President Barack Obama’s sorely vexed Syria policy has scored a small gain. President Bashar al Assad’s military no longer has the capabilities to make or use chemical weapons. Just 7 percent of necessary components for weapons remain inside Syria but none is lethal on its own. The rest have been removed or destroyed.
However, other more important humanitarian aspects of Obama’s policy are being pummeled. The worst is that civilians – innocent children, women and men trying to survive – are being targeted by all sides as if killing enough of them might bring victory to one side or another. This is appalling and unparalleled.
With each passing week, it becomes clearer that international goodwill and the bravery of humanitarian workers will not suffice to halt the fratricide in Syria or put the country back together again. Even the powerful White House has been reduced to being a helpless bystander at the pitiless bloodletting among local enemies.
Every day, videos and photos show children and women cowering in fear as death rains around them. And the Syria policies of the US and other world powers shatter a little more. It is as if hope for common sense and peace has weakened so much that Syria is gradually being left to stew in its mess.
The devastation of ancient world culture is unprecedented. The historic cities of Homs and Aleppo have been almost completely destroyed. Their ways of life may have been irreparably disrupted.
The chemical weapon results are noteworthy because they were achieved well before the June 30 deadline. Sigrid Kaag, envoy of the UN Chemical Weapons agency (OPCW) reported that Syrian facilities needed to produce, prepare and launch a chemical weapons attack have been destroyed. “What remains are the elements of a chemical weapon, but the chemical weapons programme of Syria as per the current declaration to the OPCW under the Chemical Weapons Convention is no longer in existence.”
Worries continue because of recent reports that Syrian forces used chlorine gas as a weapon because it was not included in the US-Russian deal of September 14, 2013, which led to the current chemical disarmament.
Meanwhile, the civil war now in its fourth year continues to take “a horrific toll on ordinary Syrians”, Valerie Amos, the UN chief for emergency relief reported to the Security Council today. “In the past weekend alone, scores of women, men and children were killed and injured by bombs and mortars in both opposition and Government-held areas of Aleppo.”
Delivering humanitarian supplies is still a struggle. Barely 10 percent of the 242,000 people in besieged areas received help in the past four weeks. But achievements since the start of hostilities include vaccination against polio for 3 million children, food deliveries to 4 million people and water and sanitation for 17 million.
UNICEF, the children’s agency said it “is outraged by the latest wave of indiscriminate attacks perpetrated against schools and other civilian targets across Syria which left dozens of children killed and injured”. About 117 children and women were killed and 180 injured in just three attacks.
“These attacks appear to be escalating, in complete disregard of all the calls that have been made to stop this insane cycle of violence, and to avoid similar breaches of international law.” UNICEF’s Maria Calivis lamented.