SYNOPSIS:
In one hundred years or less, Syria will be a
peaceful
nation.
But the specific historical pathway towards peace is unknown.
If the World Peace Force was large enough,
then Syria might be a good candidate for disarmament
because of the misuse of the Syrian armed forces against
Syrians who oppose the current government.
Imagining how Syria would become peaceful by the
22nd century
might suggest adapting the same principles for other small nations.
OUTLINE:
1. JUDICIAL DETERMINATION OF THE FACTS ON THE GROUND.
2.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MORE OFFICERS
OF THE WORLD
PEACE FORCE
WOULD GO TO SYRIA.
3.
ONCE THE NATION IS COMPLETELY DISARMED,
A NEW
POLITICAL ORDER WOULD EMERGE.
4.
BECAUSE THE WORLD PEACE FORCE DOES NOT YET EXIST,
OTHER METHODS
OF PACIFYING SYRIA MIGHT
BE TRIED.
5.
ALL OF SYRIA COULD BECOME A NO-FLY ZONE.
6. COOPERATING NATIONS COULD FORM
A UNITED ARMY
FOR DISARMAMENT.
7.
THE WORK OF DISARMING SYRIA
COULD BE
SUB-DIVIDED AMONG SEVERAL NATIONS.
8. THE SYRIAN RULING CLASS MIGHT DEPART WITHOUT A
FIGHT.
9.
PERMANENT PEACE WOULD BE ENFORCED
BY
ARABIC-SPEAKING PEACE-KEEPERS.
10. THE PEOPLE OF SYRIA WOULD CREATE THEIR NEW GOVERNMENT.
11.
CONCLUSION: SYRIA, A NATION AT PEACE.
WHAT
WOULD THE WORLD PEACE FORCE DO?
Disarm
All Fighters in Syria
by
James Leonard Park
The other nations of the planet
Earth
are considering what to do about the political and ethnic violence in
Syria.
1. JUDICIAL
DETERMINATION OF THE FACTS ON THE GROUND.
The current government of Syria and the news media
of the West
tell radically different stories of what is happening in Syria.
The government says the opposition is inspired by foreign terrorists.
And because they have taken over certain towns and cities,
military violence is
the best way to attempt to control them:
Wherever there have been protests,
protesters had to be killed
to re-establish law-and-order.
Raining random death on areas of the country
that have been taken over by 'foreign terrorists'
was supposed to control the population.
The media of the West tell a very different story:
The majority of the people of Syria now oppose the current government.
And because they have no
organized way to change their government,
they must use unconventional means to draw the attention of the world.
Opponents of the current government of Syria hope that somehow
other countries of the world will help them to change the government.
In 2015, major portions of Syria were taken over by
fighters from ISIS.
The so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria"
really is a terrorist organization.
And it became the largest group of fighters opposing the Syrian
government.
But ISIS was also fighting against lesser-known groups of rebels.
If the World Peace Force were operating
everywhere on Earth,
several officers of the WPF
would already be living in
Syria.
And these neutral observers—not
identified with any ethnic group—
would report to the world what is happening on the ground.
If there were a World Court in operation,
then the claims and counter-claims could be heard from all sides
at a neutral location on the Earth
---where no one would have guns to intimidate their
enemies.
Wise and thoughtful neutral judges would hear all claims,
including reports from the officers of the World Peace Force
in Syria.
Photos and video evidence would be offered by all sides.
The government of Syria would offer all its
testimony and evidence,
supporting the claim of foreign terrorists inflaming the people of
Syria.
And opposition leaders would tell their versions of the same events.
Because the killing continues every day,
the World Court could issue a temporary judgment,
based on the first days of testimony.
When additional testimony and evidence is presented,
the World Court could modify its conclusions
and perhaps authorize a different approach for the World Peace
Force.
But the World Court would approve
sending thousands of additional officers of the WPF into
Syria
because they would be able to prevent
more killing
while the actual facts on the ground were more firmly established.
The officers of the World Peace Force
would also openly report what they have observed in Syria,
exposing the distortions, exaggerations, & false claims of all
sides.
The real identity of persons who are killing others
would be revealed.
If foreign terrorists are supporting the rebels, these would be
identified.
