Hussein Shobokshi EVERYONE was more than certain that Syria and its people's struggle against the tyranny of President Bashar Al-Assad would be mentioned during the speech of President Barack Obama marking the occasion of his inauguration recently. But it did not figure in it. This undoubtedly sent a very confusing message to the world and people were forced to deeply ask just what is the position of the US and its Western allies vis-à-vis the Syrian situation? And has there been a ‘change' of heart that caused the support to the revolution to become merely just lip service? As the crisis in Syria continues to escalate, the causalities become a daily record of misery and hope lessens it's obvious that Assad has realized that the West has somehow slowed down its orchestrated effort to forcefully oust him citing the danger that will be triggered by extremist groups who are capitalizing on the chaos on the ground. Groups such as ‘Al-Nusrah', which was mentioned recently by US lawmakers as a ‘terrorist organization', was therefore listed as such. To generalize all of the rebels and revolutionaries under the umbrella of extremists and the ‘Nusrah' group is not only overly simplistic but it is downright naive. It is absolutely no secret that Assad's regime has played the card of “extremist organization” very well. He launched numerous groups against targets in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan and they were completely recruited and financed by the security forces of the Assad regime. Assad therefore is much more dangerous element than all of these ‘extremist' groups combined. The situation in Syria is no longer just a security, political or an economic problem, as the humanitarian situation is fast becoming catastrophic. Jordan alone is hosting over a million refugees, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon all have shouldered a massive burden as well. The ousting of Assad is no longer simply a political option but it is a moral necessity. Assad is a tyrant that has ruled his country with bloody hands ignoring all aspects of human rights. In the age of freedom and liberty for all it is simply unacceptable that the world sits and watches the killing of hundreds of innocent Syrians on a daily basis, not interfering because they fear the extremists. This is nothing but hypocrisy that will aggravate the situation further creating a new form of extremism that is unheard of before. Could that be a reason for the long wait? Let see!
