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Forging Syria's Opposition

(CNN) Itamar Rabinovich - America and the West claim that they cannot act significantly in Syria without a UN mandate, which Russia and China are denying them. But the truth is that Western governments could do much more without a Security Council resolution. While some governments have closed their embassies in Damascus, there has been no systematic severing of diplomatic relations with Syria. Indeed, there has been no stoppage of flights to and from the country. This ambivalence can largely be explained by Western and Arab concern with the weakness and opacity of the Syrian opposition's political leadership. The Syrian regime has been effective in spreading the fear of an Egyptian scenario, in which the weakness of secular activists leads to a takeover by the Muslim Brothers and jihadis. The opposition must build itself as a credible and attractive alternative to the al-Assad regime, and the regime's international and regional critics must assist in that process. Al-Assad's regime is doomed. It has no legitimacy, and it is bound to fall. But that could take a long time - and come at an alarming cost. The alternative is an effective opposition that enjoys unambiguous support by the key regional and international actors. The writer is a former ambassador of Israel to the U.S. (1993-1996).
2012-03-26 00:00:00
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