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War, War, War
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Title: Security Council Showdown on Syria
Source: by author
URL Source: [None]
Published: Feb 4, 2012
Author: Stephen Lendman
Post Date: 2012-02-04 07:16:28 by Stephen Lendman
Keywords: None
Views: 141
Comments: 5

Security Council Showdown on Syria

by Stephen Lendman

Slowly things are coming to a head. America, Israel, rogue NATO partners, and regional despot allies are itching for a fight with Syria. Russia and China stand firmly opposed.

On February 3, Reuters headlined, "UN council to vote on Syria resolution Saturday," saying:

Britain's UN mission said the "UN Security Council is set to meet 9:00 a.m. Saturday. Plan is to vote on Syria resolution."

Reuters said "(o)ther missions confirmed the announcement."

On February 3, Deputy Foreign Minister Gannady Gatilov said resolution revisions were "not enough for us to be able to support...."

Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani accepts no further draft resolution changes, saying:

"The version which we have is the minimal which we can accept."

On February 4, Lebanon's Al-Manar satellite TV (Lebanese Media Group Company, Beirut) reported Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying:

"If they (the West) want yet another scandal on the Security Council for themselves then we cannot stop them."

At issue is an expected Saturday Security Council vote Russia opposes. Lavrov added:

"The draft does not suit us at all and I hope that is is not put to a vote."

Russia's views are well known. "There can be no doubt about the sense and the objectivity of (its) amendments. I hope that a prejudiced approach does not prevail over common sense," Lavrov stressed.

On February 4, AP headlined, "Russia warns UN vote on Syria will end in scandal," saying:

Interviewed on Russian state television, Lavrov was blunt, saying Russia's prepared to use its veto.

Calling the current Syrian resolution draft unacceptable, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gatilov said:

"Some of our concerns and the concerns of those who think the same as (we do) have been taken into consideration, but all the same (it's) not enough for us to be able to support it in this form."

At issue is what major media scoundrels ignore - a Western-backed externally generated insurgency responsible for most violence.

Washington plans regime change in Iran and Syria. At issue is replacing current leaders with pro- Western ones. Syria's target one to isolate Iran. Escalated measures against Tehran will follow.

Strategy involves whatever it takes to achieve longstanding objectives, including war. Pressure's building. Expect it perhaps later in 2012.

Meanwhile, conditions in Syria keep deteriorating. Under attack, its currency lost half its value. Ordinary people suffer most. Hunger and severe privation threaten. Escalated violence promises worse, including full-blown Western-backed war.

To achieve unchallenged Middle East hegemony, including control of its oil and gas resources, Washington won't quit until the entire region burns.

In 1970, Richard Nixon ordered making Chile under social democrat Salvador Allende "scream." Seventeen reign of terror Pinochet years followed.

Middle East plans today are worse, including full-blown war for control. Expect it, with or without Security Council help. Hardball Washington tactics don't compromise.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

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#1. To: Stephen Lendman (#0)

Should be hearing something shortly from Russia at the Security Council. It's going to be an interesting morning.

Even UPI is forced to note, in muted terms of course, that outside forces are helping stoke up civil war in Syria.

Hard slogging for the War Party.

Special Reports
Russian veto fears soften EU line on Syria

Published: Feb. 3, 2012 at 5:07 PM

BRUSSELS, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Fears of a Russian veto of a U.N. Security Resolution on Syria mellowed European positions on ways to defuse the violent government- opposition showdown in the Middle Eastern country only days after the European Union issued tough sanctions against Iran.

The contrast between the EU's resolute stand on Iran and Brussels' readiness to compromise and accommodate Russian demands was seen by analysts as a last-minute attempt to avert a Russian veto that could undo weeks of mediation by European and Arab League negotiations.

The resulting text of the U.N. resolution removes most of the key conditions set out by the West, including President Bashar Assad's departure from power.

It also opens the way for Assad's government to try and manage reforms and, eventually, some sort of transition. The Russians reportedly insisted on refashioning the text to ensure any transition would be "Syrian-led" and not open the way for outside intervention.

Russian objections center on Moscow's contention that last year's U.N. authorization of a no-fly zone was used as a loophole by NATO to launch military strikes that helped unseat Moammar Gadhafi and install a pro-West national transitional coalition in Tripoli.

