a thread about the civil unrest in egypt (& elsewhere in 'the region' if necessary)

"Leftist"

That blogpost doesn't address this complaint that has been circulating for awhile:

“It is perplexing that the Arab League chose the Khartoum regime's General al-Dabi to lead its team monitoring the Syria regime because of his record of turning a blind eye to human rights crimes, or worse”, said Omer Ismail, Sudan analyst for the Enough Project.

Ismail also accused Dabi of having stood witness to similar crimes in Sudan, saying, “Instead of heading a team entrusted with a probe of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Syria, the general should be investigated by the ICC for evidence of similar crimes in Sudan."

Dabi, 63, is a veteran of Sudan’s military. Over the course of his lengthy career, he rose steadily through the ranks, eventually becoming President Omar al-Bashir’s head of intelligence.

http://www.france24.com/en/20111226-syria-arab-league-observers-mission-chief-sudanese-general-al-dabi-uncertain-past

yes, leftist

i'm not endorsing that claim, btw

I realize you're not endorsing it...It just does not read as that leftist to me, more libertarian or just contrarian-- with a blogroll including Drudge and Greenwald.

As I am notorious for on ilx, I'm not up for US military intervention in Syria. I am all in favor of the widest possible dissemination of the facts about Syrian government oppression, all for for international sanctions, and if the Arab League can get behind any further actions against Syria, I'm all for supporting that. If the USA can infiltrate money and expert advice to the Syrian insurgents, I'd consider that excellent, too.

But the Syrians must bear the lion's share of danger and death, if only because that will be necessary to the legitimacy of any successor regime.

right that's what i mean

I guess I'm confused as to which half of the sphere the US has.

I don't think anyone's up for military intervention in Syria, Aimless

i'm saying that the russian and chinese attitude toward the US is [what i said up there]

I'm just being a dick about the definition of hemisphere I guess

The USA only lays claim to the Northern and Western hemispheres. Australia is up for grabs.

Pretty sure we have a 'special relationship' w/Australia to rival that w/Britain

But, if someone gave Australia a dozen long-stemmed red roses, we wouldn't be all chest-beating mad about it, I'm guessing. We'd let it play out.

and then drop a daisy-cutter on their ungrateful asses

I think if Christopher Hitchens was still alive he might advocate for military intervention in Syria

As reports of assaults by Syrian forces continued for a fifth day, Russia’s leaders attempted to fend off criticism that they were doing nothing effective to stop the bloodshed.

From the NY Times. Good luck with that approach Russia

And in Egypt:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57373166/woman-behind-egypts-ngo-pursuit-a-mubarak-holdover/

Washington Post) CAIRO -- The architect of Egypt's crackdown on U.S.-funded pro-democracy organizations is a holdover from the cabinet of former president Hosni Mubarak who has tried for years to stymie the groups' activities.

Faiza Abou el-Naga, the minister who coordinates international aid and long the most powerful woman in the Egyptian government, has survived a series of cabinet purges and weathered the groundswell of anger toward remnants of Mubarak's regime. But her intensifying campaign against the civil society groups offers clear proof, her critics say, that some elements of the old guard remain entrenched and are trying to block the rise of new political leadership in the country.

Some neo-cons calling for the US to go into Iran and Syria. And I am sure they have not considered the consequences. Why not North Korea too. The Syria situation is depressing. Life in Iran is not so swell either.

Some neo-cons calling for the US to go into Iran and Syria. And I am sure they have not considered the consequences.

i have a hard time telling if you are being droll or not

droll

but poorly phrased

Others were shot by security forces as Syrians took to the streets in numerous locations around the country for a day dubbed by activists “Russia is killing our children” Friday, to express anger at Russia’s veto in the U.N. Security Council a week ago of a resolution condemning the Syrian crackdown

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/bombings-strike-previously-calm-syrian-city-of-aleppo/2012/02/10/gIQAQyD63Q_story.html?hpid=z4

Some neo-cons calling for the US to go into Iran and Syria. And I am sure they have not considered the consequences.

have heard a bit of noise in this direction from heads on fox in the last couple days, "why isn't the obama administration doing anything abt teh bloodshed in syria?" curmudgeon OTM. seems like a good tactical move (asking the rhetorical question, i mean).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/world/middleeast/anthony-shadid-a-new-york-times-reporter-dies-in-syria.html?_r=1&hp

oh my god

So sad. He was so incredibly fearless. What a huge loss.

RIP. An invaluable reporter.

he was such a beautiful writer, too. the thought of all the work that won't be written now is so sad.

This is horrible, he was one of the greatest

RIP

he did the video podcast from beirut, right?

i will miss those so much

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20120221/ML.Syria/?cid=hero_media

A French photojournalist and a prominent American war correspondent working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday by Syrian shelling of the opposition stronghold Homs as President Bashar Assad's regime escalated its attacks on rebel bases by strafing from helicopter gunships, activists said.

