Tuesday, 26 June 2012

Syrian Crisis Intensifies


The conflict in Syria has continued to heat up. Accusations have been flying around on the international stage that Russia is supporting the Syrian government and the West is supporting the Free Syrian Army. The reality of it is this; Russia is selling arms to Syria, the West is not selling arms to the rebels.  I find it ironic that in the UN Security Council Russia has vetoed any resolutions on Syria because it does not want to interfere in the affairs of another nation. Whilst it is saying this at the UN it is providing one side of the conflict with arms and helping to fuel the fires of destruction and murder.

Tensions between Syria and Turkey have also been flaring up over the past few days; Syria shot down a Turkish jet that was in international waters and fired at another. Two lives were lost and Turkey has reacted angrily to its old ally.

The whole conflict has raised many questions over what to do, personally I believe a UN Peacekeeping operation is what is required, which would include troops from Western and Arab nations as well as Russia. One solution proposed is arming the rebels, I would be a bit cautious about this, the weapons could easily fall into the wrong hands. America arming the Taliban didn’t work out very well in the long run.

The West should recognise that the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region is a very unstable one, as the 2011 revolutions show, so acting recklessly could have serious ramifications for the future. 

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