Genocide in an Election Year

We watched the election returns on CNN Europe in Karmen’s apartment overlooking Zagreb’s main square. So many people from the former Yugoslavia were hoping for a Clinton victory.

During the 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton had been speaking out against the Bush administration’s inaction in Bosnia. Only after losing the election and just before Clinton’s inauguration, did the Bush administration issue a “finding of genocide.”

Clinton won, and there was renewed hope for a U.S. plan of intervention in Bosnia. Yet only in August 1995 – over three years later – did the Clinton administration finally act in Bosnia, when NATO bombed the Serbs for almost three weeks during Operation Deliberate Force.

This action ultimately led to an end to the Croatian and Bosnian wars. America had finally shown its political will and leadership to stop the ethnic cleansing and war crimes. Some 20,000 died in the Croatian war, with hundreds of thousands of refugees. In the Bosnian conflict upwards of 110,000 died and over 2.2 million people were displaced.

Election Year 2012

It’s once again an election year in the U.S. and this time the people of Syria are the victims. This time U.S. President Barack Obama faces the challenge of stopping what can be defined as “genocide.”

Since the uprising began a year ago in Syria, Bashar al-Assad and his military have been conducting a well-coordinated campaign of arrest, imprisonment, detention, torture and killing. The Syrian military is now attacking the northern city of Idlib, just as it did in Homs for four weeks, to destroy another opposition stronghold. The Syrian government is also shelling mosques, schools, playgrounds, and even a hospital, according to the Associated Press.

An estimated 7,500 Syrians have been killed, and upwards of 100,000 Syrians have fled and are now refugees in neighboring Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. An estimated 200, 000 Syrian people have been internally displaced.

In her book, “A Problem from Hell – America and the Age of Genocide,” Samantha Power identifies actions that are considered as genocide. She notes “deliberate military attacks or threats of attacks on civilians and civilian area.” Such attacks take place “with intent to destroy the lives and existence of citizens.”

Article 2 of the United Nations Resolution 260 – the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as …“causing serious bodily or mental hardship to members of the group,” and … “deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.”

Obama vs. Bush and Clinton

While economic sanctions against Syria have been in place for a while and have hindered Assad’s efforts to squash his own people, a recent UN mission to Syria and a separate Security Council effort to achieve a cease fire have stalled.

Obama has said “no” to the arming of the opposition movement. He has been quoted as ruling out any deployment of U.S. military even while the Syrian National Council and Free Syrian Army have agreed to coordinate their actions.

On the diplomatic front, the Obama administration has been successful in keeping the diplomatic pressure on Syria, in part by isolating China and Russia in their support of Assad.

In October 2011 and again in February 2012, UN Security Council resolutions were vetoed by China and Russia. European countries pushed the first resolution that threatened sanctions against Syria, while in the second one the Arab League put forward a peace plan that called for Assad to step down. The Obama administration threw its weight behind each resolution to broaden the coalition of countries against Syria.

It seemed to work. Following Russia’s election, newly elected once-again president Vladimir Putin hinted that Russia would not tolerate much longer the violent repression by Assad against Syrian people. China followed suit by demanding a halt to the violence and to allow UN and ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) teams to enter Homs to assess the need for humanitarian aid.

Strong, well-timed rhetoric has been a part of this diplomatic pressure. America’s Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said the U.S. “is disgusted” with China and Russia after their first veto. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared of their second veto, “It is just despicable” asking “Whose side are they on?” Answering, “They are clearly not on the side of the Syrian people.”

Most recently, Secretary Clinton edged a little closer to recognizing the genocide that is occurring in Syria by labeling Assad’s actions as “war crimes."

Mind, Emotion and Will

The Obama administration has shown sound political thinking in building upon economic sanctions aimed at stopping the violent killing of Syrian citizens. It reacted with proper emotions and strong will when China and Russia vetoed two UN resolutions.

It must continue to think clearly, show emotional support for the lives and human rights of Syrians, and act with a will that reflects the historical values of America in stopping Assad.

Under Article 1 of the UN convention on genocide, once a signatory confirms genocide, it is obligated to take actions “to prevent and punish.”

The first Bush and Clinton administrations avoided use of the term of “genocide.” These two administrations showed no will and did not demonstrate America’s values by acting early enough to prevent genocide in Croatia and Bosnia. Obama must not do the same.

Secretary of State Clinton’s recent use of the term “war crimes” referred to one individual’s actions against that country’s people. Genocide refers to the collective actions taken by the person in power – Assad – and his government forces – the military, to enact decisions to kill Syrians and destroy opposition to his rule.

To prosecute war crimes, the UN must set up a tribunal under its jurisdiction. This step requires that the UN show a “threat to international peace and security.”

During the Rwanda genocide, the UN Security Council had to prove such a threat to overcome the UN charter ban on interference in a nation’s domestic affairs. It did so by showing that the fleeing of refugees into neighboring countries and related burdens of caring for them was destabilizing neighboring countries, according to Power in her book.

The same destabilizing threat currently exists in Syria as its citizens are fleeing into neighboring countries and fostering increased political tensions in the Middle East. An estimated 83,000 Syrian refugees are now in Jordan, over 7,000 in Lebanon, and upwards of 10,000 in Turkey.

Obama should go to the UN Security Council with a resolution to set up a tribunal to try Assad based on the threat he has created to international peace and security.

He should also be prepared to take a series of actions, including:

- The set up of humanitarian aid zones in those countries hosting Syrian refugees, complete with a UN stabilization force lead by American troops.

If any other parties like Hezbollah or Iran meddle in these safe zones, we must prepared to defend the rights of the refugees to seek humanitarian aid.

- Going back to the UN general assembly and asking for permission to impose an arms embargo on Syria.

Russia and Iran should be included in this embargo because their supplying of weapons to Assad allows him to continue attacks on innocent civilians.

- Sign the treaty banning the use of antipersonnel landmines.

By doing so, the U.S. could further isolate Russia and Syria.

Syria, Russia and the U.S. are three of 37 countries that have not signed this treaty. Syria has been mining areas near the Lebanon and Turkey borders to stop the flow of their citizens out of the country.

True Leadership

While the consequences of such actions are unpredictable, the killing of Syrians by Assad will certainly continue.

The U.S. position on genocide must be decisive… If there is one “pre-emptive” war to fight, and always, it is a war against genocide wherever it is committed and whenever – even in an election year.

The Obama administration must show that America is a democracy with more than a human face, but a country and superpower with a soul. America’s conscience is not based on our nation’s vital interests, but on values associated with human rights and political liberties such as freedom of expression (the rights to speak out, associate with other citizens, and assemble to demonstrate against tyranny).

The U.S. soul and core values stem from it being a nation of immigrants. America pursued and achieved its manifest destiny by allowing immigrants to become American citizens. Immigrants are still coming to overcome economic woes, and find remedy in civil liberties to overcome political prejudice and persecution.

How many Bosnians, for instance, came to American during and after the Bosnian War? How many people from north Africa and the countries of the Arab Spring, including Syria, will immigrate to our country?

Genocide, no matter what the scale, whoever the people, no matter what the timing, requires immediate and decisive steps as part of a willful effort to end it.

Building a coalition to stop genocide requires time to overcome different geopolitical positions, and the diverse historical and cultural values of peoples and nations around the world.

Continuing with decisive actions to stop Assad’s genocide in Syria will not hurt President Obama's chances for being re-elected. Rather, such actions will show the leadership that Americans expect of their president not only for domestic concerns, but foreign policy matters, too.