If the violence against the rebels is committed by independent
militias,
not controlled by the central government, this would also be
disclosed.
If the rebels are actually regular citizens of Syria
and if the rebels are being killed by government thugs
or private armed groups paid or otherwise supported by the government
such facts would also be proven.
Has the government been dropping bombs on the people?
Who has destroyed major cities of Syria?
What areas of Syria are controlled by foreign terrorists?
2. HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS MORE OFFICERS
OF
THE WORLD PEACE FORCE
WOULD GO TO SYRIA.
If the World Court determines that the government is
killing the people
or if the current government is not able to stop the killing,
then Syria would be selected as the next nation to disarm.
There are only 200,000 soldiers in the armed forces of Syria.
When the World Peace Force is at full strength,
there will be 1,000,000 armed men and women
trained and ready to move into any trouble-spot immediately.
The World Peace Force would take over Syria slowly
and carefully,
seeking to prevent as much
loss of life as possible.
But if the government of Syria orders its military to resist the
WPF,
then armed conflict will be the only remaining way to disarm Syria.
Individual members of the Syrian armed forces will
know
that they are out-numbered 5 to 1
by the soldiers of the World Peace Force.
And at least the most intelligent of such Syrian military men
will know that their future lies with a disarmed Syria,
not with any effort of the current government to stay in power
by killing or threatening to kill everyone who opposes the
government.
Some Syrian soldiers will surrender without a fight.
And the World Peace Force would do its best
to accept and protect all such individuals who decide to stop fighting.
Surrendering soldiers should be protected from their commanders,
who might be determined to fight to the death
and to take all of their soldiers with them to the grave.
Certain areas of the country will be the first to be disarmed.
These might be areas most opposed to the present
government.
And the fighters who opposed the government
will give up their weapons when they see the thousands of
officers
of the World Peace Force coming into their towns and villages.
Once the World Peace Force
has proven its non-partisan military might,
peace-loving people
everywhere will gladly cooperate with the WPF.
In these areas of Syria controlled by the World
Peace Force,
prison camps would be
established for all fighting men who surrender.
Separate camps will be established for different fighting groups.
Putting former foes into the same camp would only continue the battles.
Cemeteries
would be established for
fighters who refuse to surrender:
If they must be killed to
prevent them from killing,
then they themselves will be killed and buried.
And to prevent sectarian strife at the grave-side,
separate cemeteries should be established
for different groups of fallen
soldiers.
Normally the officers of the WPF who
die disarming any nation
will have their bodies returned to their countries-of-origin for
burial.
Those who continue to fight against the World Peace
Force
would be offered two alternatives:
a bed in a prison camp
or a grave in a
cemetery.
How many fighters would go each way
in the first months of
disarming any country?
But as the World Peace Force disarms more of that country,
more of the fighters will see the wisdom of surrendering
rather than being killed.
3. ONCE THE NATION IS
COMPLETELY DISARMED,
A
NEW POLITICAL ORDER WOULD EMERGE.
It could take a year or two to disarm Syria
completely.
But disarmament would be achieved
while trying to avoid killing as much as
possible.
For instance, weapons of
mass death would never be used.
There would be no bombing or strafing.
Soldiers will not be
killed from a distance
before they have individually refused to surrender.
Each individual fighter from any side
would be offered the opportunity to surrender
rather than be killed.
Disarmament
will be complete and permanent:
All of the weapons of warfare will be destroyed
or handed over to the
World Peace Force.
All military installations and facilities will be dismantled
or taken
over by the WPF.
All fighting forces will be permanently demobilized.
All shipments of arms into Syria from anywhere will be ended.
All flows of foreign fighters into Syria will be stopped.
All taxation and other means of supporting military forces will
end.
All civilian employees of the military services will be dismissed.
Everything owned by the military will pass into other ownership.
All government offices devoted to military affairs will be
disbanded.
The only exception to this will be departments of veterans' affairs,
which can continue operating until the last military veteran is buried.
After there are no more armed fighters in Syria
(except the WPF itself),
then reasonable people from all factions
would begin to imagine new
forms
of government
—no
longer based on using military force or the threat of military violence
to support any particular system of law-and-order.
The old ruling class would be gone.
