The Muslim Times Editor for Pakistan
Credit: Xpress Tribune
Peace within states is as important as it is between and among states. Let us not forget that internal wars on any ground such as ideology, religion, sub-nationalism or for political ends have taken more lives than major wars.
The case in point is Syria, where internal conflict over rights, power and regime change havedragged the regional states and external powers in. This unfortunate country has been through a terrible civil war for more than two years. With each passing year, the level of violence from the regime and the militant factions opposing it has escalated. Each side has used deadlier weapons and has taken the conflict to almost every corner of the country. The last episode in the suspected use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime on August 21 left 1,400 civilians in a rebel-controlled area dead, including 400 children. One finds the scene of the attack utterly disgusting.
The use of these weapons of mass destruction is a crime against humanity and a violation of the 1993 convention against the use of such weapons. The Syrian regime is the second in modern history after the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein that has used chemical weapons against its own population. The latter regime attacked the Iranian troops during the long war between the two countries. More