Rebuilding Syria?

The fact of the matter/reality of Syria is that the legitimate government is the current government. Any external force that enters Syria must have permission from the Syrian government. However, there are some foreign powers that do not feel obligated to adhere to such international law. Such people live above others and apply laws as they see fit.

For peace to be possible in Syria, the first goal is obviously to end the violence. Next there must be restoration of a legitimate government.  The sad part is that the need to restore a legitimate government is a problem made/forced by the international community to begin with. This need for a legitimate government is a step that should never have been a reality. The cost of such a move has been paid by the citizens of Syria in the currency of death by the tens thousands.

 The only reason so many innocent people have died is due to the childish behaviour of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. From the outset the discussion to provide assistance to the Syrian government was made in such a manner that Syria could not allow an occupation force into the country. The rhetoric of foreign intervention was made out to be an occupying force and that was the largest issue for why no assistance was allowed.

Here we are at the same stage as we were in the very early stages of the protest movement of 26 Feb 2012. That day had a referendum on constitutional change supported by 80% of the voters. One year later there are fewer leaders to trust, current government is broken, opposition is just as untrustworthy as is the current people in power, broken infrastructure, government institutions scrambled at best, less civil cohesion and more weapons. In summary, Syria is far worse than it was on 26 Feb 2012.

Now what? Well there will be a power vacuum as the current government takes is final stands. A greater fight within opposition cells to be the main power figure will blow up. The members of the United Nations Security Council will bicker as if they were children fighting over a toy. Finally the real work to build peace will come from the average person that lives in the communities of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and all the other destroyed communities.

The bulk of the peace work will be accomplished by the people who have lost the most, endured the most and have been given the least support. The school teachers, nurses, doctors, food vendors and of course the children will be the ones that will have to carry the most burden. The irony will be that the focus will be on the idiots that allowed the entire situation to get out of control. Furthermore it will be those same idiots that will take credit for peace as they shake hands after signing a peace agreement.  

If this was a world where justice was had and what is right was the norm, all the leaders would be held responsible for every death. Alas we live in a world where might makes right, money can buy justice and those that yell the loudest get best service. Upon that reality we must endure the garbage of leaders that talk about peace, looking after the needs of the people and securing a safe world for all. Hypocrisy is alive and well and that is the enemy. Go ask the average person in Syria if they wanted such hell.  The only reason we are here now is because of lazy leaders who did not have the intelligence to work out a peaceful method in the first place. Sadly we are still saddled with such leaders.

The hope of a peaceful future does not lie with such leaders but within the average persons’ willingness to be peaceful. After all it is the people that will restore peace. Now begins the work of preparing the necessary tools for peace to be rebuilt in Syria.

Seek out the communities that need schooling supplies to teach peace. Mend the minds of the youth so that they will not continue the anger and hatred which spawned such nonsensical violence. Work with community organizations within Syria to rebuild the laughter and joy of a healthy neighbourhood. Allow the understanding that peace is always the first priority of our leaders. Those that can not maintain peace are to be voted out of as soon as possible.

Finally we must understand that we are all in a giant experiment/game. There will be those that gain power only to destroy and to ensure personal gain at all others expense. Such people will come into power from time to time. More often than not such people learn this behaviour. Which is why we must work very hard to bring peace education to the people of Syria.

We failed the people of Syria once already. Foreign countries ignored international laws and sent in equipment, focres and actively called for the destabilization of the government. They acted no different than the terrorist organizations that also operated within Syria. Such a world breeds contempt and untrustworthy attitudes. Such a world will bring greater chaos and violence. What else do we expect when leaders act in such a manner? What do people expect who act in such a manner? I expect that we get exactly as has transpired in Syria.

The dream of peace

Who is accountable for peace? In short that question is often “they” that “we” have fingers pointed towards. The main thrust of accountability is levelled against the largest of organisations. Yet the reality of peace rests within the individual. Each peacebuilding program that is put into place relies on the individual. Every community that receives aid support must deliver support one person at a time.

Each of us makes a decision as to how they will act. During times of violent conflict or even during political rallies, elections, protests or demonstrations each person is accountable. The reality which is often lost in many circumstances is that there is no “they” without the individual. This is why personal peace is such a major issue in global peace. Such knowledge has been with us for as long as two people stood in each others presence. Further to this knowledge, the circle of accountability spreads from the individual person to a single community, single province, region and includes each individual country.

