Moscow pledges to block UN over foreign intervention in Syria. Russia has made clear that it will block UN support for foreign military intervention in Syria, scotching slim hopes that the massacre of more than 100 people at Houla would break the impasse in the international response to ongoing violence.
Moscow's crucial support for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, has not changed after confirmation from a UN human rights body that 108 people, including 49 children under 10, were killed in the weekend incident near Homs, mostly in summary killings by the feared Shabiha militia, linked to the Assad regime. Gennady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said: "We have always said that we are categorically against any intervention in the Syrian conflict from the outside, as this would only worsen the situation and would lead to unpredictable consequences both for Syria itself and the region on the whole.
" In another atrocity the bodies of 13 men were found near Deir al-Zor. Annan described Syria as being at a tipping point. Syrians should beware of some of their foreign 'friends' The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, meets with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, in Tunis during the Friends of Syria conference.
Photograph: Jason Reed/AFP/Getty Images From Monday no one will be tortured in Syria. The state will guarantee personal freedom for its citizens and preserve their dignity and security. People's homes will be inviolable. Everyone will have the right to express opinions freely and openly, and the state will guarantee the freedom and independence of the press. At least, that is what is supposed to happen if President Assad gets a yes vote today in his referendum on the new constitution.
Hardly anyone is convinced, though. On intervention in Syria. Intervention in Syria will escalate, not stop the killing. Finish Him - By Daniel Byman. As world leaders huddle at the United Nations to debate whether to demand Bashar al-Assad's ouster, the smart money is already betting that his time is short.
The president of Syria is a "dead man walking," according to one U.S. diplomat, a view shared by Israel's military and predicted by a surveyed group of foreign policy experts. Reports of Assad's death, however, appear greatly exaggerated. The Syrian president has survived almost a year of demonstrations and growing violence, and if not pushed by outside actors he may yet cling to power. It's easy to see why many think Assad's time might be up. On Syria. In the corner of many Twitter avatars is a small Syrian flag.
Whether pro-Assad, pro-opposition, or something else entirely, it is the same flag, the red, the white, the black, and two green stars. Because in Syria, regardless of your stance on the regime, you are a Syrian. (Anas Qtiesh rightly points out my inaccuracy: a lot of opposition have begun to change their avatars to include the flag of the Syrian Republic rather than the current flag of Syria) And that protectionism was at first, when the uprising began, pervasive in conversations about Syria. The opposition and pro-regime forces alike took a stance that Syria is for Syrians, and Syrian matters for Syrian discussion. Before I go any further, I shall lay my cards on the table. This Time, Assad Has Overreached - Room for Debate. Rime Allaf, a Syrian writer, is an associate fellow at Chatham House in London.
She is on Twitter as @rallaf. Syrians are approaching the first anniversary of one of the most unexpected implosions of people power and psychological liberations the region has seen. But they have yet to experience the exhilaration of watching a dictator flee the country or be forced to resign. The case against military intervention in Syria. Syria: Nato must help us! While travelling secretly through Syria, Wolfgang Bauer met with rebel leaders in the city of Homs and witnessed the brutality of a regime waging war against its own people.
Aktualisiert 31. August 2011 17:41 Uhr Speichern Drucken Twitter Facebook Google + The german version of this article is availablehere. Imperialism, despotism, and democracy in Syria. New York, NY - In the context of the US invasion of the Gulf in 1991, British academic Fred Halliday announced his new right-wing affiliations in the British newspaper the New Statesman by declaring: "If I have to choose between imperialism and fascism, I choose imperialism.
" It never occurred to Halliday that he could have opposed both and supported home-grown democratic struggles instead. This was indeed a watershed moment for Arab, American, and European anti-imperialist leftists who would become turncoats, moving from a principled opposition to imperialism to a principled and financially more rewarding support of it. On Massad: The Failure of the Anti-Imperialist Intellectuals. I just read Massad's new post, "Imperialism, despotism, and democracy in Syria and my initial reaction is that it is out of touch with what is happening in the country.
There are good ways to overthrow a dictator and there are bad ways, he seems to say. Why foreign intervention is not welcome in Syria. Why foreign intervention is not welcome in Syria, Guardian Comment is Free Article, To intervene or not to intervene?
Having watched the Assad regime kill more than 1,400 Syrians, arrest tens of thousands, use helicopter gunships and tanks on its own population, reportedly abuse and kill children, many are asking why, if action was deemed necessary for Libya, it is not for Syria. The Syrian regime has behaved little better than its Gaddafi counterpart and yet the west does not know what to do to, how to do it and with whom, and above all has not been invited to intervene. There is a famous Syrian proverb: "The ziwan (rye grass) of your own country is better than the wheat of the stranger. " For all the daily brutality, there seems to be little appetite to open the doors for foreign action. Syrians also tend to be unimpressed by Nato's actions in Libya. "Syria’s Opposition Must Find a Different Way,” By Ehsani. Syria’s Opposition Must Find a Different Way By Ehsani for Syria Comment February 10, 2012 As the death toll mounts on the streets in Syria, it is important to remember how we got here.
Damascus has decided to reassert control over its restive cities by using the full might of its military. This should not come as a surprise to observers and policy makers.