The Geneva II Peace Conference on Syria, which seeks to end the war on Syria, seems designed to fail at the beginning of the negotiations. For any peace to be successful, all actors need to make hard compromises if they want to end the war. If they fail to compromise, the war will continue and likely cause more chaos and destruction in the region and more Syrian deaths. What we see in this peace conference is that Washington pressured UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon to withdraw the invitation to Iran to attend the Geneva conference. Iran is a major regional player and should be deeply involved. Since Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf countries are playing roles, Iran should be involved as well.
Peace cannot be accomplished with preconditions. Washington demands that Assad must go. International law affirms otherwise. But Assad does not want to go but the international communities have kept saying that he must for more than three years. The United States and its allies in the Syrian oppositions are demanding that President Assad should leave before negotiations go forward. Since Assad does not want to go, it is better to include him rather than exclude him. At the conference, there were more non-Syrians than Syrians attending. The exclusion of Syrian civil society from the peace negotiations shows that Syria alone cannot have the right to determine its own future.
The conference on the Syrian conflict in Geneva has failed to produce any positive results. The Syrian government and opposition delegations have been meeting face-to–face in the presence of mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. After more than a week of negotiations trying to end the civil war in Syria, the two sides continue to blame each other for the violence in Syria where a three years civil war has killed more than a hundred thousand people and forced millions to flee their homes.
Washington believes that peace can only come if Assad goes, but ignores the reality on the ground. Internal and external powers know that the Assad regime will not stay longer, and they all speculate about the after-Assad Syria. America wants a pro-Western government to replace Assad, Saudi wants a pro-Wahabi sect, Iran wants a pro-Shia sect, and Turkey wants to replace him with a pro-Turkish government. They all are exploiting Syria for their national interests, and none seemingly care about the Syrian people.
How can the peace conference be successful when more than thirteen key rebel groups who are fighting in Syria are not attending the peace conference? Only the Syrian National Coalition group participated in the peace negotiations; therefore, the Syrian opposition is deeply divided within them, and they are fighting their own civil war within the civil war. The rebel groups that have not been invited to the peace negotiations will continue to fight, the Assad regime will continue to respond, and people will continue to die. Although some pro-war lobbyists in the USA are pushing for war with Syria, when President Obama chose to send the decision to Congress, the Congress and the American people did not want America involved in another war in the Middle East.
No one can win this war. The external and internal powers think they cannot afford to lose because they fear being excluded unless the international community proposes legitimate alternatives. So far the international community does not have any legitimate plan or alternative. What we are seeing is a drum beat for war. The international community keeps blaming Assad for refusing to abide by the peace negotiations, so that his refusal will justify using military force. Publically the United States Congress opposes war in Syria, but in secret, it provided funding for weapons for the Syrian war through such agents as: The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant control of the eastern region; the Al Nusrah, which are fully backed by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Turkey, and the United States; as well as several small Al- Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria now supported by the US also.
As we see, what makes it difficult for Assad to go is that external powers want to exploit the Syrian war for their national interests. To bring peace to Syria, these countries should consider the balance of power in the region. The best way for the international community to solve the Syrian crisis peacefully is for the Syrian people to decide who will lead them with no external powers involved. Supporting Syrian independence and Syrian sovereignty is vital. The Syrians should have a free election process under the supervision of the international community and some NGOs to make sure the elections are free and fair. Everyone should respect the results, and whoever wins the election should be guaranteed the respect of all minorities. Finally, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, the United States, and Russia should stop supporting factions in Syria and respect the sovereignty of Syria, so it is time to be sincere to end the bloodshed in Syria.
Dr. Aland Mizell is President of the MCI and a regular contributor to The Kurdistan Tribune, Kurdishaspect.com, Mindanao Times and Kurdish Media.You may email the author at:aland_mizell2@hotmail.com