They had kept themselves in power mainly by military force.
When there are no more soldiers of the Syrian Arab Republic,
some other form of government will have to be created.
It is not the role of
the World Peace Force to tell the people of Syria
what forms of government to create for themselves.
The World Peace Force will
remain in Syria forever,
in whatever strengths might be needed for the rest of history
to prevent any form of
re-armament
and any form of government
based on military violence.
Of course, there will have to be local police forces
in every locality.
Ordinary crimes will
still happen in the new Syria.
And the local police and courts will deal with all ordinary
criminals.
But the local police will never have the weapons of warfare,
which might be turned against any people who displease the leaders.
Sectarian divisions will continue to exist after
disarmament.
But no one section of the Syrian people will be able to rule
everyone
by using the weapons of war to control the people.
Some forms of cooperation across sectarian lines will emerge.
But if the sects find themselves hating one another too much,
they might have to sub-divide
the former Syria
at least temporarily to live at peace within their ethnic
enclaves.
Perhaps in some later year,
the various parts of a divided Syria will
cooperate once again.
The World Peace Force would remain non-political.
The role of the World Peace Force would be to prevent anyone
from using violent means to
impose a new political order.
Only the WPF itself will be permitted to possess any
weapons of war.
4. BECAUSE THE WORLD
PEACE FORCE DOES NOT YET EXIST,
OTHER
METHODS OF PACIFYING SYRIA MIGHT
BE TRIED.
We have begun to imagine a planet without
national military forces.
If we keep this goal in mind,
we can make wiser decisions about what to do with Syria
now.
If we look for peace on Earth, we will not send more
arms into Syria.
More weapons of warfare will only mean
that more Syrians will be dead before the chaos ends.
Weapons will not be provided to the Syrian armed forces.
Weapons will not be provided for any private militias.
Weapons will not be provided to any opposition fighters.
Weapons will not be provided for any foreign terrorists.
This is the handwriting on the wall:
After the end of military conflict in Syria,
the present ruling class will no longer be in power.
Some of them will take their wealth
and move to other countries that
will
accept them.
Some will be imprisoned for their roles in the violent civil war.
Some will be killed in the military actions removing them from
power.
Good records will be kept wherever possible
—recording
just who killed whom in 2011 and beyond.
And once a new political order is established in Syria,
decisions will be made about former fighters from all sides.
Some will be permitted to return to civilian life,
if it seems clear that they will give up killing.
But hardened military personnel might have to stay in camps or
prisons
until such time as they die of natural causes
or whenever they can prove that they have given up their inclination
to use violence to enforce their wishes.
A few months or years after the end of military violence,
the situation of imprisoned former fighters can be re-examined.
If there is a new government of Syria that has no place for military
men,
then perhaps the former soldiers can join the peaceful
population,
where they will pursue new
ways of life
that have little to do with
their former military careers.
In the absence of any World Peace Force,
the armed forces of the most responsible nations of the Earth
might have to be deployed to end the killing in the Syrian Arab
Republic.
As the facts about all armed groups in Syria become
known,
specific plans can be created to disarm all fighters,
without regard to their ethnic, political, or religious identities.
This will explicitly include all armed forces of the Syrian Arab
Republic
and all armed forces of any opposition fighting groups.
Complete disarmament of all former fighters
will terminate all forms of government maintained by military
force.
5. ALL OF SYRIA COULD BECOME
A NO-FLY ZONE.
Because
Syria now has an established air force,
which has been active in killing all enemies of the government,
this will have to be the first part of the Syrian military forces to be
disarmed.
No land-based forces should be deployed anywhere in Syria
until it is absolutely clear that they will never be attacked from the
air.
There are six air-bases in Syria.
All of these will have to be put
out of operation by first strikes
from some combination of military forces
that have agreed that Syria must be disarmed permanently.
Since there will never again be any need for a
Syrian Air Force,
complete destruction of all air-fields and flying machines
might be the ultimate goal.
If any pilots in the Syrian Air Force
wish to surrender with their airplanes,
such surrender will be accepted at near-by airports.
But most facilities and aircraft will be destroyed on the ground.
If some of the air-fields could be converted for
civilian use,
that option should be seriously considered.
