slow-motion holocaust in Syria
It is amply clear that by now the daily massacres perpetrated by the Syrian regime against its own people have reached genocidal proportions.
According to consistent reports by independent and third-party sources, between 150-200 people, mostly innocent civilians are killed per day. Many others are maimed and mutilated. A disproportionate number of those injured in indiscriminate government bombardment of population centers succumb to death due to the unavailability or lack of basic medical supplies.
Badly-injured civilians transferred to public hospitals, are simply left to bleed to death at the regime's orders and doctors and nurses not heeding these orders are themselves punished rather severely.
People suspected of belonging to the Free Syrian Army are unceremoniously snatched from hospital beds and tortured to death. Torture methods have been described as hair-raising, *!*!*!*!ographically sadistic, and nefarious.
In addition, homes are destroyed right on top of occupants. Numerous entire families have been exterminated either in random artillery bombardment of civilian neighborhoods or killed in vengeful manner by the armed thug militia known as Shabbiha, whose members hail from the Alawites sect, the main base of the Assad family rule.
A recent you tube video showed these thugs chanting sectarian slogans, calling for the slaughter of Syrian Sunnis. Sunnis make up 70-75 % of Syria's population. Christians constitute about 10%, with the rest distributed among two esoteric Shiite sects, the Druze and Alawites. There is a tiny Shiite Ithna-Ashari sect which reportedly had been trying to convert Sunnis with Iranian encouragement and financial inducements as well as some sort of acquiescence from the Syrian regime.
There have been consistent reports of active support for the regime by the Lebanese Shiite militia of Hizullah as well as Iran. Both deny these reports but don't deny or hide their political support and solidarity with the Assad regime.
While the situation in Syria has not yet reached the point of a full-fledged civil war, it is likely that it will in the near future as the number of mainly Sunni victims continues to increase on a daily basis.
More to the point, more Sunni soldiers are expected to desert the Alawite-controlled army if the regime goes ahead with its declared policy of military solution.
The military solution could see the likely replication of the notorious 1982-massacre in Hamma when the Syrian army, under the command of Rifa'at Assad (Bashar's paternal uncle) crushed the mainly Sunni city, killing between 40,000-45000 in order to liquidate its Muslim Brotherhood opponents.
The Syrian regime keeps claiming that Syria is the target of an imperialistic conspiracy aimed at punishing the regime for its stubborn refusal to submit to Israeli and American dictates.
However, most reasonable experts believe the regime is only exploiting the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to stay in power.
Critics of the regime point out that it has never fired a single bullet on Israel ever since the 1973 -war.
Bashar Assad is widely believed to seek more time to destroy the uprising, even if that meant killing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people. Indeed, had it not been for the present relatively "restrictive" international atmosphere, the regime would have indulged in truly genocidal crimes against the people, crimes resembling Stalin's Gulags in Ukraine or even Hitler's holocaust.
Joseph Stalin was the ultimate role model for the late Syrian President Hafez Assad.
It is understood that there are political considerations preventing the main military powers of the world, e.g. NATO, from directly intervening in Syria. Some of these considerations seem to be financial in nature as the economies of North America and Europe are passing through a difficult period.
However, it should be equally understood that when we are talking about slow-motion genocide, all considerations, political or otherwise, ought to be swept under the carpet.
Genocide, full-fledged or slow-motion, should be a thing of the past, and no regime under the sun ought to be allowed to slaughter its people under the rubric of national sovereignty.
There is no doubt that the Russian and Chinese governments have been playing a criminal role in enabling the butcher of Damascus to murder thousands of his people. It is really difficult to understand the Russian and Chinese motives apart from the two countries' embrace of Assad's tyranny.
This disgraceful and shocking attitude is bound to boomerang on Russian and Chinese interests in the Arab-Muslim world.
But the Western stand has also been far from being moral and idealistic. Just imagine western, especially American reactions, if 200 Israeli Jews were being killed every day?
Nato should, can and must do something to stop the *!*!*!*!ographic killing. What are they waiting for? Until Russia's Putin relents? Putin would relent when kosher pigs flew.
Or perhaps until the number of victims reaches a million or two?
In short, the world must not allow a petty tyrant to reincarnate himself into modern-day Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
Finally, a word or two before I finish. We had hoped that the Arab Spring would enable the Arab League to adopt a pro-active stance vis-à-vis the shameful situation in Syria. Yes, the Gulf Arab states have decided to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus, and they are commended for doing this.
But this won't prompt Assad to stop the killing machine. The tyrant is mentally prepared to murder millions in order to stay in power. Which really necessitates the adoption of a tangible and pro-active approach, including aiding the revolutionaries with the wherewithal to defend themselves and their people?
As to Iran, Hizbullah and the so-called Mahdi Army of Iraq, I say to them "shame on you" for supporting a mass murderer. I have no doubt whatsoever that Ali Bin Abi Taleb, Imam Hussein and all other saints you mendaciously claim to follow would fight the criminal of Damascus to the last drop of their blood.
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By Khalid Amyreh
