Rorate Caeli

Editorial: "On Syria, that's enough!" (Aid to the Church in Need)

Aid to the Church in Need - France:

For two years, Syria has been at the mercy of international punishment, and we have been asked to watch silently the annihilation of one of the most ancient countries in the world. With the matter being complex and with a unanimity imposed, it is true that the disagreeing voices were bound to be received badly. Yet today, with the American decision to arm the rebels, and the European, particularly French, blind following in the matter, the time has come to put an end to this charade.

In the name of the Syrian population, all confessions together, this operation of destruction must stop. Yes, it is enough!

Yes, the matter is complex, the government is authoritarian, but since when has this authorized the international community to decide the destruction of a nation? Is Syria the sole dictatorship in the region? Should we not include in that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, just to mention those two? And how can pulverizing a nation make it better?

Two years ago, Syria had a growth rate of over 8% and it was, other than Lebanon, the least restrictive nation in the Middle East for Christians. Today, with over 90,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of refugees inside and outside the country, the clear improvement of the situation of the Syrian population is obvious, somewhat like the great service we have rendered to the Iraqi population for 10 years...

Many countries have an interest in the disruption of Syria, beginning with the Americans - for energy-related reasons (control of the production and/or transit of oil and gas, and a hostile maneuver against the Russians) - or the Qataris (anti-Shiite struggle, and a contest for Sunni primacy), but France?

French policy on the Syrian dossier is hardly understandable. What interests do we seek? Is it simply in order to please our American and Qatari patrons? Also there, one is led to believe that France has definitely abandoned all idea of sovereignty. And yet, France, due to its historic links with Syria and the Christians of the East, had a double responsibility and, therefore, specific duties on this dossier.

How to imagine that we can arm the rebels when everyone knows the porousness of the Syrian rebellion with the Islamist milieux linked to Al Qaeda? Who could explain the absurdity that there exists with arming in Syria those whom France combats in Mali? And, after Syria, how not to foresee already the disruption of Lebanon? Do we seek the disappearance of Christians also there?

What about the Syrian population? That seems to be the last concern of our strategists. Today, from the viewpoint of the whole Syrian population, and particularly for Syrian Christians, this chaos, instituted, fed, and financed in great measure from the outside, is purely and simply a crime. It is time for this to stop, and that a political solution be found as quickly as possible, in order to spare the civilian population exiled to the depths of hell. Yes, truly, that is enough!