Most of this destruction of the Syrian Air Forces
can be accomplished from a distance,
without endangering any of the people involved
in this form of disarmament by destroying the weapons of war.
Everyone on the ground anywhere near the air-bases to be destroyed
will know about the incoming missiles
so that they can move away from the danger involved.
A no-fly zone should be established over the whole
state of Syria.
This means that only the
disarming forces will be permitted to fly.
If any other planes or helicopters take to the air from anywhere in
Syria,
they should be immediately shot down by the disarming forces.
And soon any such efforts will stop.
Nothing can be accomplished by attempting to use any aircraft.
And the people who support and operate any remaining air forces
will be subject to immediate death
whenever and wherever they can be discovered.
The skies will be patrolled by the disarming forces 24 hours a day.
The sky-patrol will also watch for any troops moving
on the ground.
And in very rare cases, it would be appropriate to use air-power
against concentrations of troops who have refused to surrender.
6. COOPERATING NATIONS COULD
FORM
A UNITED ARMY
FOR DISARMAMENT.
Whatever nation-states of the planet Earth wish to
cooperate
can form a unified military force of 1,000,000 men and women,
which will gather on the land and sea near Syria
to put everyone in Syria (and in the rest of the world) on notice
that all fighters in Syria
will be
disarmed—permanently.
All of the former military forces of Syria will be disarmed.
All officers and soldiers will be imprisoned to keep them from
fighting.
All private armies will be disarmed and the fighters imprisoned.
Separate prison camps will be established for each former group of
soldiers.
This will prevent old hostilities from disrupting disarmament camps.
There might be as many as 1,000 private militias in
Syria today.
Sending more weapons of warfare to anyone in Syria
would only prolong the battles and increase the death-toll.
Each and every fighter now living in Syria will have
the same options:
surrender or be killed.
The United Army for Disarmament will move slowly over Syria,
advancing very carefully so that all who wish to surrender
will have full opportunity to drop their weapons instead of being
killed.
And those who surrender will be placed in prison camps,
where they will reside until some future time
when they can safely be released back into the general population.
They will shows that they
will never fight again
by helping the United Army for Disarmament to disarm the rest of Syria.
If they really believe in
disarmament,
they will provide useful
information
about their former comrades in
arms.
Those who choose to die rather than give up their
weapons
will be given respectful burials in cemeteries prepared in advance
to receive the bodies of all who resist
disarmament.
If their relatives wish to take part in any funeral ceremonies,
they can do so as long as the funerals
do not create any forms
of violence—from
any groups or individuals.
Such funerals should convince all
fighters who resist disarmament
that the United Army for Disarmament really can do its work.
Mass killing will be avoided as much as possible,
since using the weapons of war to kill several fighters at once
would prevent any individual from surrendering rather than dying.
Fighters who refuse to surrender will be killed
one-by-one.
Those who merely pretend
to fight might be planning to surrender.
Once their commanders are dead, some individual fighters
might decide that surrender would be a
better choice.
And those soldiers who kill
their commanders and then surrender
will not be punished for helping the cause of disarmament.
7. THE WORK OF
DISARMING SYRIA
COULD BE
SUB-DIVIDED AMONG SEVERAL NATIONS.
Since it is better to be disarmed by
one's friends than
one's enemies,
careful planning might make the process of disarmament less violent.
Wherever possible, geographical sections of Syria would surrender
to the military forces of a friendly country,
especially when the occupying force speaks the same
language.
Originally there were about 22 million Syrians.
90% spoke Arabic as their first language.
74% were Sunni and 13% were Shia.
The largest minority were the Kurds of the north.
But there were also Armenians, Assyrians, Turks, & Christians.
Large parts of the country were controlled by Kurds and rebel armies.
If the Day of Disarmament can be set several months
in advance
—depending
on the current level of violence—
then
careful planning and coordination can take place
between the soldiers of other nations who will become the occupiers
and the peace-loving people
of the specific area they will occupy.
Even a small country that will send only 100 soldiers
can be assigned to a small town (and surrounding area) of 2,000
Syrians.
On the Day of Disarmament, all Syria might be disarmed
simultaneously.
