dagblog - Comments for "Damascus calls arms deal 'victory for Syria'"

Doesn't have to work with all

artappraiser — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:02:51 +0000

In reply to It seems it's not working too

Doesn't have to work with all Syrians, only the combatants.

This NYT headline today struck me, my bold: Deal Represents Turn for Syria; Rebels Deflated.

Assad's victory spin is blunt right now. If it gets more sophisticated as the U.N. starts in on the war crime prosecution stuff....if he can play a new reformed image being unfairly victimized... the rebels then got to figure out how to control their liver eaters or they become the new "worst" guys....and they need those liver eater boots on the ground right now....etc.

It probably works better than

ocean-kat — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:43:32 +0000

In reply to It seems it's not working too

It probably works better than the truth.

/statement by Assad:

I'm humiliated but I was caught between a rock and a hard place. The Americans were about to bomb me and the Russians ordered me to give up my CW. What could I do? I'm just Putin's puppet and I can't survive without his support. I had no choice but to obey him. It was embarrassing.

Some form of it works for

ocean-kat — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:37:52 +0000

In reply to It works among Assad's

Some form of it works for people everywhere. Even moderate dem Chris Matthews practically had an orgasm on camera when Bush flew to the aircraft carrier, strutted in his flight suit to give a speech under his Mission Accomplished sign. That propaganda worked for a significant portion of the American public just as Assad's probably works for enough of his people. The Iraqis weren't any more impressed by it then we are by Assad's claim to have beaten us now.

It seems it's not working too

NCD — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:35:14 +0000

In reply to Yeah, is basically why I

It seems it's not working too well, with the couple of million who have fled Syria, the 100-200 thousand dead, and the tens of thousands of rebels.

Assad probably thinks it does work, along with his coterie of sycophants, psychopaths, murderers and war profiteers..

It works among Assad's

Bruce Levine — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:24:40 +0000

In reply to Yeah, is basically why I

It works among Assad's supporters in Syria and that is critical for him, of course.

Yeah, is basically why I

artappraiser — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:08:55 +0000

In reply to When I first heard the

Yeah, is basically why I posted it. NCD asks "does anyone buy this stuff?" Just because we are used to making fun of "the mother of all battles" rhetoric on Saturday Night Live doesn't mean it doesn't play seriously to the intended audiences. It must work somewhere because it's a favorite of dictators everywhere (and not exclusively Arabic; see North Korea for one example.)

When I first heard the

EmmaZahn — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 23:00:28 +0000

In reply to Damascus calls arms deal 'victory for Syria'

When I first heard the Russian proposal was serious it sounded like a win-win-win for all three, Russia, Syria and the US. Practically perfect diplomacy. Only downside now is Syria crowing about it. Maybe Vlad will talk to them about that.

Didn't Syria claim a great

NCD — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 05:00:08 +0000

In reply to Damascus calls arms deal 'victory for Syria'

Didn't Syria claim a great victory over the Zionist infidels in the 1982 Lebanon War when, in a single day, Israel destroyed the entire Russian made Syrian air force, without losing one aircraft?

BTW, does anyone take seriously Syrian government pronouncements?

It will be interesting. I

Peter Schwartz — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 02:25:38 +0000

In reply to U.N. inspectors turn in

It will be interesting.

I understand they won't be assigning authorship of the attacks, though Ban seems to be after Assad otherwise for crimes against humanity.

I'm reading LOTS of stuff that calls into question that Assad or the government ordered the chemical attacks...

And LOTS of stuff pointing the finger pointedly at "the rebels" with a good dose of the US, Israel, and Turkey conspiring to make it look like Assad did it.

With the ultimate purpose of bringing the US in to topple Assad, etc.

We will see...

Hard to argue with a deal to have Assad relinquish his weapons. Who couldn't like that? But was that really the plan? And beyond that, it's getting very murky to me.

U.N. inspectors turn in

artappraiser — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 00:50:09 +0000

In reply to Damascus calls arms deal 'victory for Syria'

U.N. inspectors turn in report on Syria's chemical weapons
By Nick Paton Walsh and Matt Smith, CNN, updated 8:36 PM EDT, Sun September 15, 2013

[....] U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received the inspectors' report on the August poison gas attack outside Damascus on Sunday, the United Nations announced. Ban is scheduled to brief the Security Council on the report in a closed-door session Monday morning -- and two diplomats told CNN the report is likely to be released publicly at that time. [.....]