Meanwhile in Syria

I wish there was a way to help without "getting involved", because what they're doing now so isn't working. What do the Syrian people want from the rest of us in order to help them get things to a place that they're okay with?

I assume you're my pal until you let me know otherwise.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya.

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Syria derides UN chief as peace plan in crisis =>
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j9f3ojei94X07964KM3Q
HFL8LAAQ?docId=83085df6b3ee4286b2848631cf2f8d01

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria derided U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon as biased and called his
comments "outrageous" Saturday after he blamed the regime for widespread
cease-fire violations — the latest sign of trouble for an international peace
plan many expect to fail.

In new fighting Saturday, activists said regime forces battled army defectors
near President Bashar Assad's summer palace in a coastal village and shelled
a Damascus suburb in pursuit of gunmen. State media said government troops
foiled an attempt by armed men in rubber boats to land on Syria's coast, the
first reported attempt by rebels to infiltrate from the sea.

The regime's verbal attack on the U.N. secretary general raised new concerns
that Assad is playing for time to avoid compliance with a plan that could
eventually force him out of office. Under special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point
road map, a cease-fire is to be followed by the deployment of as many as 300
U.N. truce monitors and talks between Assad and the opposition on Syria's
political future. ...



. . . . .The worst and most frequent consequence of paranoia is that it's self-fulfilling.

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Does anyone know what the protestors originally wanted? Or do we fall into the same trap that we did with Libya, and side with the anti-government forces w/o knowing a thing about them, only to have them turn out to be radical Muslim fundamentalists who are even less tolerant than the government?

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BTW- not that I'm defending the Syrian regime. I'm not. But my antenna go up every time the press is relentlessly one-sided. SO one-sided we don't even notice how one-sided it is. I had the same issues with Libya... OH THE POOR PEOPLE OF LIBYA! the press cried, day after day.

"I'm speaking with members of the resistance force..." breathlessly reported from the front lines. Meanwhile, ignoring the fact that there were rather large groups of people on the other side who supported Qadaffi, whom the press failed to interview. Perhaps they would have found equally committed people who thought the government was doing a good job. The press also failed to dig very far into "the rebels" history and goals, and now we have a ex-Al Qaida member who has taken over eastern Libya and is currently agitating for independence.

I know Syrian Xtians and they are rather frightened of the so-called rebels, who they think are fundamental Islamists. They believe that under a new regime ALL minorities will be extinguished or driven out, Xtians included.

There is not enough information to decide who to support, and the lack of information is itself a clue.

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I'm sure you're right, Signym.
I know nothing about Syria. Here's a couple reasons I followed this.

1. The press put some emphasis there, and it sounded really awful for
just the average citizens.
2. The US gave aide to the rebels.
3. Assad agreed to a cease fire negotiated by the UN, but totally reneged.
And he was sneaky about it. His troops ceased fire only when UN observers
were present.



. . . . .The worst and most frequent consequence of paranoia is that it's self-fulfilling.

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Prolog:
Syria president: Houla massacre an 'ugly crime'

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad denied Sunday that his government had anything
to do with last week's gruesome Houla massacre, saying not even "monsters" would carry out
such an ugly crime.

In a televised speech to parliament, Assad said his country is facing a "real war" and he
blamed terrorists and extremists for the bloodshed. He expressed horror over last week's
massacre in the central Houla region, which killed more than 100 people, nearly half of
them children.


Syria expels U.S., European diplomats =>
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-06-05/syria-diplomats/55
391750/1?csp=34news

BEIRUT (AP) – Syria barred a string of U.S. and European diplomats Tuesday,
saying they were "no longer welcome" as the country plunged into its most
profound international isolation in decades.

Last week, Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats in a coordinated move
over the Houla massacre, in which more than 100 people were slaughtered over
one weekend in a cluster of small villages.

The U.N. says pro-regime gunmen were believed to be responsible for at least
some of the killings. President Bashar Assad has insisted his forces had nothing
to do with the massacre.

The countries targeted by the expulsion order have already pulled their ambas-
sadors from Damascus, but the move was symbolic of how far diplomatic ties
have disintegrated over the course of the uprising that began last year in March.

"Some countries have informed our diplomatic missions and our embassies' staff
that they are unwelcome," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said in a
statement.

He said Damascus has decided to take a "reciprocal measure" against ambassadors
from the U.S., Britain, Turkey, Switzerland, France, Italy and Spain. A number
of French, German, Canadian, Bulgarian and Belgian diplomats also are affected,
Makdessi said.

Syria is struggling to crush an increasingly deadly uprising against Assad's rule,
but the regime's deadly crackdown on dissent has brought widespread condemnation.


=========================
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. ~Charles R Swindoll

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I really fail to see how Russia is still solidly behind President Bashar Assad. I mean, be an ally, if you must but how can you defend his actions?

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by AURaptor:
I really fail to see how Russia is still solidly behind President Bashar Assad. I mean, be an ally, if you must but how can you defend his actions?

---

Yet another civilian massacre, and more strongly worded b.s. from the U.N.

Oh, and Russia and China still are stonewalling, saying that 'diplomacy' is the way to go there. How's that working out for everyone, hmm?


" We're all just folk. " - Mal

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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