With the Syrian situation getting more complex, the West needs to do more.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has suspended Syria from its membership after deliberations at a meeting of heads of states in Makkah on Wednesday. The decision by the 57-member pan-Islamic body to act against the regime of Bashar Al Assad comes amid increasing bloodshed in the West Asian nation which seems to have been one of the last pillars holding authoritarian regimes among countries that have experienced Arab Spring uprisings. OIC suspended Syria for what it calls the suppression of the revolt against the Syrian president by regime forces.

The 17-month uprising against Assad has come to an increasingly complex stage where rebels are known to be trying tooth and nail to upstage government forces which have started using stronger and more brutal means to suppress it. While the intransigent Assad draws open condemnation from most parts of the world, countries like China, Russia and Iran are steadfast in their approach to stand by it. Iranian Presdient Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose regime is being walloped by western sanctions over a nuclear programme the US and allies say is meant to produce a nuclear weapon, stood by Tehran’s well-known stand of supporting Assad. Tehran was against suspending Syria from OIC. Moscow and Beijing have also used their unimpeachable positions in the UN Security Council to veto a number of resolutions against Damascus.

The suspension of Syria from the OIC is an important step in isolating the wobbly regime that sits in Damascus. But the recalcitrant Assad is too well entrenched and sufficiently buffered by similarly authoritarian regimes like China, Iran and Russia to give up power. The son of another infamous Middle East dictator Hafez Al Assad is probably trying to ride out the storm or is too naïve to believe that he would be spared by the masses for all his acts of brutality that resulted in thousands being widowed and orphaned. The death count in the Syria conflict is close to crossing the 20,000 mark as killings by rebel and regime forces keep multiplying. So do the defections of Assad loyalists in the administration. First it was some diplomats close to the regime who came out in the open against Assad and abandoned him. Later it was the military brass, and last week the Prime minister defected even with the entire state intelligence machinery keeping an eye on his movements.

It is time the West came forward and took decisive steps to end the conflict in probably one of the last bastions of the Arab Spring uprisings. Rebels openly said yesterday they would start courting Al Qaeda for support if the West failed to act. Rebellions in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt bruised the society but ended victorious and are now picking up the pieces to band together to forge a successful future. But Syria is being too badly battered in the war and if this continues for some more time, Syrians would be left with hardly anything valuable even if they are able to throw out Assad.