Syria…The sanctions will neither deter nor overthrow the regime

If we want to look from the perspective that the glass is half full, with regards to the decisions of the Arab League yesterday, we could say that they were important decisions because they represented a rare moment whereby the Arab League decided to impose sanctions on a member state. However, the bad news here is that these sanctions will not deter the al-Assad regime, and will not bring about its overthrow.

Some may argue, a member of the Arab League for example, that for those who say the Arabs want to overthrow Bashar al-Assad; this is not the task of the Arab League. Yet this is the crux of the matter completely! The Syrians are being killed by the regime, not because there is a difference in viewpoints between the people and al-Assad, but because the regime is bloodthirsty, derogatory, suppressive and lacking in legitimacy. It is suffice here for the Arabs, and particularly those directly concerned, to consider the words of one Syrian citizen in Homs, who commented on the Arab sanctions against the al-Assad regime by saying that he feared the sanctions would impact upon the Syrians, rather than the regime. The Syrian citizen’s reaction was as follows: “My children and I are prepared to eat dirt in order to overthrow the regime”. This is the situation in Syria, despite all al-Assad’s false propaganda about pro-regime demonstrations and so on. If there was genuine support for the regime, then why would al-Assad use Hezbollah, the Sadrists and the Iranians against his own people, and why are there escalating divisions within the Syrian army?

So, despite the importance of the Arab decision to impose sanctions on the al-Assad regime, a very salient point remains. The situation in Syria has exceeded the point of sanctions, it now requires more than this, especially as the al-Assad regime’s campaign of murder and suppression is still continuing unabated. It is not enough for the Arabs, or others, to say that there are fears of the situation in Syria turning into a state of war. When the situation in Syria reached the stage of genuine armed clashes, the responsibility at the time lay with the Bashar al-Assad regime first and foremost, and secondly with all those who hesitated to provide assistance to the Syrian civilians. This is especially true since it has become impossible today for Syria to return to the way it was [before the revolution], no matter what al-Assad does. The Syrian citizen, who has defied suppression, humiliation and murder for all these months, in spite of everything that has happened, will no longer accept the regime. This means that al-Assad is faced with either an end similar to Gaddafi, or the fate of Ben Ali. President al-Assad has exceeded even the stage of Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Thus today we can give credit to the Arabs for their decision to impose sanctions against the al-Assad regime, with 19 of 22 votes in favor, but these sanctions are not enough and the al-Assad killing machine will not stop. It is also certain that the regime itself will now begin to run the black market in Syria after the implementation of these sanctions, as Saddam Hussein’s regime did during the international sanctions imposed upon it. Do not forget that Iraq still remembers the Arab sanctions, and so there will now be a smuggling route working day and night on the Syrian-Iraqi border. Therefore, the best thing the Arabs can do today to protect the Syrians is to take the battle to the Security Council.