Making things clear

Syrian President Bashar Assad told a visiting Russian parliamentary delegation a few days ago that his country must eradicate terrorism before it can hold the promised parliamentary and presidential elections.

The Syrian president holds the view that “the eradication of terrorist organisations whoever they are will lead to the political solution for the raging civil war”.

Yet this straightforward and easy answer is a Catch 22: Who are the terrorists that Assad and his allies, notably Russia and Iran, want destroyed before a peaceful transition is ushered into the troubled country?

Ever since the start of the civil war in Syria, now in its fifth year, the definition of terrorists for Damascus included reformists and the peaceful demonstrators that walked the streets of the southern Syrian city of Daraa in the Spring of 2011 to protest the dictatorial and ruthless policies of the regime.

When the peaceful protesters began to carry weapons to defend themselves from “state terrorism”, they became an easy target, labelled as terrorist groups fighting to topple the ruling regime.

In the last few years, the scope of “terrorists” expanded to include of course Daesh, Al Qaeda, Jabhat Al Nusra and similar forces fighting to change the regime in Damascus.

It would be best to first define what constitutes a terrorist for Damascus and its supporters.

Then, starting from there, the struggle against extremists and terrorists can be carried on.

Short of that, the fight in Syria remains a fuzzy phenomenon and an unidentified target, and a solution to the country’s plight will remain an elusive goal.