Syria : an unilateral intervention will not solve anything

(This article is a translation of the press release of the 8th of september that you can find here)

Our President called “abject” the very probable use of toxic gaz by the Syrian government against its own population. The Jeunes Ecologistes condemn the extreme violence of this government but also protest against the hypocrisy of the American and European governements.

For the past few decades, the Baas party has remained at the head of the Syrian government, more or less supported by the major international powers. For two years  Bachar el-Assad only answered with the worst atrocities to a population who pacifically demanded justice and freedom.

Our leaders happily pretend to defend human rights when it is time to get rid off a now troublesome dictator  even though he used to be warmly welcomed not so long ago. We talk about freedom and defending the weaker elements of society when the point is only about cold cynism and national interests.

However, it is now time to stop this frenzied violence. Even if the situation seems now inextricable and that the perfect solution does not exist, political leaders still have to make a choice beyond any simplistic black-and-white thinking. France has to make this choice as democratically as possible, thus submitting this decision to a parliamentary vote.

The Jeunes Ecologistes are fundamentally pacifists and will always consider war waging as an evidence of failure. A military intervention from the joined forces of the United States and France might seem able to stop the massacres in the short term but in the end would worsen the situation in the Middle East with highly unexpectable terrific consequences.

“We think that a negociated solution in the framework of the United Nations should be preferred, since it remains the only really legitimate organization for such an intervention,  even though its governance modalities seem inadequate to us, “, states Laura Chatel, federal secretary for the Jeunes Ecologistes movement. The emergence of a negociated solution eventually including an interposition force from United Nations is the only condition for peace building. At the same time, a humanitarian action must be lead on the Syrian territory for refugees. The French government, so prompt to consider a military intervention, must first accept its responsability in welcoming Syrian refugees – which it still refuses to do.

Finally,  beyond the question of a military intervention, the Jeunes Ecologistes condemn both the lack of a European statement about the conflict in Syria and the lack of a clear strategy on the European side to ensure a pacifist policy in the Middle East , still the only guarantee of an enduring resolution of the Syrian conflict.