May 6, 2017 6 min read

Like it or not, President Trump can no longer ignore Syria, even after the April missile strike.

The 6-year-old civil war has been a catastrophe of unbelievable cruelty, death and destruction. More than 400,000 innocent victims have perished in a land now fought over by the government in Damascus, Russia, Iran, ISIS and numerous other terrorist groups.

After years of silence, the international community continues to be confronted with images of horrific violence and devastation. Syrian cities remain a fiery tomb of rubble and suffering. As millions of its people seek refuge in far-off lands, the relentless attacks by Syrian and Russian forces continue.

How did this tragedy come about? Why has the world allowed it to happen? What was the U.S. government role and how will it change, if at all, under Trump?

In December 2010, the so-called Arab Spring began in Tunisia when an angry, desperate fruit vendor set himself on fire in protest against the national government. The country erupted in protests that eventually brought down the repressive regime in Tunis. Similar uprisings in other Arab countries began as citizens rebelled in a regional outcry for freedom and democracy. Long-term authoritarian rule was being effectively challenged. Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Moammar Gadhafi in Libya were ousted after decades of despotic rule.

There was hope Syria would also participate in the historic changes sweeping the Middle East. The iron-fisted grip of the Assad family dynasty over the Syrian nation is legend. The current dictator, Bashar Al-Assad, succeeded his own father, Hafez Al-Assad. As they say, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

The protests of the Arab Spring in Syria in 2011 began as nonviolent street demonstrations, beseeching Assad to make moderate reforms to his governance. Witnessing the upheaval in neighboring states, Assad moved quickly and brutally to crush the opposition. The argument rapidly escalated from asking for reform to demanding regime change, as Assad was determined he would neither accede to rebel demands nor be driven from power.

The peaceful street protests swiftly evolved into civil war, pitting Assad’s military against the civilian population in outright rebellion against his rule. Two events have since intervened – the influx of terrorist organizations like ISIS into the country and the virtual occupation of Syria by Russia and Iran. Vladimir Putin made a calculated decision that Assad could not be toppled and now Russian jets regularly attack and bomb rebel-held territory. Putin contends Russian military forces are there to defeat ISIS. In theory, that sounds like a good deal to the Trump administration. But in reality, Russia is there solely to prop up and support Assad in his battle with the rebels of the Free Syria movement.

To further enhance their own regional influence, Iran’s mullahs have flooded Syria with forces from their Revolutionary Guard. The Iranian military is now deeply involved in helping to lead the fight Tehran believes must keep Assad in power. Russia’s consistent veto in the United Nations Security Council guarantees no international action to stop the genocide will take place. This is a sad commentary on an organization whose founding charter enshrines the sacred nature of human rights.

The Arab Spring, which in the beginning held so much promise, has quickly faded.

After the overthrow of Mubarak, Egyptians briefly embraced democratic elections which rewarded the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohammed Morsi, with the presidency. More ideological than pragmatic, the American-educated Morsi was removed from office by the military commanded by General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Promising to bring law and order to a chaotic Egypt, el-Sisi was then elected president in a new, questionable referendum. Despite his abysmal human rights record, President Trump recently embraced him as a partner in the greater war on terrorism. And, after years of confinement, el-Sisi’s old boss, Mubarak, is now a free man.

Libya is a cesspool of instability with ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other terror groups jockeying for control of vast swaths of territory.

Some of the blame for Russian and Iranian intervention in Syria can be blamed on President Barack Obama’s ineffective strategy there. In withdrawing our troops from Iraq and drawing down forces in Afghanistan, the last thing the Obama administration wanted was the United States to engage in yet another Mideast war.

So, when Assad threatened to use chemical weapons in his civil war, Obama made it clear a red line would be crossed, and the United States would act to protect the civilian population. Assad boldly crossed that line with chemical attacks in 2013 on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 1,300 people. Obama blinked rather than seeking a military response. He settled for a deal with Putin that, in lieu of an American attack, Russia would guarantee the removal of all chemical weaponry from Syria.

Putin’s word later proved worthless. The most recent gas attack in Syria’s Idlib province, murdering scores of victims, demonstrated Assad still possesses and will use his arsenal of death. Unlike Obama, Trump, deeply disturbed by videos of dead children, chose to fire 59 Tomahawk missiles from U.S. naval ships at an airbase from which the Syrian military launched the chemical attacks.

Just two days before, both our U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were both quoted as saying only the Syrian people could determine Assad’s future there. Their declarations of U.S. non-interference were undeniable. Has there now been an immediate and substantial change in Trump’s policy in dealing with Syria? One wonders if this action has only symbolic value.

Trump must definitively convey to Syrian government that attacks on innocent civilians, be it with chemical weapons, barrel bombs or other conventional weapons, are unacceptable. The concept of safe zones should be re-examined. His administration has to finally challenge Putin and the Russian military, declaring they are complicit in war crimes. Putin must accept the simple truth that there is no military solution to this ugly bloody civil war. Talks, leading to a stable and durable ceasefire, must resume immediately. The bottom line is Assad must go.

Trump, elected on a neo-isolationist platform, can no longer afford to put Syria on the back burner of international hotspots. Rather, he and his advisors must now maneuver a course that balances vital national interests and the international responsibilities of the United States as a global leader.

Carl Haberl is a retired teacher and a resident of South Strabane Township.