Since March 2011, 70,000 Syrian civilians, military, government officials and opposition forces have been killed, 3 million have been displaced and 1.1 million Syrians have become refugees — plunging the country into turmoil and placing the security of the whole region at risk. The Syrian instability is dragging the country toward the throes of all out civil war, sectarian war and ultimately disintegration. If no immediate and robust actions are taken, this process could set into motion a chain of events that would pose a grave threat to the stability of the entire Middle East and beyond. 

While the West advocates for “secular” systems, they are paradoxically opposing the current secular government of Bashar al-Assad and backing the opposition led by radical Islamists and terrorist groups. On the other hand, Iran, which is often portrayed as pro-Islamist, has been accused by the West of promoting fundamentalism and extremism, even as Tehran continues its support for the secular government of Assad in Syria. 

Arab governments and Turkey, with the help of the CIA, have sharply increased their military aid to Syria’s rebel forces, with signs of having an impact on the ground. Increasing covert efforts, permitted by President Obama, have paved the way for CIA and other US agencies to provide considerable financial, material and intelligence support to the rebels in an effort to oust Assad.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, an ally of Iran and the US, unveiled the disturbing revelation that al-Qaeda terrorists are flocking toward Syria in an effort to lead the efforts in toppling Assad. These are the same extremists who have turned Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan into a “zone of terror” and aim to do the same in Syria.