By Sunday Oyinloye
One of the greatest tragedies of the world in human history is the protracted Syrian civil war which seems to have no end in sight. The madness which began on March 15,2011 could be traced to inspirations from Arab Spring which started in Tunisia.
It would be recalled that the man who lit the touch-paper of the revolt in the North African country was 26 year old Mohamed Bouazizi , a vegetable and fruit seller who out of frustration of not being able to collect his sized goods from government officials set himself on fire. The rest is history.
Coming back to Syria, perhaps one of the reasons why the war is still being fought is because of its multi-sided nature. It is a well-known fact that the war started as a discontent against the Bashar al- Assad government and escalated to an armed conflict when the “strong” man of Syria could not be removed through protests. The war which has led to serious humanitarian crisis is being fought by many factions which makes it even more complex.
So complex is also the list of the factions; the Syrian government and its allies, al-Nusra Front, ISIL ,Syrian Democratic Forces, Free Syrian Army among other known and unknown groups and interests. The madness in Syria is already is having spillover on its neighbors and unprecedented number of refugees already in Europe or trying to make it to Europe.
The world has been shocked severally with unimaginable attacks on women and children who ordinarily supposed to be spared in any war situation. The situation is not being helped by the so-called super powers who have seen an avenue to sell their weapons. The more the crisis linger the more they make money for their economies. What a world? You might ask.
However, the man at the center of this war is defiant al-Assad who has cling to power on the blood of his people. President al-Assad born on September 11, 1965 in Damascus may not have a good place in history even as his date of birth, September 11 does not have a good place in human history because of the devastating effect of the terror attacks on America in September11, 2001.
The man who succeeded his father, Hafiz al-Assad in the year 2000 could be said to be ungrateful to his people whom he was alleged to have used weapons of mass destruction against. Instead of hope and economic revival, his reign has brought misery, destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis to his country.
The man with a stone heart may not have allowed his father who died on June 10, 2000 to rest in peace. What else does he want in life? Afterall, his father was Commander-In- Chief , Syria from 1965- 1966 and President of Syria, 1971 -2000. Does it sound sane for him not to have stepped down after hundreds of thousands of his people have been killed in the war? Does he have conscience or human blood flowing in his veins? I doubt it. I doubt it because al-Assad remains in power today using the blood of his people
A man who loves his people would have done the needful before the situation degenerated to madness level. Yes, madness and pure madness, cities, towns and villages are in ruins because of the foolishness of one man and blood sucking groups involved in the war. They all seem to have one thing in common, they love to see innocent blood spilled.
For nations who are benefitting from the crisis and all the factions in the war, it is time for common sense to prevail. Too many lives have been lost to the war and the earlier the warring sides and their collaborators put on their thinking caps the better for humanity. But before they come to their senses, the question remains, when will the madness in Syria end?
