Thursday, February 02, 2012
Why Russia must hold firm on Syria at the UN
Above you can watch me on Russia Today on why Russia (and China) should not give into pressure from the US and its allies on Syria- and why, despite shouting the loudest, the US and its chums don’t constitute ‘the international community’.
More on this story here.
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12 comments:
FYI
http://susandirgham.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/stratfor-missteps-in-the-syrian-oppositions-propaganda-effort/
http://susandirgham.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/comment-in-response-to-nick-cohens-article-on-syria-censored-by-the-guardian-perhaps
FYI
What Is Really Going On In Syria: Insider Update
By Boris DOLGOV
February 01, 2012 "ICF" -- The current situation in Syria remains one of the most important components of the Middle Eastern and international policies. Using Syria’s domestic crisis and pursuing their own goals NATO, Israel, Turkey and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf are trying to undermine the Syrian regime.
Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria I have made two trips to that country as a member of international delegations in August 2011 and in January 2012. If we watch the dynamics of situation’s development over that period on the one hand we can state intensification of terrorist groups in Syria and on the other hand we see a broader people’s support of President Bashar Assad and a clear demarcation of political forces’ positions.
In the last two months Syria has seen a number of terrorist attacks. The terrorist attacked Syrian servicemen and military facilities, law enforcement agencies institutions, blasts on oil pipelines, railroads, murders and taking of hostage among peaceful citizens (In the city of Homs insurgents killed five well known scientists), arson of schools and killing of teachers (since March 2011, 900 schools have been set on fire and 30 teachers have been killed).
Terrorist attacks in Damascus became one of the bloodiest. Two of them were carried out on December 23, 2011 when cars loaded with explosives went off in front of the buildings of state security service killing 44 and injured about 150 people. On January 6, 2012 on a busy street a suicide bomber attack killed 26 and wounded 60. There were officers of the law enforcement agencies among the victims but most of the victims were occasional by-passers.
etc
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30412.htm
Hi Brian, thanks for that. Nick Cohen is a neo-con Zionist and as such anything he writes about Syria, Iran, Belarus, Venezuela, Russia, or indeed on foreign affairs generally, needs to be taken with a huge barrowload of salt.
Just when I actually thought you were a little more reasonable than your written output suggests, you revert back to type with a comment that makes you look like a 16 year old with a penchant for name calling.
Do yourself a favour and don’t just reduce everyone down to pithy epithets, it does you a disservice as it seems you are occasionally able to come up with some decent output.
I know Mr Cohen had the audacity to suggest your piece on Belarus was a little skewed, but there are better ways to respond that to call him names.
Neil Clark: “As I've written before, it used to be said that patriotism was the last refuge of the scoundrel, nowadays it's making false accusations of anti-semitism”
I’m not really convinced that chucking out the epithet “neo-con Zionist” isn’t just doing the same thing for your target audience.
The war in Libya has left me completely cynical about this situation. The people who went on and on about our responsibility to protect people from Gaddafi are silent now. To me that says "We have a responsibility to protect, except when we don't, or when it might have consequences we don't like."
Ronald Reagan gave a famous speech with the Statue of Liberty in the background, where he asked the rhetorical question "Are you better off than you were four years ago? [under four years of the Jimmy Carter administration]"
I ask "Are you better off under three years of Barack Obama? If you're the Libyan NTC, yes! If you're the Syrian peasants, not so much."
I'm surmising at this point that the situation in Syria is a small-scale Islamic civil war. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are seeking to hire/recruit America/NATO as enforcers. While I am no fan of the Assad regime, there's a lot to be said for minding one's own business.
Is Barack Obama so venal that he would involve America in a war against Syria sometime in 2012, for the purpose of getting re-elected? Is there anything Obama wouldn't say or do for the purpose of getting re-elected? I wish there was, but I don't believe there is.
If I were a Republican leader, I'd go on and on every day about our responsibility to protect the Syrians from Assad's brutality, as a means of exposing the hypocrisy of the whole enterprise.
Ian: Sorry, but Nick Cohen is a neo-con Zionist and we need to remember that when we hear his opinions on Belarus, Syria, Venezuela and other countries too. Are we supposed to merely read his stuff and pretend he has no agenda and is a totally impartial observer?
Douglas: Have you read ex-CIA officer Philip Giraldi's report on western assistance to Syria's rebels in January's 'The American Conservative' magazine?
He concludes:
"Syrian government claims that it is being assaulted by rebels who are armed, trained, and financed by foreign governments are more true than false".
'Nick Cohen is a Neo-Con Zionist'
By 'Neo-Con' I understand someone who advocates and supports the use of military force in other countries, usually Middle-Eastern ones.
For me they fall into 2 categories: the pragamtists who see military intervention as an instrument of raw power wielded to gain geo-political advantage and the idealists who are excessively naive and see military intervention as a means to achieve love, peace and harmony.
Often, the former manipulate the latter. I would put Cohen into the 'idealist' camp. Neo-Con? Fair enough.
The term 'Zionist' is more problematic. I am quite anti-Israel when it comes to the current situation in the West Bank and Gaza but I do believe that Israel has a right to exist. I often get the feeling that many left-wing anti-Zionists really do not think that Israel should exist at all.
Superficially, they may have a point but if we want to reverse history and give Israel back to the Arabs then we also have to give Vilnius and Lviv back to the Poles, Kaliningrad, Gdansk and Wrocław back to the Germans etc..
