The story of Western intervention in the seven-year Syrian civil war is one of missed opportunities. In responding to such conflicts, the West must learn from its past mistakes, says DW’s Kersten Knipp.
The war in Syria poses plenty of “What if…?” questions. There is one that is particularly relevant to Western countries, and how they have responded to the conflict. How would this war have turned out if the West had intervened in a different way?
From today’s perspective, the story of Western involvement in the Syrian civil war is, above all, one of missed opportunities. The best-known of these was in 2013, when it became apparent that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could deploy chemical weapons against Syria’s civilian population. Then-US President Barack Obama warned of the “red line” that would be crossed if this were to happen, vowing that there would be consequences. But chemical weapons were actually used, and Obama did nothing. He ignored the poison gas, or his previous warning, or perhaps both.
Obama’s red line
This, it seems, may have been the last chance to set some limits for the Assad regime. Back then it was not yet under the protection of Iran and Russia, at least not as much as it is now. There was still, to some extent at least, a balance of power that would have made any intervention by the US and its partners seem conceivable. Obama let this opportunity pass.
Read more: UNICEF says child deaths have risen sharply in Syria
He may have good reasons for this. The US intervention in Iraq had taken place a decade previously, and had long since turned out to be a political, moral and propagandistic disaster. The headless invasion, prepared on the basis of deliberate lies, made the US appear like an arrogant, neoimperialist power — an image problem from which it still has not recovered.
For more read the full of article at The DW
