Written by Arturo Tha Cuban   

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Sunnis this week to devote their lives, money and expertise to overthrowing Assad. While thousands of Hezbollah fighters are deployed around Syria to tip the balance in favor of Assad. This in itself really muddies the waters quite a bit. Especially when you add in the Hezbollah forces, that are being deployed in cities and rural areas, where the rebels have strength in numbers. They will face not just Syrians, but well-trained fighters tied to al-Qaeda, who have flooded in to fight from other countries.

So far, Assad’s forces have had the upper hand in this debacle. Regime forces are relying on heavy air-strikes from Syrian war planes, to clear the way for their advances. Like they did to overtake the stronghold of Qusair. The Free Syrian Army, a collection of rebel fighters, tried to hang onto the town by creating a network of tunnels and booby trapping nearly the entire city. The IED's and tunnels had obvious markings of Hamas.

It was Hezbollah who helped build the Hamas tunnel network in Gaza, so they know how the structures are deployed. Thousands of Hezbollah's fighters from Lebanon are continuously streaming into Syria to help Assad take strongholds for the rebels, such as in Qusair this week, and that victory may just tip this two-year battle in his favor.

While the West debates whether to intervene on the side of the rebels, and pushes for peace talks this month in Geneva, Hezbollah and its patron Iran have gone all in to keep Syria in the hands of an anti-American dictator. These talks in Geneva are too little too late, I don't expect anything to come of it. Assad has "crossed the line" every-time someone says, "if you do this, then your going to be in big trouble". It’s just more political posturing and propaganda, while innocent people continue to die.

And then there’s Iran… Iran is a Shiite Muslim theocracy and the Assad regime is headed by Alawites, who are a Shiite offshoot. But it is not the centuries-old divide in the Muslim world that prompted Iran to unleash the Shiites of Hezbollah, a force also known as the Party of God that Iran has trained and armed for years, according to the U.S. State Department.

Assad and his regime have always supported Hezbollah - Iran's proxy in Lebanon. Syria has long been a conduit for Iranian weapons transfers to Hezbollah. The party is a regiment of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and is acting in that capacity in Syria.

So what do we do? We as a nation do nothing. What we and the rest of the world need to do is call on NATO to enforce a no-fly zone, and bring this once peaceful protest movement to an end. Much like it was done in the Balkans in the 90’s. Seems like a no-brainer right? But if you support one side or the other, it seems you are supporting and giving terrorists momentum. These terrorist organizations are on both sides.

So this is what it has become, if you pick a side, you support terrorism. It’s either the rebels and Al-Qaeda, or Hezbollah, Iran, and Assad. Maybe we should just let all these terrorists kill each other off. While it would be fun to watch, it’s just not that simple.

Assad’s regime is an oppressive and sectarian one. And thousands of innocent civilians have suffered under his rule. Remember this all started as a peaceful protest that began in March 2011, and just “went off” after a massive regime crackdown on the protestors. At the time of this writing, at least 80,000 people have died in Syria. While it may not be a popular decision, something has to give. And without outside intervention, this will escalate into a decade’s long war, involving many governments and their “ghost armies”.

Unfortunately the time to intervene is now. The U.S. needs to be done in the middle-east, and push NATO to take over the situation in Syria. I know it involves some commitment from the U.S.. But it would be many Nations under a single banner.

This will truly send a message. When Nations unite and start taking Assad, Iran, and Hezbollah and start slapping them around.

Thoughts and prayers to those who gave all in this disturbing battle.


Arturo Dominguez
Contributor
New Politics and New Ideas
New Politics Nation


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