Thursday 16 February 2012

Syria on the brink

Short sighted West eyes Syria on the brink





15 February, 2012

The situation in Syria is on a knife-edge, with reports of militants arriving in the country there are fears of an escalation in the conflict. Yet, the UN and West’s condemnation of Government crackdowns lays the blame at the feet of President Assad.

The UN Human Rights commission report describes them as a crime against humanity.

The General Assembly has arrived at a draft resolution that condemns Assad’s regime and demands the withdrawal of government troops from civilian areas, but makes no demands on opposition forces. This resolution could be put to vote as early as Thursday and although not binding it carries strong influence on the international stage.

The Syria refutes the report saying it is based on media sources hostile to Syria and accuses the UN Human Right Commission of being subjugated by the western powers who are interested in regime change.

Reports of militants and weapons moving into Syria from neighbouring countries have given rise to fears sectarian tension is building in the country and could trigger a civil war.

This swift escalation of the conflict indicates that the West has turned a blind eye to hostile forces accumulating in the country whilst fixating its energy on discrediting Assad’s regime.

The Syrian government and its supporters have voiced their criticism over the West’s black and white treatment of the conflict and its refusal to acknowledge violence committed by opposition forces.

“Many western powers are interested in fermenting unrest in Syria and so they’ll turn a blind eye to extreme amounts of weapons coming into Syria from abroad to create these militant – I wouldn’t call them terrorists – but extremely dangerous armed groups that are determined to create war and not peace in Syria.” Sara Marusek, researcher from Syracruse University told RT.

Find out more in the above video where RT correspondent Maria Finoshina's reports on the conflict that is not quite as one-sided as western media would have it.


And from the western media - the United States is still determined to launch World War 111...

US says Syrian referendum plan is 'laughable'




The United States Wednesday dismissed Syria's call for a referendum on a new constitution, which critics see as a move designed to ease global outrage over the government's bloody crackdown.


16 Febraury, 2012


"It's actually quite laughable -- it makes a mockery of the Syrian revolution," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"Promises of reforms have usually been followed by an increase in brutality and have never been delivered upon by this regime since the beginning of peaceful demonstrations in Syria."
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called the referendum a day after his country flatly rejected UN allegations of crimes against humanity.

The proposed charter drops Article 8 which declared the ruling Baath Party as the "leader of the state and society."

Under the newly drafted constitution, freedom is "a sacred right" and "the people will govern the people" in a multi-party democracy, state television said.

Assad, who in April scrapped emergency rule in force since 1963 when the Baathists took power, has made repeated promises of reforms that have failed to materialize since a popular uprising erupted on March 15 last year.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also dismissed the referendum announcement.

"It looks like he's putting forward a piece of paper that he controls to a vote that he controls in an effort to try to maintain control," Nuland said.

"And it's frankly not working in any other capacity, so we don't think this is going to work either. He knows what he needs to do if he really cares about his people," Nuland said.

"The violence just needs to come to an end, and he needs to get out of the way so we can have a democratic transition."

Assad's decision came as activists said troops stormed the central city of Hama and stepped up assaults nationwide, despite mounting Arab and Western peace efforts.

Further to the south, an explosion struck an oil pipeline at daybreak in the flashpoint city of Homs, with activists saying government forces bombed it from the air and state media blaming "armed terrorist gangs."

Rights groups say more than 6,000 people have been killed since Assad's forces began cracking down on democracy protests launched 11 months ago.

and from al-Jazeera




Syria's Assad offers new elections

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