Beware of terrorist groups in Syria

If former US president George W. Bush's Doctrine of the Right to Protect were to be taken seriously, rather than accepted as what it is, a fig leaf to cover up military action against a country not friendly to NATO, the world would have seen a coalition against the US and the UK for causing the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents in Iraq as a direct consequence of Anglo-American military strikes.

A coalition would also have formed against the Arab countries supplying lethal weaponry and cash to Syrian rebel groups linked to Al-Nusra, an al-Qaida associate, who have used them to launch attacks against Alawites (a Shitte sect, to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs), Christians and moderate Sunnis.

Unfortunately, doctrines such as the one propounded to Bush in 2005 are used by the US and its allies only in cases where they help promote the interests of those seeking to dominate other countries through the use of military power.

In Syria, the supply of arms and money to extremist groups by some Arab countries has raised fears of sectarian divide and intensifying violence across the region. Already, Iraq and Lebanon have seen an increase in the number of sectarian clashes and attacks.

Across the Middle East, ordinary people are rising up against religious fanatics, as we have seen in Egypt and Turkey. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood's attempt to change the secular society into a fundamentalist state was opposed by the people. The Bashar al-Assad regime is not perfect, far from it, but it is at least secular.

Should the US and France intervene militarily in Syria - and by default help Al-Nusra overthrow Assad - they will create a security threat not only for the region but also for themselves, which will take decades to overcome.

The author is vice-chair of Manipal Advanced Research Group and UNESCO peace chair, and professor of geopolitics at Manipal University, India.

(China Daily 09/04/2013 page9)