Army must do the right thing, and now Thursday, 17 November 2011 03:17

The Arab League, this week, finally took a robust stand on the ongoing violence in Syria and  announced practical decisions to address the crisis in the country. One of them was to call on the Syrian Arab Army to desist from acts of violence and murderous engagements against the Syrian people.

This is the first time that the League has specifically addressed the army of a member country, indicating the role it sees for the army in the resolution of the Syrian crisis.

According to the ranking by Global Firepower.com, the Syrian Arab Army stands at no 35 in terms of military strength worldwide. It currently has 304,000 active military personnel and 450,500 in active reserve.

One of the elite divisions of the Syrian armed forces is the Fourth Division, which was raised as a paramilitary force called the Defence Companies (Saraya ad-Difa) in 1966 under the command of Rifaat Al Assad, brother of the then-president Hafez Al Assad, and was later merged into Syrian Arab Army.

The unit served to defend the Assad government against internal and external attacks. It gained prominence in the 1982 when it was deployed to suppress an Islamist uprising in Hama. In 1984, when President Hafez Al Assad was in poor health and there appeared to be a power vacuum, his brother, Rifaat, attempted to seize power using the Fourth Division.

It’s kind history repeating with President Bashar Al Assad’s brother, Maher, heading the elite Fourth Division and Republican Guard. The threat now is different from the 1980s uprising in Hama. Revolts have already spread across cities in Syria and are threatening to spill in to Damascus anytime. We should not also forget that the Arab Spring stirrings that have affected most of the countries in the Middle East regions would only fortify the opposition resolve.

Already there are reports of disaffection in the Syrian army and some of those who have defected are now siding with the protesters. Some of the defectors have formed group and calling themselves the Free Syrian Army.

By its call to the Syrian army, the Arab League has given it a message that it can take an active role in stopping the bloodshed like the Egyptian army did when it sided with the people against former president Hosni Mubarak and the Tunisian army did when it backed the Tunisian people against former leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

If change and reform were to come, it should be brought about from within Syria. The Arab League call gives the Syrian army some legitimacy to act accordingly to stop the killings of innocent civilians, including children.

The Syrian army should start taking steps towards the resolution of the crisis in order to avoid a civil war similar to that of Iraq, especially given Syria’s various ethnic groups.

However, I believe that the Syrian situation will not become like that of Iraq since we don’t see any outside forces such as Nato or other international players intervening in the complicated situation with the Assad regime being supported by Iran and Lebanon (Hezbollah) and the tumultuous relationship it has with its neighbour, Israel.

Also, if a “no-fly” zone were be implemented in Syria, military aircraft including from international forces will be prohibited from flying over the country’s airspace.

Assad regime should understand that it would be in everybody’s interest if power was handed over peacefully to the Syrian people before economic and political sanctions are imposed against the regime by the Arab League which will make matters even worse.

They should learn a lesson from the 2009 constitutional crisis in Honduras when the Honduran army staged a coup d’ etat to oust former president Manual Zelaya because of his plans to amend the constitution in order to do away with presidential term limits.

The Syrian army is in the best position to end the violence in the country if it l takes a decisive action now before a case against the Syrian government is filed in the International Criminal Court or the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

The Syrian army is likely to support it  if the opposition is united. The Arab League has already asked the opposition to meet at the Arab League headquarters in order to agree on a unified vision for the transitional period for the country.

The armed forces of any country are pledged to protect its people from any threats, be they internal or external. It is the Syrian army’s duty and responsibility to protect the lives of the Syrian people.

The Peninsula