Syria: So what can we do instead?

[eridani]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/09/06-7

To someone with just a hammer, they say, every problem looks like a nail. Same goes for superpowers and their militaries. Fortunately there’s a lot more in our toolkit than that. Check out Phyllis Bennis’ great piece on Al Jazeera for a full list.

Among other options, Phyllis writes that the United States can call for a second UN investigation team to determine not only whether chemical weapons were used, but also who used them. And better still, if the U.S. Senate ratifies the International Criminal Court—the international body charged with prosecuting war criminals—it will be much better placed to eventually prosecute the culprits for the attack. The lack of a bombing campaign now doesn’t mean that these criminals won’t have to account for their actions later.

Most importantly, instead of butting heads with the Russians and trying to get UN authorization for a strike on Syria, the United States needs to engage directly with the parties arming the belligerents in Syria to negotiate a full international arms embargo. That includes principally Russia and Iran on the pro-Assad side and Turkey, the Gulf States, Europe, and the United States on the anti-Assad side. Especially among its allies, the United States has considerable leverage in terms of withholding arms sales and other assistance to extract concessions. Until these parties reach a deeper understanding of each other’s regional interests, they’ll continue to use Syria as a proxy battleground.

It’s a tall order, but with neither the rebels nor the regime able to break the stalemate, there’s not much other hope for a solution. An encouraging piece in Foreign Affairs suggests that “leaders in Damascus could offer amnesty to the rebels to initiate negotiations for a formal cease-fire, which would include international monitoring and peacekeeping troops. That would create the space to begin a slow, deliberate process of formal mediation that addresses all of the major conflict issues. Mediation ought to involve third parties and all the major factions of the opposition. Of peace agreements that have met those conditions, less than five have failed in the last 25 years.”

And don’t forget: many, many Syrians are desperately in need of humanitarian aid. The UN estimates that this war has turned over 2