Al-Anba, Kuwait, Originally posted in Arabic on August 7
In Iraq, for decades now, the killer and the killed are both Iraqis. In Syria, the killer and the killed are both Syrians. The same goes for Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Tunisia. In all of them, the killer and those killed are two of the same blood.
If this is not enough for us to stop and ask ourselves what has become of the Arab nation, then perhaps a cold-hearted economic consideration should: it will take billions of dollars to restore our region. In Syria, over $400 billion will be necessary to rebuild cities and infrastructure following the current war.
Similar amounts will be necessary for Arab countries that have been affected by the Arab Spring elsewhere in the region. As Arabs and as proud inhabitants of the Gulf, it is our duty not only to accept, but also promote any initiative that calls to end the fighting in our region.
The Iranian initiative to end the war in Syria, to be presented to the United Nations this week, is no different. Instead of finding faults in the idea and criticizing the Iranians, we must seek to embrace it.
We have spent years gathered in negotiation rooms, with no progress done. It is time for the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to come together in search for a solution to the crises in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and even Lebanon and Palestine. We must extinguish the fire, before it spreads to us all. – Sami al-Nassaf