The violent Syrian conflict, which began 3 years ago and which has a current death toll of over 130,000, has highlighted the regional conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and further polarized relationships from Washington to Saudi Arabia and to Iran. The country is a key part within the fragile political map of the Middle East, which makes the current Peace talks in Geneva particularly challenging. The Peace talks come at a time where the civil war has proven to have damaging implications far beyond Syrian borders and as tensions throughout the Middle East and its North American and European allies are heightened. Will the Geneva talks provide a recipe for a swift resolution? My guess is no.
The greatest faction between the government and the opposition is the future role of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria. For the opposition, his removal from office is the condition for peace, whereas Syrian officials refuse to consider this, even alluding to Assad running for presidency in elections due this year. This is ludicrous -it’s true! However, as sure as I am that global leadership will come to a fair and just solution to the conflict, Geneva has its hands full with the contemporary Gordian knot of politics, and the non-negotiable position of Syrian Officials doesn’t mean the negotiation table needs to clear a seat for the “one-man super-magnet for terrorism”, it just means reaching a just solution will take more… time. Sigh.
Assad has been patronizing Saudi Arabia with his safeguarding and relationship with Saudi’s Shiite archrival, Iran. This has strained Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States, who, according to the Monarchy, has not been aggressive enough towards Assad. Both the Obama administration and the Syrian opposition have stated that any peace deal requires Assad to step down, but Syrian officials and their Russian allies refuse to negotiate on the future of Assad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTVClyzpgrk
Despite the delicate geo-political position of Syria, the world leaders have hardly tip-toed around the issue. Secretary of State John F. Kerry told the conference in Geneva that there was only one thing deterring a political solution in Syria:
The world has hardly been silent on the Syrian war, and the length of the conflict is due to a number of complex relationships that nuance the negotiations. Kerry was right to say Assad and his hold to power is standing in the way of a political solution, but that has hardly resonated with Syrian officials or their allies who have not shown remorse for the continuation of this dirty civil war. Global leadership must continue to engage in the resolution by supporting peace talks, supporting the U.S. position that Assad must step down, and move forward with an unwavering confidence that Assad will not join transitional leadership.
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sigh … indeed!
What an appalling state of affairs when the repeat, repeat, repeat war criminal UNSC members use proxy armies of Wahhabi savages as their de facto boots on the ground – for yet another UNcivil destruction of an Axis of Resistance m.east nation.
How depraved and lawless has the western world become when aiding and abetting terrorism to invade a sovereign nation is accepted by the very people who blood lusted for revenge on ‘al Queda’ – in all the nations not associated with 09/11
How sad it is that a researcher at Mc Gill university does not believe in democracy – or is so enslaved to her hegemonic ‘globalisation’ masters that she is unable to do pattern recognition on the repeat, repeat, repeat ‘evil dictator’ fallacious propaganda, or critical analysis of why a the Syrian army made up of Sunni, Shia, Druze, Jews, Christians, Assyrians, Allawites, autonomous Kurdish militias have fought like tigers against the thin pretty face hired ‘FSA rebels’ / armed insurrectionists and invading hordes of Bandar bin Sultans Wahhabi savages ….
Would this ‘researcher’ care to do a comparative assessment on whether e.g Cameron would inspire the same loyalty without the Scottish, Welch and Londoners turning on him?
Is this ‘researcher’ capable of critical analysis of what commonality Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran reserve bank governance, free medical, free education, no IMF ownership had in common, and add Hezbollah to the ‘Axis of Evil / Resistance’ to determine the CUI BONO in the regional and geo political game of death, destruction, plunder, sectarian violence and ongoing balkanisation agenda being inflamed in middle east?
Does this ‘researcher’ care that the anointed puppet for Syria has a colourful history of drug running and brothel keeping, no support from Syrians inside Syria, nor indeed even from the Saudi-Qatar bankrolled ISIS and al Nusra death squads.
Did the ‘researcher’ by any chance keep abreast with the MIT and UN Chemicals Inspectors and Seymour Hersch and Carla Del Ponte (and more besides) total debunking of the Ghouta gassing red line casus belli? Or understand the nature of asymmetric warfare of urban terrorism – with eg weighted barrels to break up terrorist tunnels? Or do comparative analyses on the Iraqi sanctions deaths, the Iraqi war crimes, death toll and ongoing violence; the Libyan ‘humanitarian’ death toll, or even the 1000’s of women and children killed by US drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan?
Is she capable of doing an analysis of the at least 50% Syrian death toll perpetrated by invading Wahhabi savages – armed and supported by US-France-UK and satellite stooges Saudi-Turkey-Qatar-Israel? And how many civilian atrocities perpetrated by these savages – from massacres to beheadings to stoking the Adra bakery ovens with live women and children. That is besides the ‘jihadi brideing’, liver eating, hanging heads on trees after roasting them.
Is this ‘researcher’ capable of reading the Syrian polls on their preferred leader? Or capable of analysing the meritocracy non secular make up of the current Syrian government, and it’s very rational proposals on RULE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW being applied for it to move forward with a DEMOCRATIC transition.
But of course, truth, justice, rule of international law, democracy, peace and all those noble ideals no longer come from the depraved criminal western world. They are unfortunately a thing of the past – as even Mc Gill ‘researcher’s apparently incapable of moving beyond the depraved western agenda and propaganda.
And as we witness the spineless embarrassment of the UN Gen Secretary lying supine under the heel of lawless war criminals – with every irrelevant nation at a farcical ‘Regime Change’ conference in Geneva … and the integrity of UN shattered forever.
Craven kowtowing cowards!
Censor this too.