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pampango

(24,692 posts) Sun Jan 29, 2012, 09:12 AM Jan 2012

Russia rebukes Arab League over Syria (calls observer mission a 'useful instrument')

Russia has strongly criticised the Arab League decision to halt its observer mission in Syria amid escalating violence, saying the situation demands additional deployment of monitors and not their suspension.

"We would like to know why they are treating such a useful instrument in this way," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Brunei on Sunday.

The Arab League suspended its observer mission on Saturday as the bloodshed in a crackdown on anti-government protests spiked. Several hundred died in the past four days alone.

The mission was set up in December to monitor Damascus' compliance with the Arab League plan to end a bloody crackdown by Assad's government. ... The mission has been widely criticised by the Syrian opposition for failing to end the government's crackdown on protests.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/201212981052234263.html

The Arab League observer mission may indeed have been a "useful instrument" for some, but for whom? It was set up "to monitor Damascus' compliance with the Arab League plan to end a bloody crackdown by Assad's government" but "has been widely criticised by the Syrian opposition for failing to end the government's crackdown on protests."

In light of that how has it been a "useful instrument"?

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Russia rebukes Arab League over Syria (calls observer mission a 'useful instrument') (Original Post) pampango Jan 2012 OP

You'll have to find out where the violence is coming jakeXT Jan 2012 #1

I believe I know where the violence has been coming from for 10 months now. pampango Jan 2012 #2

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

1. You'll have to find out where the violence is coming

Reply to pampango (Original post)

Sun Jan 29, 2012, 09:46 AM

Jan 2012

from.

What role is NATO playing in Turkey and Jordan for example?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10234

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10231

pampango

(24,692 posts)

2. I believe I know where the violence has been coming from for 10 months now.

Reply to jakeXT (Reply #1)

Sun Jan 29, 2012, 10:13 AM

Jan 2012

The Syrian foreign minister would likely agree with you however that Syria is the victim of multiple conspiracies.

Saying that “half the universe” was conspiring against his country, the Syrian foreign minister forcefully rejected a regional attempt to broker an end to the 10-month conflict here on Tuesday and suggested that there would be no end to the government’s use of force to put down the uprising.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/world/middleeast/syria-rejects-regional-effort-to-end-conflict.html

Most folks understand that when massive peaceful demonstrations for months on end meet with nothing but armed repression, there is a large risk that counter-violence will begin to emerge.

My guess is that if Assad had acted like Ben Ali in Tunisia and just left in response to massive peaceful protests, Syria would be a much better place to day as Tunisia is today. If the Syrian military had refused to shoot civilians (at least on a massive scale) as occurred in Egypt, I think Syria would be a much better place today.

Instead he has chosen to violently repress protests as Saleh has done in Yemen. Assad will probably get the same deal in the end that Saleh got: amnesty and keeping a few billion dollars in order to leave.

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