October 15, 2015
Akahata editorial (excerpts)
Syria’s civil war is in a quagmire as the U.S. and Russia increased their military interventions ostensibly to overthrow the extremist militant group IS.
The UN recently announced that as many as 250,000 civilians have been killed in Syria, and that 12 million people, accounting for more than half the country’s population, including four million Syrians taking refuge in neighboring countries, were forced to evacuate their hometowns. The situation there has turned into a catastrophe. The huge flow of Syrian refugees into European nations has also become a serious problem.
The UN Security Council has, however, failed to take a leading role in tackling this crisis. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in late September criticized the UNSC for “four years of diplomatic paralysis”.
The UN Charter stipulates that the Security Council shall assume “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security”. The 15 nations on the council should immediately use their roles as members of the UNSC to work toward peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria.
In facilitating the political process in Syria, it is imperative to urgently drive such terrorist organizations as IS and al-Qaeda into the corner and swiftly isolate them.
However, external military intervention is destined to produce another chain of violence and retaliation, which increases human suffering and exacerbates the situation. Thus, military involvement from outside will most likely have a destructive influence on the region as a whole.
The only lasting solution to the Syrian crisis is international support for a political settlement led by Syrian people themselves.
It is high time for the international community to encourage the world’s governments to make every possible diplomatic effort to have all parties concerned sit at the negotiating table to solve the issue through political dialogue.
Past related articles:
> Global community should unite to isolate terrorist groups [February 2, 2015]
> JCP disapproves of airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria [September 25, 2014]
Syria’s civil war is in a quagmire as the U.S. and Russia increased their military interventions ostensibly to overthrow the extremist militant group IS.
The UN recently announced that as many as 250,000 civilians have been killed in Syria, and that 12 million people, accounting for more than half the country’s population, including four million Syrians taking refuge in neighboring countries, were forced to evacuate their hometowns. The situation there has turned into a catastrophe. The huge flow of Syrian refugees into European nations has also become a serious problem.
The UN Security Council has, however, failed to take a leading role in tackling this crisis. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in late September criticized the UNSC for “four years of diplomatic paralysis”.
The UN Charter stipulates that the Security Council shall assume “primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security”. The 15 nations on the council should immediately use their roles as members of the UNSC to work toward peaceful resolution of the conflict in Syria.
In facilitating the political process in Syria, it is imperative to urgently drive such terrorist organizations as IS and al-Qaeda into the corner and swiftly isolate them.
However, external military intervention is destined to produce another chain of violence and retaliation, which increases human suffering and exacerbates the situation. Thus, military involvement from outside will most likely have a destructive influence on the region as a whole.
The only lasting solution to the Syrian crisis is international support for a political settlement led by Syrian people themselves.
It is high time for the international community to encourage the world’s governments to make every possible diplomatic effort to have all parties concerned sit at the negotiating table to solve the issue through political dialogue.
Past related articles:
> Global community should unite to isolate terrorist groups [February 2, 2015]
> JCP disapproves of airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria [September 25, 2014]
