I was delighted to read that the ceasefire agreed between the Syrian officials and the rebels had come into force, beginning at 12.01 after midnight on 26th February 2016.  It is meant to hold for two weeks...I am suggesting that should make it at least three weeks, and in the meantime give it a 21-day gestation period of prayers and meditating for peace, a peace this strife torn nation desperately needs.

It is sad and lamentable that as many as 370,000 persons have lost their lives in the mad conflict, which may appear to be even totally unnecessary. 

How could first the Jihadis, the self-proclaimed factions rebelling against President Assad's regime, have been tolerated in beheading the Yazidis (the Christian sect) and making their people flee and leave the country.  When I first saw pictures of headless corpses on Facebook five years ago, I did not even dare to look at the photographs, so gory were they.  I imagined someone was posting them to get the huge number of Likes that people like to collect on Facebook.  About a year later, it became apparent that these were pictures of actual victims, beheaded in the name of religion.  And the Yazidi women were raped, ensuring those people had no option but to flee.   This has been a terrible wrong done to those good people.  How could the Assad regime tolerate such barbaric practices being carried out? 

The Yazidis numbered about 700,000 in a land of some 25 million, or just over 3.5 percent of the population.  After making virtually all of them flee Hama, Homes, Aleppo and Damascus and other places in Syria, the rebels, operating under the Islamic flag but carrying out deeds which everybody says are totally un-Islamic, started on their Shia brothers and sisters, and then on the Sunnis, till now virtually 5 million people are outside Syria, in a huge Exodus, the biggest Exodus since Biblical times...

Hungry and thirsty, tired but driven by the need to find safe shelter, these people are now camped in neighbouring states in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, etc, and waiting in other nations, while other nations demolish the camps and close their doors.  The huge number of people cannot possibly find home and shelter in the European Union nations, although the sympathetic and humanitarian people there may be willing to accommodate some of them and provide sustainaince for the meantime.  In the longer term,

it may be best to seek to rebuild their homes in Syria, and, hopefully, with peace existing, try to rehabilitate them back in their homelands.  Hopefully, just like British PM David Cameron announced the aid of over a Billion Pounds for this cause, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced the generosity of her nation, other nations, especially the wealthy Arab nations as aid towards their brothers and sisters of Syria, will have to make generous contributions for this cause.  In the longer-term, rehabilitation in their own homelands seems the only logical solution, where the Syrian people will be able to live in the climate they are used to.....hopefully, in peace, the economic Recovery can be regenerated, to enable them live comfortably at home.   All that is necessary and essential that peace should exist at home in Syria, and protection offered to these displaced citizens. 

Perhaps the Jihadis, who seem to have gone there with the sincere will to fight a war in the name of Islam, may perceive that the war has been about removing people from their homelands, which are believed to be rich in Oil and Gas resources.  Various nations and corporations may wish to take those over, and the innocent good people have borne the suffering and persecution because of that.  The logical possibility would be to relocate all those people within Syria itself, and then the natural resources could be extracted.....producing them rich revenues which could be used to keep the people satisfied in Syria itself.  Should those lands actually turn out not to have the huge natural resources people may have been led to believe, even then, the Syrian refugees and migrants roaming Europe currently would be best off in their own homelands.  Syria at one time was a prosperous nation, and there seems little reason apart from the conflict during the five years that cannot return it to its former glory.....the war simply has to be halted, people have to come to their senses, and allow all citizens to live there in peace.....in peace they can generate enough from their economy to live well.    Surely, a high standard of living which they see in Europe could be made available to them in Syria itself, with a right economic plan?  This is where I pray the donations which can be made available to these suffering people can be utilised, and thereafter to rebuild their economic activities and the whole economic cycle. 

I pray the people will show understanding, and would call on Mr Assad to step down; indeed, I believe his Presidential powers should be withdrawn, and nobody should be expected to carry out any orders on his behalf.  Certainly, the order to the Russian military for the aerial bombardments should be decommissioned, so the bombings may not be there after two weeks.  Mr Assad cannot pay those bills, and nor can the Syrian government.  The Russian military could perhaps take a role as a peacekeeping force, should the United Nations agree to such an idea.  Mr Assad should in the meantime be put under house arrest, and placed in some safe and secure accommodation;  three faithful members of the Baath Party should be put in charge as a ruling junta : one in charge of the Oil and Gas Resources, who could also be the Finance Minister; one person (possibly even a lady) as Head of State; and another as the Air Marshall, in charge of military aviation and also commercial aviation....if such a ruling junta can take command for the next six months or so, perhaps elections could be considered after that period of stability and plans formulated for the rehabilitation of the people.  The question of the huge debts Mr Assad has run up employing the Russian army to carry out his dirty work is something that the state will have to consider very seriously, and at least in that regard, all orders henceforth should be put on hold, pending cancellation.  Russia as a successful and wealthy sovereign nation should not wish to earn the bad karma in this conflict.  If those soldiers were offering their own services in this conflict, would we not call them mercenaries? 

Mr Assad needs to have a period of rest, and reflect on this mad war; the lives of 370,000 persons, most of them innocent citizens who had not a clue what the war was about, is a black stain on the conscience of humankind, especially Mr Bashar al-Assad.  His people looked up to him as a nobleman who would bring them comfort and peace - he has brought them death and poverty.  How did it happen?  What went wrong?  Mr Bashar al-Assad can only answer to Allah, and find justification. 

His people are tired of his rule, he should have resigned some time ago.  By forcefully wishing to be there for the last five years have brought so much misery to his people. 

I offer my prayers for a happy resolution of this conflict, leading to peace and rehabilitation for the good people who have suffered so much in the conflict in Syria. 

I pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer.  Amen.

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