'Fall of al-Assad's regime may not end violence in Syria'- Robert Mood

29 July 2012

According to Al-Jazeera, the former head of the United Nations Observer Mission in Syria, Major General Robert Mood, has opined that the days of Syrian government are numbered but its down fall may not end the conflict.

Explaining the rationale behind Syrian’s regime ultimate down fall, Mood said on Friday that, “Sooner or later, the regime will fall. The spiral of violence, the lack of proportion in the regime's reactions, its incapacity to protect the civilian population, mean that the regime's days are numbered, but will it fall in a week or in a year? That is a question I do not dare answer."

He also added that fall of al-Assad regime may not end the Syrian conflict: "Many think that if Bashar al-Assad falls or that if he is given an honorable exit ... the problem will be solved. That is an over-simplification one should be wary of. The situation could even get worse."

Mood’s viewpoint on current Syrian crisis is quite alarming, especially when he opines the uncertainty about peace in Syria even if Assad’s regime ends or Assad is given a safe passage if he resigns. Sometimes the monotony of news on the same subject repeating over for a long time brings an effect of numbness and helplessness to its readers. But this specific comment by Mood, who has had his mandate expired last week as a head of observer mission in Syria, certainly can not go unnoticed.

Should one assume from Mood’s statement that the Syrian conflict, the root cause of which is a fierce friction between Assad’s regime and Free Syrian Army, is not just limited to the war of insiders? Are there external forces engaged in following a hidden agenda of "not- peaceful-Syria" at all, regardless of whatever political transition Syria may go through?

The facts and statistics based on more than 16 months of uprising with death toll up to 17,000, in addition to failure of implementation of six-point peace plan by Kofi Annan, are giving a significant weight to Mood’s remarks. If the end of al-Assad’s regime fails to bring peace to Syrians, that would not only be a disaster to Syria itself but major global politics will also be in jeopardy.

Extremely deplorable condition of Syrian conflict calls for urgent action by world peace makers to mark "sincerest and honest efforts" together instead of just slogans, in order to play their due role to bring long-term political stability and peace to Syrian people.

Source: Al-Jazeera

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