Dear Editor,
The US policy of regime change in Syria and Iran is unrealistic. It will only lead to more mayhem in the Middle East. The US demands that the Bashar al-Assad regime confine its army and police forces to the barracks are brainless. Who will take their place as the country spins into sectarian violence? The US and its Sunni Gulf kingdoms, led by Saudi Arabia, want to impose a Sunni Wahabi dictatorship that will make Syria look like Iraq when the US invaded that country. However, this will be worse. Lebanon will naturally spin out of control dragging Israel and Hezbollah into the conflict. The United States of America learned nothing from the security void it created during the invasion of Iraq. But Russia and China quickly ended the US seeking United Nations Security Council condemnation of Syria, which many saw as a pretext to invade Syria.
Looking at the issues addressed in the paragraph above, one can understand why many Caricom/ALBA member nations aren’t willing to support the US-Saudi emotional crusade of seeking regime change in Syria and Iran. In accessing the situation in Syria, Sunday Stabroek in an editorial on June 3 failed to question the responsibility of the Sunni Gulf monarchs for the death of many Syrians. SN should take into account the highly emotional approach that Sunni hold towards Shia’s, which I was witness to, having lived in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf for over four years. These kingdoms import Sunnis from Baluchistan, Pakistan to change the population demographics, and more significantly recruit them into their armies. Hence, in order to break the Iran-Syria alliance that existed since the 1960s, Sunni monarchs are openly flaunting sending weapons and mercenaries into Syria. The Washington Post reported that “Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.” Russia publicly called on Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop sending weapons and mercenaries into Syria.
Syria has a significant Shia population and its ally, Iran is overwhelmingly Shia. Now imagine, you have Taliban educated Sunni mercenaries sent to Syria by Saudi Arabia? This sends a shiver down the spine of secular Syrian Muslims and Christians.
Sadly, the US in its quest for cheap oil from the Saudis continues to support the Saudi government in its quest to overthrow Bashar al-Assad. The US will find itself soon in a bigger bloodbath between Sunnis and Shia that will engulf the region from the Persian Gulf to India. And India should be very careful not to fall for the new US rapprochement and its offer of a security pact with New Delhi. That could drag India into the Sunni-Shia debacle. India has lived with ancient and modern Iran as a peaceful neighbour. India could possibly be home to the 3rd largest Shia population in the world today. Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf States fail to understand that empires come and go and that they will have to live with Iran in a world where the US and the EU’s political and economic power is in decline.
Condemnation of the Syrian regime killing civilians from the West is loud, but the media is yet to expose the many Sunni weapons and mercenaries sent by Saudi Arabia to fight the Bashar al-Assad government. And why are the media not asking the US for its post Bashar al-Assad plan for Syria? You just can’t enter the Middle East and topple governments without a political solution in place. Libya was a piece of cake for them but Syria and Iran won’t be. The West should listen to Russia and let Moscow take the lead in finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis and that must include the involvement of Iran.
Yours faithfully,
Ray Chickrie
