The Obama administration’s opposition to arming the opposition in Syria appears to be weakening.
Syria: The Wrong Drum to Beat
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Syria
In the Aftermath of Libya: a Chance to Define “Responsibility to Protect”
Responsibility to protect (R2P) must focus on persuading militias to lay down their arms and commit to a political process.
Proactive Syrian Opposition Intent on Not Becoming Another Iraq or Libya
With his reporting from Syria for alJazeera, Nir Rose has provided not only a comprehensive overview, but stunning insights.
Adding Fuel to Syria’s Fire
Despite the widespread international denunciation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the government in Damascus continues to crack down hard on the country’s growing domestic opposition. “They are moving in a direction that completely shows that they are absolutely out of touch,” says Yasser Tabbara, the secretary general of the Syrian National Council (SNC), a government opposition group. Other countries in the region have experienced revolutions, but Syria remains in a state of uncertainty. At the UN, China and Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government’s actions, making a coordinated international response even more difficult.
Flow of Jihadists From Syria to Iraq Reversed
Jihadists once flowed from Syria to Iraq. Now the favor is being returned.
Syrian Repression, the Chinese-Russian Veto, and U.S. Hypocrisy
On Saturday, Russia and China vetoed an otherwise unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the ongoing repression in Syria and calling for a halt to violence on all sides, unfettered access for Arab League monitors, and “a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations or ethnicities or beliefs.”
Although the joint Russian and Chinese veto of the resolution is inexcusable, the self-righteous reaction by U.S. officials betrays hypocrisy on a grand scale and fails to take into account a series of policy blunders that have contributed to the tragic impasse.
Is Libya a “False Analogy” (in Hillary Clinton’s Words) to Syria?
The United States, Europe, and Saudi Arabia seek regime change in Syria, but Russia does not want to see another country wrested from its orbit.
Cult of Personality
He is, in the words of Barbara Walters, a “mild-mannered ophthalmologist.” Indeed, the rather squeamish leader-to-be chose eye surgery because it didn’t involve much blood. He speaks fluent English and can get by in French as well as his native Arabic. His wife is a knock-out, a “rose in the desert” according to a Vogue profile. Reluctant to take over the family business from his father, he interrupted his medical training in London to return home only after his older brother died in a car accident. Then, once at the helm, he released a number of political prisoners and instituted economic reforms that got a thumbs-up from the international business community. He cooperated with the United States in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Even today, he uses all the right words: transparency, dignity, reform.
Supporting Assad Shreds Iran’s Credibility With Radical Islam
If the Islamic Revolution still means anything, Tehran betrays it by supporting Syria’s Assad regime.
Syria’s Revolution Will Succeed
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime must step down immediately—without Western military intervention. Certainly, the Syrian people deserve support to protect them from the brutal and barbaric onslaught of the Syrian’s security forces. But such assistance and safe haven should come from Arab countries and Turkey. Help from other Arab or Muslim countries would be less offensive to the Syrian people, would be less likely to entail an occupation force, and would likely be less long-lasting than an intervention by Western countries.