However, deep suspicions and uncertainties remain over the anti-Assad rebel presence in Syria amid reports the so-called Free Syria Army is receiving large quantities of weapons from unknown sources.

Assad's government is also continuing to receive large arms shipments from Russia as part of what Moscow maintains are agreements reached before the uprising began last year.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Thursday that arms deliveries to Syria will continue despite the ongoing violence.

"As of today there are no restrictions on the delivery of weapons, and we must fulfill our obligations," Antonov said. "And this is what we are doing."

Analysts said a deepening stalemate and continuing violence in Syria risked opening new fronts as increasingly armed rebels and government forces confronted each other, with thousands of unarmed pro-democracy activists caught in the middle.

The arms build-up means that a bloodier confrontation could still erupt in Syria no matter what a U.N. resolution did or did not include in the text. This week's diplomatic efforts were focused on Russian attempts to water down the resolution and strip it of any text that, in Russian view, opened the way to regime change in Damascus.

The resolution must be approved by the Security Council's 15 members, including Russia, which vetoed a similar proposal in October.

The new resolution condemns the violence on both sides and would adopt across- the-board steps to end the bloodshed that the Arab League has demanded since November.

They include ending all violence, releasing detained protesters, withdrawing Syrian troops from civilian areas and guaranteeing the right to peaceful demonstrations.

However, analysts said, enforcement of such an ambitious brief was in doubt.

Even if Assad agreed to pull back his forces the disarming of disparate rebel groups would remain a major challenge in the absence of a U.N. or international peacekeeping presence in Syria to see to an implementation of the resolution's key provisions.

The United Nations stopped estimating the death toll from the uprising after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm numbers.

The Syrian government says at least 2,000 members of its security forces have been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists." The opposition Friday cited more than 6,000 deaths since the protests began last year.

Analysts say the outcome in Syria would also influence the crisis over Iran's nuclear program, and vice versa, because of close strategic ties between the two countries and Syria's dependence on Iran's economic, military and political aid.

Activists daubed red paint in the streets to symbolize blood and staged demonstrations after the Friday prayers to mark the anniversary of a 1982 uprising crushed by Bashar al-Assad's late father Hafez al-Assad, the former president. The government crackdown then caused the deaths of up to 40,000 civilians in Hama, according to international rights groups.

Activists in Hama painted roads red and led a general strike, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Topics: Bashar al-Assad, Hafez al-Assad Recommended Stories Debate stirs over next steps with Syria U.N. support of Syria resolution shaky London: No U.N. action on Syria insulting

Read more: www.upi.com/Top_News/Spec...02/03/Russian-veto-fears- soften-EU-line-on-Syria/UPI-68981328306848/#ixzz1lQAwdGal

randge  posted on  2012-02-04   8:59:26 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Syria 'massacre' puts pressure on Moscow to back UN action Published today (updated) 04/02/2012 17:26

Residents attend a burial ceremony for what activists say are victims of shelling by the Syrian army, in the Khalidiya neighborhood in Homs Feb. 4, 2012. Syrian forces killed more than 200 people in an assault on the city of Homs, activists said, the bloodiest day of an 11-month uprising against President Bashar Assad, ahead of a Saturday vote on a UN resolution calling for him to cede power. (Reuters/Handout) By Mariam Karouny and Stephen Brown

BEIRUT (Reuters) -- Syrian forces killed more than 200 people in an assault on the city of Homs, activists said, the bloodiest day of an 11-month uprising giving sudden urgency to a push for a UN resolution calling for President Bashar Assad to cede power.

The Arab League, Europe and the United States leaned hard on Assad's veto- wielding ally Russia to let the Security Council pass a resolution later on Saturday backing an Arab call for Assad to transfer powers to a deputy.

Moscow said the resolution was not "hopeless", but it needed to be adjusted to avoid "taking sides in a civil war."

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called the killings in Homs a "massacre" and a "crime against humanity". In remarks clearly aimed at Moscow, he said any country that blocked UN action would bear a "heavy responsibility in history".

After what US officials called "vigorous" talks between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Moscow announced that Lavrov would fly to Syria in three days to meet Assad.

Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 237 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests and one of the bloodiest episodes in the "Arab Spring" of revolts that have swept the region.

Residents said Syrian forces began shelling the Khalidiya neighbourhood at around 8 p.m. on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses were completely destroyed with families inside.

"We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads," said Waleed, a resident of Khalidiya.

"The morning has come and we have discovered more bodies, bodies are on the streets," he said. "Some are still under the rubble. Our movement is better but there is little we can do without ambulances and other things."

An activist in the neighborhood contacted by Reuters said residents were using primitive tools to rescue people. They feared many were buried under rubble.

"We are not getting any help, there are no ambulances or anything. We are removing the people with our own hands," he said, adding there were only two field hospitals treating the wounded. Each one had a capacity to deal with 30 people, but he estimated the total number of wounded at 500.

"We have dug out at least 100 bodies so far, they are placed in the two mosques."

A third Khalidiya resident, speaking by telephone with wailing and cries of "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) audible in the background, said at least 40 corpses had been retrieved from streets and damaged buildings.

Embassies stormed

Syria denied shelling the area and said internet video of corpses was staged. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access.

The official Syrian account was disregarded across the globe, where condemnation was thunderous.

France's Juppe said: "Instead of stopping its policy of repression, the Syrian authorities have jumped a new hurdle in savagery: the massacre in Homs is a crime against humanity and those responsible will have to answer for it."

Tunisia announced it was expelling the Syrian ambassador and revoking recognition of Assad's government. The head of a committee of parliamentarians from Arab states said Arab countries should expel Syrian ambassadors and cut ties.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said: "If the Syrian administration is given the understanding that the current situation of hundreds of people dying daily can continue and the UN will not take a stance against it, the atmosphere of clashes will increase more."

As news of the violence spread, crowds of Syrians stormed their country's embassies in Cairo, London and Kuwait in protest, and rallied outside Syrian missions in Germany, Greece and the United States.

It was not immediately clear what had prompted Syrian forces to launch such an intense bombardment, just as diplomats at the Security Council were discussing the draft resolution supporting the Arab League demand for Assad to give up powers.

The Security Council was due meet at 1500 GMT. Russia's Lavrov made clear early on Saturday that Moscow would veto the resolution if it was presented without amendments.

"If they want another scandal for themselves in the Security Council, then we probably cannot stop them," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying in an interview.

But as events marched on during the day, with many of the world's top security and foreign affairs officials gathered at a conference in Munich, Lavrov said: "We are not saying that this resolution is hopeless."

Russia's main objection was that the resolution contained measures against Assad, but not against armed groups opposing him, he said. "Unless you do it both ways, you are taking sides in a civil war."

Clinton told the conference: "As a tyrant in Damascus brutalizes his own people, America and Europe stand shoulder to shoulder. We are united, alongside the Arab League, in demanding an end to the bloodshed and a democratic future for Syria."

"And we are hopeful that ... the Security Council will express the will of the international community."

Russia has balked at any UN Security Council language that would open to door to "regime change" in Syria, a rare Middle East ally where Moscow operates a naval base and sells billions of dollars in advanced weapons.

Clinton and Lavrov met at the conference for what a US State Department official called "a very vigorous discussion".

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=457777

randge  posted on  2012-02-04   10:43:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C- SPAN/

SC meeting now live on CSPAN I, League of Arab States head talking now asking for a national unity gov't in Syria. Clinton sitting in looking like death warmed over in what looks like a Mao jacket with her hair gassed back.

randge  posted on  2012-02-04   10:47:21 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Clinton sitting in looking like death warmed over in what looks like a Mao jacket with her hair gassed back.

LOL! Thank you for my morning laugh randge. This one is so good that I can get more giggles every time I think about it. 8 )

" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11

"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne

abraxas  posted on  2012-02-04   11:04:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

It's grim work attempting to dismember an inconvenient regime in order to maintain momentum in this long march to general war.

Bashar Jaafari, the Syrian ambassador, just wound up his remarks directing this at Hillary: "You cannot be an arsonist and an firefighter at the same time."

randge  posted on  2012-02-04   11:14:14 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

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