This would take away the excuse of some who are being disarmed
that they need their weapons to protect themselves from their enemies.
Their enemies will also be
disarmed.
There will be no more attacks from any side of the former military
chaos.
Larger cities will have to be taken over by more
soldiers, of course.
And this might require coordination among several countries
who will be taking over each large city.
As soon as possible after disarmament,
local police forces will take over ordinary policing
—as
long as they are completely non-partisan
and possess no weapons of
warfare.
If the Day of Disarmament is announced in advance,
several former fighters will flee the country rather than be captured.
This will further reduce the population of Syria.
The number of occupiers (who should be ready to stay at least one
year)
will be a total of 1 million—from many cooperating countries.
The maximum number of former fighters to be
imprisoned
is probably 1 million—counting
all armed people on any side.
The formal Syrian armed forces were only 200,000 at the beginning.
These were mostly conscripts.
And a similar number might have been added to their ranks
as needed by the central government.
But because they will have no heart for making themselves martyrs
for the departing Syrian government,
most members of the Syrian military will surrender
without
a fight.
They will need to be protected from their commanders.
Several prison camps will be prepared with one
million beds
for the surrendering former fighters.
A much smaller numbers of graves will be dug
for the few who are so foolish that they would rather be dead
than surrender to the United Army for
Disarmament.
All weapons of warfare will be removed and destroyed.
If some resources can be used by the occupying forces,
they can be
re-purposed.
Major military operations will be needed at the beginning
to destroy all known military installations
and all of the weapons of warfare found in those places.
Bit-by-bit all of the populations of the Syrian Arab Republic
will find themselves in disarmed areas
---safe from the guns, bombs, & missiles
formerly held by the
central government and all other armed groups.
Likewise, those who were employed by the central government
to defend the former rulers will have nothing to fear from any fighters,
because everyone in the same
area will be disarmed on
that same day.
Because the United Army for Disarmament will so
outnumber
all former fighters in Syria (on all sides),
the death-toll for the Day of Disarmament might be quite small.
The United Army for Disarmament will avoid unnecessary killing.
And only the most foolish
resisters will think there is any point
in fighting against the whole
world.
The present government of Syria will
disappear,
since the ruling class has kept itself in power by military violence
(and threats of violence) against anyone who disagreed with them.
Each member of the present government
would also be given the
opportunity to surrender
and to be placed in a prison camp until later determination of their
future.
Many members of the former ruling class will depart for other
countries.
Some administrators could keep their jobs
—as
long as they do nothing partisan in their daily work.
Local and even national public services (as as water and electricity)
could be maintained by the same employees
who did such jobs under the earlier forms of government.
8. THE SYRIAN RULING
CLASS MIGHT DEPART WITHOUT A
FIGHT.
The United Army for Disarmament will deploy itself all around Syria
with an always-open
invitation for anyone to surrender.
And once the World Peace Force (or some precursor)
has proven itself effective in disarming small nations,
the military dictators and their followers
will be offered the choice between surrender and death.
It might happen that the whole military establishment of a small country
will decide to surrender together
rather than suffer defeat in the armed conflict leading to disarmament.
Ample time should be allowed for them to consider their options.
Perhaps some disarmaments in
the future will take place
without a single shot being
fired in anger.
The ruling class will first send their families into
safe countries.
And some of them might decide to depart inconspicuously.
Other nations might accept the former ruling class of a disarmed nation
as long as they bring lots of wealth with them (and no weapons)
and agree never again to engage in any violence against anyone.
But very likely, there will always be some hold-outs
who believe so completely in their right to rule the people
that they will never
surrender.
Such hold-outs might include the former top dictator of the country.
He would rather be dead than
give up his position.
This was the choice of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
At the beginning of the armed conflict
that ousted him from power and killed him in 2011,
he declared that it would 'become a martyr' rather than surrender
power.
Because the destruction of Syria was so complete by
the end of 2016,
there was no chance that the existing government
would ever again win enough votes to remain in power.
More than half of all Syrians have been displaced from their homes.
500,000 from all sides are dead.
Millions have fled their homes and their country.
This amount of destruction could not have been predicted
at the beginning of the civil war in 2011.