...This tragic incident is another example of the shameless brutality of the Assad regime." U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said of the journalists killed.

"That's enough now, the regime must go," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy after his government confirmed the two deaths.

French spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse identified those killed as French photojournalist Remi Ochlik and American reporter Marie Colvin, who was working for Britain's Sunday Times.

France's Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, said the attacks show the "increasingly intolerable repression" by Syrian forces. French Communication Minister Frederic Mitterrand said of the journalists killed: "It's abominable."

Syrian activists said at least two other Western journalists — French reporter Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro and British photographer Paul Conroy of the Sunday Times — were wounded in Wednesday's shelling, which claimed at least 13 lives.

Marie Colvin was on the news just last night

"That's enough now, the regime must go," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy after his government confirmed the two deaths.

Good luck in convincing the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians about this.

I guess folks upset over civilian deaths from drone attacks are also bothered by ugly regime attacks from the likes of Syria (or maybe they just expect better from the US and other Western nations that profess to be better and state that they are trying to avoid casualties, while the likes of Syria are clearly intending to cause them)

Marie Colvin was on the news just last night

Yeah, was just going to say that.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/22/marie-colvin

I guess folks upset over civilian deaths from drone attacks are also bothered by ugly regime attacks from the likes of Syria (or maybe they just expect better from the US and other Western nations that profess to be better and state that they are trying to avoid casualties, while the likes of Syria are clearly intending to cause them)

fwiw killing journalists /= killing civilians in the world of realpolitik. not saying I agree with this evaluation, but they are viewed differently.

A United Nations report concluded on Thursday that Syria had committed “gross human rights violations” as a matter of state policy, as the country’s forces continued attacks in Homs

The last few days have been really depressing

yeah.

otoh it's kind of surprising that this was the first Arab Spring uprising-type thing to go, really REALLY bad. Like, I would not have put odds on the successful overthrow of Qaddafi or Mubarak a few years ago.

so this conference today seems like a pretty clear signal that ramping up for full-scale civil war is imminent...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/friends-of-syria-gather-in-tunis-to-pressure-assad.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

Russia has said it will not attend the Tunisia meeting and news reports on Thursday said China had not committed, blunting the gathering’s chances of securing strong action against Mr. Assad’s government.

...

The photographer and Ms. Colvin had been working in a makeshift media center that was destroyed in the assault. Activists said that the center had been targeted and that Syrian reconnaissance aircraft had probably spotted satellite transmitters on the roof of the building where it was located. The government denied targeting journalists.

One of the wounded journalists, Edith Bouvier, 31, is a freelance reporter for the French newspaper Le Figaro. Videos on YouTube showed her and Paul Conroy, a photographer who lives in Britain, appealing for help.

One of the videos also shows a Syrian man in medical scrubs and a stethoscope who seconded Ms. Bouvier’s call for immediate evacuation and said her life was in danger. “We need help to stop the bombardments and save Edith,” the man said in Arabic.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/friends-of-syria-to-call-for-un-to-start-planning-syria-peacekeeping-mission/2012/02/24/gIQA0LUdXR_story_1.html

Despite the show of unity, which diplomats said they hoped would impress upon Assad that the end of his family’s four-decade autocratic rule is inevitable and at hand, there were signs of division. Some nations argued for arming Assad’s foes, while others called for the creation of protected humanitarian corridors to deliver aid.
Neither idea was included in the conference’s final document, which instead focused on steps nations should take to tighten the noose on the regime, including boycotting Syrian oil, imposing travel and financial sanctions on Assad’s inner circle, and working with the opposition to prepare for a post-Assad Syria, including lucrative commercial deals. It also welcomed the appointment of former U.N. chief Kofi Annan to be a joint U.N.-Arab League special envoy for Syria.

This whole Paul Conroy situation appears to have become a massive clusterfuck.

What do you mean? British Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy is no longer in Syria, having been smuggled out of the besieged city of Homs and the Syrian constitutional referendum passed, all is good!

Oh, At least 59 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed on Sunday

Bodies found dumped. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-activists-dozens-of-bodies-found-near-homs-in-one-of-worst-mass-killings-of-conflict/2012/02/27/gIQANnebeR_story.html?hpid=z1

7,500+

Maybe we should start arming the opposition even if we know nothing about them. Likely not to be worse, right?

from what I can tell there are PLENTY of weapons in Syria, the bigger issue is probably organizational - safe communications, supply lines, etc.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/02/29/venezuela-aids-syria-regime-with-fuel-shipments/

This does not help

http://news.yahoo.com/terrified-residents-syrian-border-cities-quseirare-fleeing-lebanon-103500866.html

Not entirely convinced given the sources (Stratfor via Wikileaks, Jerusalem Post), but anyway:

Alawite defections from Syrian army may be on rise