As we dream for the end of violent conflict in Syria, we must seek to rebuild first in our minds. We must understand how the people/individuals will live in peace. We must understand how government is to be respected again. What will it take for individuals to live without fear, to trust and have faith in one another again?

The rebuilding of countries is no easy task and is often carried out by large organisations. Throughout the years, those that have worked to rebuild war torn countries have understood the importance of the individual peace. The phrase “if you save one person, you have succeeded” is the base support of all those that work to rebuild communities and countries.

From there, we seek to assist those that have been impacted by violent conflict. As the many organisations congregate to rebuild communities, there is a growing level of understanding that the people who are being assisted hold the greatest power for peace.  However, interventions do have impacts as we all know.

In the case of Syria, we may never know the true involvement of outsiders or what role outsiders played to bring chaos. We do know that certain individuals had the opportunity to end violence in Syria. At present there is no longer one singular individual in which peace can focus upon. Since peace was not possible for those individuals, the world is met with the task of rebuilding societal/structural peace.  Slowly, peace will return to Syria when a great number of individuals experience structural peace.

With the task of rebuilding a peaceful society the accountability still rests with individual. For example, will a government officer seek bribes? Will those that benefited from the chaos seek peace? What of those that benefitted under the old order? These are the individuals that will always be a concern. Such people will always be part of society. Within that cycle lies the battle for peace.

The never ending struggle to ensure people are aware of their impact on global peace is vital. For example, we can look at what is taking place in India.

“There is no doubting that the woman’s suffering has revolted Indians. There is no doubting the anguish of the demonstrators who have come out to tell the political class that they want a new kind of government, one that that is responsive and efficient. Nor is there any doubt that the heartfelt desire for change is real. But the experience of the past few years shows that middle class anger can collapse just as quickly as it erupts”[1].

Each of us moves on while a peaceful society will always remain a dream for all of us.

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[1] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/indias-fury-over-gang-rape-will-sadly-be-fleeting/article6891037/

Guns, constitutions and hypocrisy

Each of us has a responsibility to protect the rights of others. That responsibility is not often made clear in societies where personal freedom is paramount. In no small manner was that right to protect usurped in the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union had more to do with the corruption and greed of those that ruled. The responsibility to each other gave way to ensuring the best lifestyle for the individual at the expense of country and culture.

The very same attitude is at the crux of gun control in the Republic of the United States. In the coming months we will hear the arguments about the right being enshrined in constitutions. The reality is that the right which is being debated is band aid/patch work to the original. With that there must be some wisdom applied to understand that amendments are very much time/circumstance oriented.

In other countries such as Belgium, the constitutional talks there had left them without elected government for months. This was due to language protection. Although there has been little violence over the course of the decades long conflict, the fact remains that the constitution was in need of change. Similar to Canada during 1982 and has always been on a slow burn of political discussion.

At this very moment Egypt is dealing with its constitution. Syria had a public vote during 26 Feb 2012 which resulted in an 80% agreement to change the constitution. Of course that was shot to hell as rebel and government forces clashed.

Even with these constitutions, which spell out the responsibility of the people, the reality is that constitutions are only documents invented/shaped by our ideology. As we know, ideology can and will evolve. As ideology evolves so will culture. Overall, the culture of the world has been changing and the control of weapons is one area that has an urgent need of evolution.

It is true that weapons will always be apart of life. A pointed stick or a rock is always available, as are knives, and let us not forget the most deadly weapon – our minds. At debate is the availability of weapons. This fact is very evident in conflict zones. There are so many weapons in East Africa that no one really knows where they all are or how many. This is how we get 12 year old children being experts on how to maintain and operate a wide variety of small weapons such as rocket propelled grenades.

In the past five years we have seen great efforts to curtail the weapons trade industry. There has been some success but there still is a long way to go. To that end I understand the reality of war and come to terms with the fact that a total ban is just not possible (yet).  In addition I know that education is a frontline issue in this conflict as well. Still, the curtailing of weapons is needed.

As shocking as such events are, the average person is numb to the vastly more devastating carnage taking place. Thousands of people are being killed by the very governments that speak out against such violence. This is the hypocrisy of world politics. Until that is changed more innocent people will be victims, never mind constitutional change. First live up to the current standards we have set because at the moment we are doing a very poor job of that.