Al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, Originally Posted in Arabic on November 18
The recent attacks in Paris made it clear – yet again – that the threat posed by the Syrian turmoil extends well beyond the Middle East.
Sadly, world leaders have not internalized this basic understanding. The only thing achieved in the recent Vienna talks was a call for a “political solution” in Syria.
How naïve must our leaders be to believe that a brutal war, which took the lives of over 300,000 innocent civilians, will simply disappear with a “political” solution? This war is becoming the biggest global threat the world has ever known. We have witnessed bombings in almost all Arab capitals, a downing of a Russian plane in Sinai, and the recent attacks in Paris.
It is impossible to confront the threat of global terror without confronting the situation in Syria on the ground. With each day passing, more and more innocents are being displaced and killed. The Vienna process is doomed to fail, because the situation will only deteriorate from here on out.
Instead of waiting until that happens, our leaders should think a step ahead and declare the long awaited international intervention in Syria. Carried out by a coalition of nations, financially supported by the international community, and approved by the United Nations.
The situation would have been less tragic had it been already declared two years ago. – Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed