Syria’s neighbors face moral dilemma
Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq all try to distance themselves from the violence in Syria
Elhanan Miller is the former Arab affairs reporter for The Times of Israel
As Bashar Assad’s violent crackdown on Syria’s opposition intensifies, the country’s Arab neighbors are facing an increasing dilemma of how to react.
“The Syrian situation places us and others in a moral dilemma,” Jordanian Prime Minister On Khasawneh told the independent Jordanian daily Al-Arab Al-Youm. “While we wish to avoid military intervention, we cannot remain silent on the situation there.”
Khasawneh added that Jordan wanted to make sure that sanctions imposed on Syria would not harm the Syrian population or Jordanian interests. Jordan shares a 375 kilometer (233 miles) border with Syria.
Lebanon, a country occupied by the Syrian military from 1976 until 2006, generally keeps a low profile on the violence in Syria. The Lebanese position on Syria varies, depending on whether the commentator is aligned with the anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance led by Saad Hariri or with the pro-Syria and pro-Hizbullah March 8 Alliance.
Ahmad Fatfat, a member of parliament for Hariri’s Future bloc, warned on Thursday against a Syrian breach of Lebanese sovereign soil. Fatfat told the Now Lebanon news website that a Syrian breach of Lebanon’s borders in search of Syrian army defectors would be “an announcement of a war against Lebanon,” which must be opposed by force.
Pro-Syrian Lebanese politician Wiam Wahhab, for his part, told the LBC TV station that “it was unconvincing that the Syrian army would kill children.”
Iraq, which toppled its own dictator in 2003, is also trying to distance itself from the violence in nearby Syria. On Wednesday an Iraqi parliamentary committee discussed information on arms being smuggled from Iran into Syria through Iraq. The Security and Defense Committee denied any knowledge of such smuggling.
“The problem in Syria isn’t the lack of weapons as much as it is a political problem between the regime and the people,” parliament member Shawan Muhammad Taha told the Iraqi daily Al-Mashriq. “The problem in Syria is purely political. It needs political and administrative reform.”