We may be doing justice in theory but in reality we would only be causing war and bloodshed. Peter Hitchens also made a good observation in one of his books that Germans from Gdansk and Poles from Vilnius do not still linger in refugee camps the way that the Palestians do.
Do these opinions make me a Zionist? And if so, does that mean that anything I say can be automatically discarded due to that label?
PS: People forget that the Left once supported Israel. They changed their minds when the USSR changed its mind. The USSR disappeared without giving further instructions....
Czarny: good points. We need to distinguish between neo-con Zionists and non neo-con Zionists.
Nick Cohen would be an example of the former, (as would Melanie Phillips and Tony Blair); Jonathan Freedland, and my friend Dr Martin Meenagh, are examples of the latter.
I'm with Czarny on this one--there does not seem to me to be much of a case for the idea that intervening in civil wars does any good. At some ultimate level, people have to fight for themselves. But, through the arms industry and our clandestine forces, we are already entangled, so the issue now is how we limit our involvement, not whether to be involved at all.
FYI
MSNBC Headlines Story Given to them by A Phony and a Liar:”Rami Abdelrahman” Does Not Exist According to the SOHR
Posted on February 8, 2012 by willyloman
by Scott Creighton
MSNBC is headlining a story this morning about the Syrian government “slaughtering” families in Homs (Group: Militia ‘slaughtered’ 3 families in Syria’s Homs) Their entire story is based on information given to them by a fictitious person inside the fraudulent organization the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). According to MSNBC, the person who provided the details of this Assad government slaughter is “Rami Abdelrahman” of SOHR. The only problem is that Rami doesn’t exist. He never did exist. And the person writing under his name is a liar and a fraud and is making up bullshit stories. Who says that? The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that.
etc
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/msnbc-headlines-story-given-to-them-by-a-phony-and-a-liarrami-abdelrahman-does-not-exist-according-to-the-sohr/
What you won't read in the Western and Arab media
An Arab League monitor speaks out:
"
Nawaat: The massacre in Homs, killing more than 200 lives, the deadliest since the events started, does it seem suspicious to you?
A.M: This massacre is signed and its authors are making fun of our intelligence. Is it possible to believe for a moment, a government, whatever it is, could commit such a massacre on the day his case is brought before the Security Council?
In fact, this is a stunt as part of a comprehensive and concerted intervened where the “Syrian activists” abroad to fill the Syrian embassies and consulates, “referring to the call of Syrian ambassadors in Arab countries and of course the massacre of Homs.
While this massacre: those who followed the TV that day have seen pictures of many victims. Most of these victims had their hands tied behind their backs and some had their faces to the ground.
The directors told us that they were the victims of the bombing of buildings and houses by tanks and even by the Syrian Air Force. Curiously these victims were not wearing injuries nor any sign of the collapse of their houses and dwellings. Each can draw the conclusions he wants. In any case throughout the 4th of February, Syrian citizens testified that they recognized among the victims, relatives and neighbors removed for a week and even months.
Each can draw the conclusions he wants...
AM: The Arab League is entirely discredited by burying the report of its own observers’ mission and its appeal to the Security Council. It missed the opportunity to participate in the settlement of the Syrian affair. All it can offer in the future will be worthless.
Now it’s Russia’s turn to play the lead role but also to the Syrian leadership required to accelerate and implement the reforms." (thanks Khodor)
http://angryarab.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/what-you-wont-read-in-western-and-arab.html?spref=tw
From Libya to Syria:
The now infamous Gamaty dummy spitting incident:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Yj1hO0Z_U&feature=youtu.be
this is worth viewing because Gamatys: we are not asking the west to arm us....is the same MEME Amnesty is using regarding Syria!
my letter to Amnesty USA re their FB page banning me
by brian Souter on Saturday, 11 February 2012 at 10:25 ·
hello Amnesty USA
Ive just been banned by the person controlling the Amnesty USA Facebook page, without warning....
here is what amnesty USA FB says about itself:
Welcome to Amnesty International USA's Facebook community! When you 'like' us, we'll share the latest human rights news and opportunities for you to make a difference.
We love reading your comments and encourage you to express your views on our Facebook page. We recognize that there will often be dissenting views and passionate discussion, but please keep your comments on-topic and respectful at all times following the guidelines below or we'll remove them:
https://www.facebook.com/amnestyusa?sk=info
So what rule did u break that had me banned and all my posts removed? I admin some FB pages so know the FB etiquette.
The reason, not given, seems to be my posting comments that disagreed with the position on Syria,
Here are some of the articles i posted:
http://canspeccy.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/arab-league-monitors-find-slaughter-in.html
http://inthesenewtimes.com/2011/12/28/syrian-ngos-working-directly-with-british-government/#more-17815
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29126
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29025
where we learn:
'"The Mission determined that there is an armed entity that is not mentioned in the protocol. This development on the ground can undoubtedly be attributed to the excessive use of force by Syrian Government forces in response to protests that occurred before the deployment of the Mission demanding the fall of the regime. In some zones, this armed entity reacted by attacking Syrian security forces and citizens, causing the Government to respond with further violence. In the end, innocent citizens pay the price for those actions with life and limb.
...
In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against Government forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries. Examples of those acts include the bombing of a civilian bus, killing eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel oil. In another incident in Homs, a police bus was blown up, killing two police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed. '
SO is amnesty USA unwilling to have these issues aired in its FB pages?
regards
Brian S
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