By Dr. Sawraj Singh
The West is making a lot of noise that chemical weapons were used in Syria by the Assad regime. However, this looks more like western arrogance than an issue of chemical weapons. There are several facts which belie the western assertion that the Assad regime used chemical weapons.
For any crime to be committed, there has to be a motive and an intention. Who has the motive to use chemical weapons in Syria? The Assad regime is winning the war and the rebels are losing the war. Why would the winner resort to using such weapons? On the other hand, the rebels are losing the war and they desperately want to draw the western powers into the conflict. That is their only hope because otherwise, they are going to lose and have no chance of winning the war. Clearly, the motive and intention are on the rebels’ side. The same can be said for the western powers. They want to change the regime at any cost. For them, it is not just a question of losing Syria; they feel that they are going to lose the two-century old western domination. The western-dominated world order under American hegemony is collapsing. The western capitalists are becoming desperate to preserve their domination and hegemony. To achieve this goal, they are willing to do anything. Along with the rebels, the motive and intention seem to be on the side of the West.
The other question which must be answered: are the Syrian rebels patriots, or are they traitors, sell-outs, and lackeys? A patriot will never want his country to be devastated. These rebels can see exactly what happens to a country when you invite a western aggressor. Look at Iraq or Libya. Clearly, the rebels are acting like the child who warns that if he can not have a toy, then he will break it. A true patriot will try everything to save, and not destroy, his country. A true patriot is like the true mother in the story of King Solomon and the child. When two women, who were claiming to be the mother of a child, were brought before King Solomon to decide who the real mother was in fact; King Solomon said that he will resolve the conflict by cutting the child into two halves with his sword so that each woman can have an equal share. The true mother immediately begged King Solomon to please not cut the child and to just give the child to the other woman. On the other hand, the false mother said that justice should be done exactly as King Solomon had prescribed. It is clear that the rebels want that kind of justice to be done by destroying Syria.
History also teaches us lessons. Those who have committed a crime are likely to repeat it (recidivism). The western powers accused Saddam Hussein of using weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and turned this accusation into an excuse to invade Iraq and destroy it. Therefore, they are more likely to use a similar excuse to get rid of Assad. However, it is unlikely that the same excuse can be used for a second time.
There is a saying in Punjabi which beautifully explains this situation: “Kaath di haandi dubara chuley te nahin charhdi.” This saying means that a wooden pot can not be put over the flames of a kitchen stove for a second time. In other words, the same excuse can not be used for a second time.
I have used this expression for the West before: “Do not confuse me with facts since I have already made up my mind.” There is another children’s folktale which conveys the same message: the story of the clever wolf and the lamb. A wolf was drinking water from a river and noticed that a lamb was also drinking water nearby. The wolf thought of eating the lamb but needed an accusation to bring against the lamb so to justify his action. The wolf first accused the lamb of dirtying his water, to which the lamb replied that it was downstream from the wolf and therefore could not dirty his water. The wolf then accused the lamb of insulting him during the previous year, to which the lamb replied that it was a newborn and therefore could not have insulted him during the previous year. The wolf then finally accused the lamb’s mother of insulting him a few years ago and made that his excuse to eat the lamb. The wolf had decided to eat the lamb from the beginning and was just looking for an excuse.
Another manifestation of western arrogance is that it keeps insisting that world opinion is calling for punishing the Assad regime for using chemical weapons. However, the facts again belie this assertion. The U.N. has not given the West a mandate to do that. The Arab League is divided on this issue as Egypt, the country with the largest Arab population, is opposing this attack. Germany and Italy do not want to take part in this attack. The British Parliament passed a resolution that the U.K. should not take part in the attack. Even in the US and France, a significant majority of people are opposed to the attacks. So where exactly is world opinion in favor of this attack?
The West should change its ways and adapt to the changing situation in the world. The West can either coexist with the rest of the world or destroy the world. When any sane person is given the choice that you can either live if you give up your arrogance or you will perish, then the sane person will always choose the option which gives him the chance to survive.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
