Arming Syrian Rebels Is A Mistake
By Bader George Qarmout
As an American of Christian Arab descent, I believe that arming the Syrian rebels is a mistake and will haunt the US in the near future.
The rebels are made up of 2 types of fighters. Some of the rebels are true democracy loving Syrians who want to free their people and nation from tyranny. The majority of rebels, on the other hand, are Syrian and non-Syrian (Al Qaeda) Muslim extremists who want to topple the government to replace it with a strict Islamist anti-western government. These two groups have become comingled and it’s nearly impossible to differentiate between the two. If we support the rebels how we can be sure we are not arming the Islamist extremists?
We can’t.
The Obama Administration’s decision to arming Syria’s rebels will deepen America’s involvement in a war that is being fought along sectarian lines, pinning Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and threatening the stability of Israel and Jordan.
I have spoken with a Christian women and her son who just fled Syria to the US, and they spoke of Christian persecution and mass murder and dismemberment of Christians in Syria. She also said that many of the Rebel fighters are imports from other Muslim nations like Chechnya, and Afghanistan.
There is no such thing as a good outcome of the Syrian uprising. It frightens me to see what is happening in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and other Muslim nations. There are fears that Assad’s stockpile of chemical weapons, believed to be one of the world’s largest, could fall into the hands of Islamic extremist groups.
The only safe solution is not to arm any of the parties, because choosing the lesser of two evils, is still dealing with evil. We need to make sure our allies in the Middle East like Israel and Jordan are safe and supported with humanitarian aid to help the refuges migrating to Jordan. We need to work closely with Israel and build up our defense systems in the region. We must NOT hinder Israel from doing what it believes is in her best interest. A United Nations no-fly zone would make a significant impact to protect civilian life and bring both sides to the negotiating table for a conference set to take place in Geneva in July.
Posted: June 20th, 2013 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Syria | Tags: Arms, Badar George Qarmout, Syria, Syrian Rebels | 10 Comments »