9. PERMANENT PEACE
WOULD BE ENFORCED
BY
ARABIC-SPEAKING
PEACE-KEEPERS.
Once the whole country of Syria has been disarmed,
the United Army for Disarmament
would slowly be replaced by
Arabic-speaking peace forces.
These keepers of the peace would be drawn from other Arab nations,
with special care to make certain that none is too closely identified
with any of the ethnic groups being policed.
Wherever the people of Syria use another language,
the peace-keeping forces will also speak that language.
Some set-backs can be expected.
If there a still pockets of resistance to disarmament,
then the United Army for Disarmament will have to continue its process
of seeking out all weapons that can be used in warfare
—and
the fighters
who are still hiding them.
There will be no "exit strategy" since there will
never be any future time
when the peace-keepers will no longer be needed.
If and when the World Peace Force comes into being,
the WPF itself will take over peace-keeping from the temporary force
put into place immediately after Syria was disarmed.
And for the rest of the history of the planet Earth,
the World Peace Force will remain in Syria
(or any succeeding country or countries)
to make certain that no
group ever arms itself again.
Syria will not need any military forces
because it will be protected from any foreign invaders
by the World
Peace Force itself.
The size of the peace-keeping force will be adjusted from year to year,
depending on what is needed to keep peace permanently.
10. THE PEOPLE OF SYRIA
WOULD CREATE THEIR NEW
GOVERNMENT.
The World Peace Force (or its temporary precursor)
will not attempt to create any new government for Syria.
The peaceful people of Syria will develop a new political
process
—some
methods of making collective decisions for their homeland
that does not depend on having any military forces.
The military forces of Syria were
seldom needed to repel foreign invaders.
Rather, the government used the military forces to keep the
people in line.
But without that capacity, other forms of political organization
will emerge.
All of the peaceful nations of the Earth offer
examples
of how political decisions can be made
without anyone forcing others to comply with their wishes
using military force or the threat of military violence.
A completely disarmed Syria will create new ways to govern itself.
The Syrian civil war was never about any ideological
differences:
It was not capitalists against communists,
not Muslims against infidels.
No group was trying to change borders.
There was no colonial power to be overthrown.
Rather, it was just us
against them.
The ruling class was opposed by those who found themselves oppressed.
One group wanted to stay in power forever.
Other groups arose to remove them from power.
And because there was no orderly way to change the government,
warfare was the only alternative.
After every fighter in Syria is completely and
permanently disarmed,
then reasonable people will create some new system of law-and-order
—this
time not based on any form of military force or oppression.
11. CONCLUSION: SYRIA, A
NATION AT PEACE.
If and when the nations of the Earth can
mostly agree,
Syria can be disarmed with a minimum loss of life on all sides.
One hundred years from now, Syria will be at peace.
And the history of Syria will show just which people had to die
in order for the new, peaceful Syria to emerge.
After 100 years, everyone engaged in the current military struggles
will be dead and gone.
And any 'reasons' for the current warfare might be forgotten.
Imagining a World Peace Force can help everyone to imagine
creating a new Syria without
any national military forces.
And the experience of disarming Syria can serve as
an example
for other small states that sustain their ruling classes by military
force.
Wise nations will disarm themselves
instead of waiting for the rest of the world to decide
that their military forces must be eliminated by violence.
One-by-one, all nations of our planet can be
disarmed.
Created
May 31, 2012; Revised 6-1-2012; 6-3-2012; 6-5-2012; 6-6-2012;
6-27-2012;
7-27-2012; 12-7-2012; 12-12-2012;
5-8-2013; 5-15-2013; 5-16-2013; 8-29-2013; 9-1-2013; 9-3-2013;
9-19-2913; 9-25-21013;
6-19-2014; 8-16-2014; 11-15-2014; 4-16-2015; 10-31-2015;
4-29-2016;
10-25-2016; 12-22-2916; 1-11-2017; 4-8-2017; 4-12-2017; 12-12-2020;
AUTHOR:
James Park is an independent thinker,
living and writing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
He has no connections with anyone in Syria
or with anyone politically or religiously concerned about the
future of Syria.
His views are entirely his own
and do not represent the views of any
organizations.
Much more about him will be discovered on his website:
James
Leonard Park—Free
Library