Commentary Commentary: A rebel leader has done in Syria what world powers and the UN could not
Rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani's success or failure in transitioning from extremist to nation builder will be felt around the world, says CNA's Liling Tan, who covered the UN for a decade.
SINGAPORE: “Revolutionaries don't always make great leaders,” a veteran journalist reminded me in early 2012.
It was about a year into the Arab Spring, when uprisings tore through the Middle East and North Africa. We were foreign correspondents at the United Nations reporting on the fallout, tracking developments reshaping geopolitics in the region and the world.
ibya’s revolutionary-turned-dictator Muammar Gaddafi had been shot dead, Egypt was about to end six decades of military rule by electing a leader from the Muslim Brotherhood, and Syria was embroiled in a bitter civil war that would soon reverberate around the world.
Ripped apart by rebel fighting, violent government crackdowns, the rise of the Islamic State terror group, and airstrikes by the United States and Russia, millions were fleeing in what would become the largest refugee crisis of our time.
All that was enough for Syria to top the agenda at the UN, but the world body’s most powerful arm was paralysed.
At the Security Council, the US, the United Kingdom and France kept demanding that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad step down. Russia and China kept opposing. Diplomats bickered and blustered. No one budged.
There were emergency meetings, walkouts, condemnation, and gut-wrenching videos of chemical attacks and testimonials from war victims. Some humanitarian assistance was negotiated, chemical weapons inspectors were deployed, but no UN-brokered peace.
Now, a rebel leader has done what world powers and the UN could not - liberate Syria from its 13-year conflict and end 50 years of Assad family rule.
And he is bearing the promise of peace.
