dagblog - Comments for "Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City"

Memo From Cairo:Embattled

artappraiser — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:45:24 +0000

In reply to Push in U.N. for Criticism of

Memo From Cairo:
Embattled Arab Leaders Decide It’s Better to Fight Than Quit
By Michael Slackman and Mona El-Naggar, New York Times, April 27/28, 2011

The lesson autocrats are taking from the Arab Spring is that those who quit, like Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, face humiliation, while those who continue to use force gain leverage.

Push in U.N. for Criticism of

artappraiser — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:41:43 +0000

In reply to Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City

Push in U.N. for Criticism of Syria Is Rejected
By Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, April 27/28, 2011

UNITED NATIONS — An attempt by the United States and its European allies to condemn Syria in the United Nations Security Council was rebuffed on Wednesday, as the willingness to intervene in the region — strong enough to lead to military action against Libya under similar circumstances just weeks ago — appeared to evaporate.

Western nations failed to secure the simplest of Security Council measures: a press statement calling on Syria’s leaders to stop the violence against their own people.....

....“The current situation in Syria, despite the increase in tension, does not represent a threat to international peace and security,” said Alexander Pankin, the Russian deputy permanent representative....

Diplomats and other analysts noted important differences in the circumstances surrounding the antigovernment uprisings in Libya and Syria.....

Many states suggested that Syria had to be given more time to carry out the reforms promised by President Bashar al-Assad. Western states noted that Mr. Assad had repeatedly promised reforms after succeeding his father 11 years ago, while simultaneously jailing critics.

Various ambassadors said their efforts would now shift to other avenues. European Union members are threatening to impose their own sanctions within days, and a meeting of another United Nations body, the Human Rights Council, will convene in Geneva on Friday to discuss Syria, though the Arab League has reiterated its support for having Syria join the Council in May....

The Syrian crackdown may

acanuck — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:35:43 +0000

In reply to US says Iran is supporting

The Syrian crackdown may indeed be "abhorent and deplorable," but it's ludicrous to suggest the Syrians need any outside help in repressing dissent. They are experts.

Asked to elaborate on the Iranian involvement, Rice refused to go into detail.

I call bullshit.

Turkey pressures Syria to

artappraiser — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:19:52 +0000

In reply to Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City

Turkey pressures Syria to stop crackdown
27 April 2011, AP WITH TODAY’S ZAMAN, ANKARA
Turkey on Tuesday increased pressure on Syria to cease its brutal crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators, a day after Syrian troops backed by tanks and snipers stormed a southern city, where the dead reportedly lay unclaimed in the streets.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan phoned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to urge “restraint,” the prime minister's office said, while Turkey's ambassador to Damascus met Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar to express Turkey's “deep concern and sorrow over the loss of many lives.”

Erdoğan called Assad a day after he and US President Barack Obama voiced their concern in a telephone conversation over what the White House called “the Syrian government's unacceptable use of violence against its own people.”...

US says Iran is supporting

artappraiser — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:06:39 +0000

In reply to Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City

US says Iran is supporting Syria crackdown
Associated Press, April 26, 2011
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States has evidence of active Iranian support for the Syrian government's "abhorent and deplorable" crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said late Tuesday.
"The outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end and now," she told reporters after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the Security Council behind closed doors on Syria and other hotspots.....

First thing to consider is

Beetlejuice — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:43:51 +0000

In reply to Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City

First thing to consider is there are approx. 30 million Kurds spread about the region. In Iraq, they're centered between Kirkuk and Mosel..that's the northwest territory rich with oil they're keeping for themselves...not sharing with the rest of Iraq. In Turkey, they're along the southeastern borders with Syria and the ones in Syria are up in the northern border with Turkey. And both share a common border with northern Iraq which happens to be west of Iran where the rest of them are.

Second thing to consider is the Kurds immigrated from the Caucuses so they're not Arabs which is why neither Iran, Iraq, Turkey or Syria has any love for them. They're the ultimate unwanted immigrant that refuses to take the hint and go back from where they came from. Which sets them up for reprisals.

Now consider the Iraqi Kurds are blessed with the US military presence to protect them from harm. And while all other Iraqi's want US troops to pack up and leave, the Kurds are rolling out the welcome mat and bending over backwards to keep US troops in the region under their control...who's gonna attack them with US troops barracked in their area?

So what if Syria falls? Ya think maybe those wily Kurds in both Turkey and Syria might see it as their chance to lay claim to some territory, say the border areas adjacent to Turkey, Syria and Iraq going all the way to the Med? Perhaps even claim to be a separate Kurdish State no less? And if anyone tries to stop them, there's the US troops in and around Mosel and Kirkuk. And if the Kurds in Turkey and/or Syria are routed, they can bleed back into Iraq to get under the US umbrella. Check out why the Turks wouldn't let the US use their border with Iraq to lauch their attack against Saddam in 2003...they believed the Kurds along the borders would use the Iraqi attack to launch their own.

There's more issues than just a simple overthrow going on cause if the Kurds do assemble a Kurdish State, all hell could break loose there with US troops caught in the middle It would set off an avalanche of other ethnic peoples throughout the region demanding their autonomy too.

Better to ignore their squabbling and let them fight it out amongst themselves and see who the victors are after the dust settles. Meanwhile, the US should pull everything they have out of the area as fast as possible before they get themselves caught up in multiple civil wars that aren't our business.

Maybe Mooney read Blowing

Michael Wolraich — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:22:15 +0000

In reply to Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City

Maybe Mooney read Blowing Smoke. He used my a few of key examples to explain right-wing irrationality--Leon Festinger and the aliens, confirmation bias and the death penalty. Too bad that I couldn't get MJ to revew BS.

So much at AJE said the

we are stardust — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:14:48 +0000

In reply to Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City

So much at AJE said the reports couldn't be confirmed, and that the tank videos had no dates. Odd. But that members of both parties want US sanctions now, and that Obama's readying them. Finally.