Progress in Syria: long may it continue

It’s not often that we get good news out of Syria. But this past week, there was at least one positive item, and that is the destruction of chemical weapons.

The first team of experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) just arrived last weekend in Syria to begin the work of destroying missile warheads, aerial bombs, and mixing and filling equipment.  

Shortly after the arrival of the first team, the second batch of experts landed on the ground to help accelerate the work.  

A big morale booster came this past Friday when the OPCW won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize for its work to rid the world of chemical weapons.

OPCW’s assignment in Syria is the biggest yet. No single agency has ever attempted to destroy so many chemical weapons in such a short time. The timetable is ambitious, with or without the civil war to disrupt their efforts.  

So far, things are moving accordingly. Syria met the deadline in informing the UN about the size and scope of its chemical weapons programme. There were no report of cheating, although it’s doesn’t mean that Syria is telling the UN the truth.

On Sunday, the UN inspectors started to dismantle the weapons stockpile. Their work is part of a UN Security Council resolution demanding that the regime turn over all of its chemical weapons by mid-2014.

The fact that the dismantling came just three weeks after the US and Russia reached an agreement that averted an American airstrike on Syria is a major surprise. In the realm of international relations where diplomats can spend months arguing over wording of some documents or agreements, the current pace of activities on the ground is nothing short of relative light speed.

But we should not lose sight of the fact that the work has just begun and that the Syrian civil war is still far from over. But this diplomatic breakthrough and OPCW achievements on the ground should not be an end in itself and the international community can not afford to be complacent. More than 100,000 have died from this bloody civil war that has no end in sight.

For some, the diplomatic breakthrough between Russia and the US is only helping Bashir al-Assad’s hold on to power and prolong his leash on life so he can continue with his atrocities. While this may be so, one should not let up on the issue of accountability for war crimes he is alleged to have committed.  

There are no easy way out, unfortunately. The longer Assad stays in power, the more demoralised the Syrian opposition will be.

Moreover, there is no guarantee that Assad’s replacement will be more democratic and stable. The influx of radical Islamist fighters suggests that a post-Assad Syria could be chaotic. But would arming moderates do any better?

For the time being, a diplomatic solution seems to be the most logical course of direction to take. In a better world, the bloody war would end, Assad squeezed out of power and the transition would be smooth. But we’re not living in an ideal world and there is no easy answer.  

What the world saw in Syria this past week via the work of the OPCW gives all of us some hope that, in the end, peace might just prevail.