ON SYRIA REQUESTING MORE TIME TO DESTROY CHEMICAL WEAPONS

On August 22, 2013, the New York Daily News described a nerve gas attack that occurred the day before in Syria killing an estimated 1,300 people. The attack hit the Damascus suburbs, around the town of Arbeen.

Within a couple of days this attack was linked directly to the regime of Syria's President Bashar al Assad. According to Al Jazeera, President Barack Obama then ordered the Pentagon to plan an attack on Syria. Four cruise-missile-armed warships were given orders to position themselves near Syria to carry out that plan.  

As intended, these warships got the attention of al Assad.  By September 14th the United States, along with Syria's ally Russia, announced a treaty, according to ABC News. The agreement provided that Syria rid itself of chemical weapons and the means to produce them. It also required Syria to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention.  It seemed the threat of force finally turned al Assad toward peace.

As we now know, even without the ability to use chemical weapons, the Syrian government continued its war against its people.  It even introduced another weapon of mass destruction, the barrel bomb. Dropped from helicopters, it has been reported these explosive devices are filled with nuts, bolts, and re-bar to assure maximum destruction. The massacre of civilians continues unabated.

The New York Times reports, however, that the Syrian government now wants to delay the terms of its chemical weapons agreement. It has asked for more time to export its chemicals as previously agreed.  

By treaty all chemicals and their weapons were to be out of Syria no later than February 5th.  According to Reuters, 95.5% of the worst chemicals were still on Syrian soil on that date.  Reuters also reported that, according to the treaty, these "worst toxins" are supposed to be completely destroyed no later than the end of March. Milder toxins are to be destroyed by the end of June.

I am no fan of war...been there, done that, worn many holes in that 40+ year-old t-shirt.  But, this is clearly a case of needing to keep the pressure on Syria without compromise.

If I were President Obama I would send this message to Bashar al Assad with a copy to Vladimir Putin and Ban Ki-moon, dated March 1, 2014. After consultation with Congress, I would also address the American people the same day. The message would be clear and include four parts.

1. The treaty to destroy Syria's chemical weapons and the capacity to manufacture same came only under threat of unilateral action by the United States. Because President al Assad only seems to respond to valid threats of force, and because the Syrian government has not kept up its end of the treaty it signed, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been ordered to plan implementation of a no-fly zone for all of Syrian air space, including the elimination of all ground-to-air and air-to-air threats.  Included in this plan will be precision attacks on a minimum of 12 government facilities, including the Presidential Palace and other command and control headquarters. This plan will include elements of U.S. forces along with the forces of any other nation willing to participate.  
2. If it appears that by March 15th Syria has not begun destroying the last of its chemical manufacturing facilities and/or removing all chemicals covered by the treaty by the agreed deadline of March 31, 2014, two U.S. aircraft carriers and their battle groups will be ordered to take position near Syria to arrive no later than March 28.  Whether they are positioned in the Mediterranean Sea or the Persian Gulf or both shall be included in the Pentagon's initial planning.
3. If by March 31, 2014, all chemicals covered by the treaty are not aboard ship and/or all chemical manufacturing capacity is not destroyed, all members of the United Nations' Chemical Weapons Inspection Team shall be withdrawn from Syria, along with any other U.N. personnel located in Syria.
4. The plan outlined in Part One of this message shall commence on April 1, 2014, at 12:01 a.m. local Syrian time. Any violation of the no-fly zone by any party will be seen as an act of war by Syria and it will be dealt with accordingly.

Do I think war will occur with such a message, no!  Do I think this will get al Assad's attention, yes!  Bashar al Assad is a bully. He will only respond to someone who stands nose to nose and tells him clearly where the lines are drawn.

Even if al Assad does not care, and invites war, Russia, which does not want war with the West, will not allow him to miss the deadlines. We have already seen Russia wavering in its support when, The Washington Post reported, they agreed to a binding resolution in the U.N. last Saturday demanding Syria stop attacking civilians.

Further, a nation whose name is unspoken in this article so far, Iran, will also take notice.  They support al Assad through their proxies, like Hezbollah, but they dare not do anything if the U.S. calls Syria's bluff. All players in the Middle East understand force. 

The al Assad family has a history of killing the Syrian people and getting away with it. Hafez, Bashar's father, killed at least 10,000 Syrians in the city of Hama in 1982 (the Syrian Human Rights Committee estimates as many as 40,000 were killed). Hafez' son's war has killed, according to the United Nations, an estimated 130,000 Syrians, including those he gassed near Arbeen.

There have been leaders throughout the history of the world who bullied and murdered their own people.  It is not until some nation stands up to them that they go away. President al Assad is one of these bullies.

Bashar al Assad needs to know he cannot keep asking for, and receiving, more time to continue killing his people.  The line must be drawn, and it must be drawn now.