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Why Syria's revolution needs a Benghaziworldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/… | #Syria #Benghazi #Libya
By Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC News Correspondent
Ayman Mohyeldin covered the Middle East for several years as a correspondent for Al Jazeera’s English language channel. He reported extensively on the revolution in Egypt earlier this year, as well as on Tunisia’s fall. He recently became an NBC News Correspondent.
ANALYSIS
This Friday marks the end of another week of political upheaval across the Arab world with the international spotlight honing in Syria.
In the past week, the often-impotent League of Arab States took a stand against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The decision by the Arab League is a positive step, albeit late.
After Assad’s failure to meet a deadline to withdraw the Syrian military off the streets and talk to his political foes, the Arab League suspended Syria’s membership.
The move came after the organization assumed that Assad’s regime was genuinely engaged with it to end the Syrian uprisings through a brokered or negotiated settlement. This proved to be a false assumption. Force was the ultimate weapon of choice for the regime – reforms and negotiations were simply diplomatic covers to give the government the time to deal with the issue militarily.
The ‘Arab’ decision
Beyond the somewhat symbolic gesture of isolating Syria from the Arab world, the Arab League decision could potentially have an impact on the ground. It’s not so much that it will deter the Syrian regime from continuing its military operations against protesters as it will likely embolden the opposition.
Beyond the somewhat symbolic gesture of isolating Syria from the Arab world, the Arab League decision could potentially have an impact on the ground. It’s not so much that it will deter the Syrian regime from continuing its military operations against protesters as it will likely embolden the opposition.
The Arab League’s decision has effectively told the opposition, both internally and externally, that the Arab world no longer wants to do business with Assad – and new alternatives are welcomed.
This is also a call being echoed individually by Arab leaders, such as Jordan’s King Abdullah, who earlier this week was the first Arab leader to openly call for Assad to step down. "If Bashar [Assad] has the interest of his country [at heart] he would step down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life," Abdullah told the BBC.
Neighboring and regional countries from Iran to Turkey to Qatar, as well as non-state players like Hezbollah, will now have a choice to make. Come to the strategic defense of the embattled Assad regime and risk a similar public wrath and condemnation or work against the regime by recognizing, aiding, funding and even arming the opposition in accordance with the collective regional will.
