Let God Sort Them Out!

Throughout the Syrian civil war, the US foreign policy has been conflicting. This article describes three ways the policy failed the Syrians asking for justice and political freedom.

“Let Allah sort it out!” That’s what Sarah Palin said in August 30, 2013. Her reaction came in response to president Obama’s plan for a limited military action against the Assad regime in Syria, after the latter crossed the so-called red line using chemical weapon against his own people. She modified this expression from a phrase used during the time of the crusades: “Kill them all, let God sort them out!” Never before has Sarah Palin been so visionary.

Few months later, president Obama changed his plan after Russia intervened and the Syrian government agreed to give all its chemical weapons. Since then, there has not been any serious action from this administration to put an end to the crisis. In fact, the administration has essentially relayed an indirect message to the Syrian president: that it is acceptable to kill your people as long as you do not use chemical weapons. The Syrian crisis, subsequently, degenerated and ISIL was formed, and the death toll in Syria rose dramatically.

Two years before, a group of Syrians started a nonviolent uprising against the injustice and lack of political liberty imposed upon them by the Assad regime. They sought democracy and they looked toward the free world for help, but the latter looked the other way. They expected it to protect their peaceful movement but they only heard words. They wanted it to pressure the regime to respond to their demands but their demands fell on deaf ears. They asked for the world outrage and support when an activist or a journalist is killed or arrested but all they got were spectators. The leaders of the free world sent them conflicting messages between encouraging rhetoric one day, and a hand-off approach the other. They were left to battle a brutal regime and to look for ways to protect themselves. Weapons and foreign extremist fighters poured into the country; chaos ensued.

Innocent and poor Syrians who were caught in the middle were forced to leave their houses and flee the country. Nonviolent activists were arrested, tortured, and even killed. Those who were lucky to escape the regime were not lucky enough to escape some of the extremist groups. And just like that, half of the Syrian population ended up displaced either internally- where they found themselves at mercy of the brutal regime or armed rebels- or externally, straining the economies of already struggling neighboring countries. After four years of no resolution, they decided to flee to Europe.

After the Paris attacks, we have noted with alarm the increasing political rhetoric against Syrian refugees. People who have been forced to flee their homes for fear of their lives are now been represented not as victims, but as security threats and potential terrorists. Syrians who have risen up looking for dignity, freedom and equality find the world treating them with humiliation, restrictions and discrimination.

This past week, Congress slipped a restriction to the visa waiver program into the massive government-spending bill for 2016 and the president signed it. It effectively discriminates against those nationals of Syrian or Iraqi origin or those who visited Syria or Iraq in the past 5 years. For example, a person born and raised in Belgium who has a Belgian passport and is originally from Syria will have to get a visa before coming to the United States, even if he or she has never visited Syria, while most other Belgian citizens will not. Since the program is reciprocal, the same will apply to all Syrian Americans who are traveling to any of the 38 countries in the visa waiver program. This bill virtually eliminate any chance for any humanitarian work to help the displaced Syrians or any country that the Department of Homeland Security wishes to add on the list for any reason. Interestingly, the bill excludes military personnel from these restrictions.

To summarize, the US is not doing anything to end the fighting and the violence in Syria. It is not doing anything to prevent the free flow of weapon into Syria. The progressives do not want to see any military intervention in Syria. The conservatives do not want to allow the Syrian refugees into the US. They are all making it harder for any Syrian or humanitarian worker to help the displaced Syrians. In essence, “Kill them all, let God sort them out!”