Syria, The first global warming war

By Ayman Hakki

History will mark the Syrian civil war as the first of many Global Warming wars. The regime in Syria was a police state par excellence, with one million security henchmen. Assad and his corrupt sympathizers felt secure in bending 20 million Syrians to their will and prospered. Then the drought came, forcing young villagers to leave their remote agrarian homes and congregate in cities. When the events of Daraa (2011) sparked an insurrection, the regime responded with brutal force, and things got out of hand. Outside players were enrolled and Syria became a magnet for Jihadists from all over the world.

This pitting of a brutal corrupt well-armed regime against a theologically inspired insurrection financed by Wahabi supporters assured Syria’s collapse. The regime pointed to the terrorists, while the opposition highlighted the criminal practices of the security state. Two evil forces collided, with the Syrian people paying the price. Millions were exiled from their homes, and hundreds of thousands were tortured and killed.

Today Syria is geographically fractured beyond repair. The regime with the support of fierce Iranian militias and vicious Russian occupation is still in control of the Mediterranean coast and the south, the Islamists with Turkish support are sowing discontent in the North West, while the Kurds with US support rule the Northeast, under the pretext of fighting ISIS. All three areas are suffering from corruption, hostage-taking, and drug trafficking.

Global warming was the spark, not the cause of this civil war. Syria was a tinder box of contradictions, in need of a single match, and that match was the drought. How to put out this raging fire, no one knows, but level-headed people must intervene. Syrian Americans of all stripes must enroll an indifferent US administration to formulate a policy that will offer a modicum of de-confliction and alleviate food insecurity while forcing the regime and its opponents to hold serious negotiations. The blueprint is clear, UN resolution 2254, ceasefire, a new constitution, a transitional period followed by elections, and a Syria free of terrorists, at peace with all its neighbors and Secular.

While the rest of the world deals with Global Warming, the heat must be turned down in Syria, or the wildfire will spread.