In an effort to forestall the growing civil war in Syria, the Arab League is pushing a new proposal today in, which is being called the “Yemen Solution,” and is calling on Bashar Assad to transfer power to his top Vice President.
The “Yemen Solution” is named after the GCC-led deal signed in Yemen to oust long-time Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh in favor of US-backed military official Maj. Gen. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Ironically, the solution has not worked particularly well in Yemen, as Saleh has been seen to have reneged on the deal and officials have raised the prospect of delaying the US-backed Presidential election, which would see Hadi running unopposed.
Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani has said the Arab League will take the proposed power transfer to the UN Security Council if the Assad government agrees to it. There has been no official response from the Syrian government so far, and indeed the proposal was not even reported in Syria’s state media.
The move would apparently transfer power to Farouk al-Sharaa, a long-time Ba’ath Party member who served as the nation’s Foreign Minister form 1984 through 2006. Sharaa has been one of the few top Syrian officials to openly acknowledge the demands of pro-democracy protesters, and his long history as a diplomat (including two high profile peace negotiations with Israel over the occupied Golan Heights) would likely make him a more desirable figure for Western powers.
But while the transfer might make the Arab League and NATO happy, and might placate the violent rebels, it does not appear that the proposal offers material reforms above and beyond the handful already implemented by Assad, meaning as in Yemen, the protesters themselves will be left out of the situation.
Barring a deal, there appears to be more Arab League momentum for military intervention, with the Saudi government reportedly joining Qatari calls to dispatch “peacekeepers” to the nation to impose a solution. Russia has promised to veto any efforts at military invasion in the UN Security Council, but has expressed concern that a unilateral attack might happen anyhow.
There is not a nation in the middle east that would not be much better off with a change in those in charge. That includes Israel who is lead by a person who cries of the suffering of his people. That person grew up on the mainline Philadelphia. His father had a very good paying job as a college professor. The leader of Israel only contact with discrimination was the bad treatment of the blacks many miles away from his rich home.
Syria is just another country who is experiencing the desire of the old colonial powers to keep cheap energy. England was responsible for the area. England, France and Russia and probably the USA planned on how to obtain the land of the Ottoman Empire as early as 1914. I sure hope the world understand that it is the old colonial powers behind all the unrest in the middle east. Israel is only the land base for military action.
The Arab League has gone through the motions of seeking an end to government violence. This staged attempt failed to address the influx of men and material to the rebels who have killed not only army/security personnel but civilians as well. If it had sought to balance the stopping of the regime forces with a total embargo on aid of any and all kind to the rebels, then the Arab League would at least have the moral high ground. As it ignores the violation of citizens in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and other GCC members, it is apparent that it was interested in removing Bashar al-Asad and that alone. Having failed in its “mediating” effort, the League continues to play its role by referring the matter to the UN. With the US-Britain-France campaign, it is here that action is expected. How far Russia and China are willing to oppose an attack upon Syria is questionable. Through the use of surrogates like Turkey, the West can intervene without getting its hands dirty. For all the “crocodile tears” shed, the goal is not simply the destruction of the Syrian government, but a battle for influence in the Middles East between the forces of the US/NATO and its Arab clients and Iran and theirs. History is replete with American lack of concern about authoritarian governments, humanitarian anxiety or government suppression. When Asad is replaced by an acceptable Western head, US et al. will show little to no worry about the resultant civil violence that Syria will dissolve into.