Brooks Newmark

Assad will go – the question is how much blood will be spilled

As we approach next week’s Geneva II Conference, the desire of the majority of Syrians, the moderate majority, for a just and sustainable resolution to the conflict in Syria must be addressed.

At Sunday’s meeting of the ‘Friends of Syria’ Foreign Secretary William Hague, Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and representatives from the Gulf States were of one voice in supporting President Jarba and the Syrian Opposition Coalition and were in full agreement that Assad has no future in Syria. Even privately the Russians and Iranians are increasingly coming to the realisation that it is a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’ Assad goes. The question is how much blood, innocent Syrian blood must be spilled between now and then.

The challenges are many but Geneva II must focus on three core issues.

First, Geneva II must chart a transition to a Syria free of Assad’s rule. The diplomatic success on removing chemical weapons must not detract from the the core challenge: the removal of a ruthless dictator who continues to kill, maim and drive from their ruined towns and cities thousands with conventional weapons. Today there are over nine million internally displaced people in Syria, 2.3 million in exile as refugees in neighbouring countries and over 130,000 dead. The international community led by the Friends of Syria must do everything possible to support the Syrian Opposition Coalitions vision for a Syria that is a free, democratic country where human rights are safeguarded by rule of law and freedom of religion and the respect of minorities is paramount. The SOC represents the broad spectrum of Syrian society including Sunnis, Christians, Kurds, Druze and most importantly Alawis. They represent the moderate majority.

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