The displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, the destruction of large portions of the cities and towns in the urban and rural areas, the disappearance of tens of thousands of people and the killing of around 60,000 others in less than two years – i.e. since the beginning of the protest action - did not affect the proclaimed position of the regime in Damascus in any way. And despite the numerous and important political result, this wide-scale destruction, killing, and displacement had no impact on the regime's public reading into what is happening in Syria. Even if we were to believe the lies featured in this reading and the justification of the fierce violence practiced by the regime's troops, does the ruler not see the size of the disaster sweeping his country and people and does he not deem it necessary to contain the tragedy at any price? Never around the world has a president failed to express solidarity with his devastated people the way it was done by President Bashar al-Assad in his last speech, after he denied that the crisis was due to a domestic crisis and presented it as being a foreign conspiracy which he will continue to confront. This in itself explains the exceptional indifference shown by the Syrian regime towards the massive destruction which affected its people, their homes and livelihood, as well as the disdain shown towards the lives of its citizens and the long-term political and social repercussions of this destruction and this disdain, which will not facilitate coexistence in the future. Some believe that such a behavior, which is pushing the situation in Syria to the extreme, might aim at justifying division later on, under the pretext that one cannot live with the “terrorists" as per Al-Assad's description of the Syrian people who are rebelling against him. But before reaching this stage, there are certain political deductions imposing themselves. Indeed, it has become clear that the Syrian regime, which pretended to accept a political solution and Arab and foreign mediations, is not about to tolerate any solution. The only thing it will accept is the condemnation of its people's action, the recognition of its absolute authority and the disregarding of all that it has committed, which would mean a return to the pre-uprising stage. This ought to force the world - that is interested about the humanitarian and political Syrian catastrophe - to change its approach vis-à-vis this predicament, based on the fact that the Syrian people are being subjected to extermination at the hands of the regime. This also requires an urgent humanitarian intervention similar to the one seen in other places around the globe, targeting the regime's killing machine and not just aiming at offering aid to the Syrians fleeing that hell by resorting to the neighboring countries. In light of the regime's rejection of any settlement attempt that would prevent it from maintaining its current positions, as announced by Al-Assad himself, one must reconsider the nature of UN-Arab Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's mission. And regardless of the ideas he has come up with so far, and the extent of the American-Russian rapprochement over them, they will be obstructed by that same obstinacy shown by the regime towards its people, as well as by the ongoing killing machine to impose a delusional security solution. As for the conclusion reached by the internal opposition following Al-Assad's speech, it might constitute yet another proof confirming the one previously reached by the protest action and the other opposition forces, i.e. that the regime is insisting on the security solution solely, and blocking the way before any political solution. According to the regime, the security solution is placing the country before two options on which it is working concomitantly: Subjugating the Syrians and returning to the pre-protests stage, or moving to the coastal region and barricading itself in it in case the military balance of power is altered and the opposition's influence expands.
