one.

President Michel Suleiman participated in the inauguration of the Non-Alignment Movement Summit in Tehran and met with Supreme Guide Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

During the meeting, Khamenei cautioned that some foreign sides were trying to transfer the problems of the states of the region to Lebanon, assuring that the Lebanese parties and sects could thwart these actions by relying on the resistance. As for president Suleiman, he believed it was necessary to develop the relations between Iran and Lebanon, hoping that the summit and Iran’s chairmanship over the Non-Alignment Movement will generate positive results at the level of the various issues, namely the Palestinian cause.

The March 14 forces organized a demonstration in front of the Foreign Ministry to demand the ousting of Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali and the annulment of the brotherhood cooperation and coordination agreement between the two countries. The demonstrators shouted slogans condemning Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, at a time when the Progressive Youth Organization staged a gathering on Samir Kassir Square in Downtown Beirut for that same purpose.