Anyone who thought Russia and China would do anything except veto was either naive or maladroit. In the case of the USofA State, both apply. Well at least the resolution took time away from other issues they could screw up in the Middle East.

I’m still waiting for the body count in Libya: both sides.

i am guessing the resolution is designed to justify a libya style invasion of a regime that supports palestinian rights, so i cant say i share your disappointment.

The casualty counts are coming from “activists”, apparently not direct reporting. I don’t think anyone can say for sure what is happening there.

CNN reports aka the Military Industrial Complex reports

Here is hoping the Russians and Chinese prevail. TOJOBama wants a puppet in Syria. Washington is far and away the greatest threat to life and liberty in the world today.

It appears that the USA, aka War,Inc., is finding it more difficult to colonize another ME country than it thought. I’m sure Israel and Saudi Arabia share in the disappointment.

One reason that Russia and China do not want any kind of ‘people power’ revolution to succeed anywhere is because they are struggling to keep the lid on things in their own countries. If their citizens see that governments can be toppled by massive uprisings, it might give them ideas.

Do you want a U.S. invasion of Syria?

except a us invasion is not people power. is it?

I am always shocked how people, particularly ows and anonymous supporters continuously fall for neocon regime change, when it is couched as #arabspring.

The citizens of Russia had a populist leader in Gorbachev, but abandoned him for Boris Yeltsin who introduced the “Pinochet Option” of shock therapy for the economy. That’s why they’re where they are today, with an oligarchy in power.

“Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately,” Obama wrote.

As much as I hate to see people killed in Syria, I have heard that the “popular” uprising may be more similar to the “uprising” in Iran that was arranged by the cia. Webster Tarpley actually went to Syria and watched events and interviewed people. It was not as was portrayed in the msm.

“Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately,” Obama wrote.

I repeat the quote to emphasize what 0 has said. We simply can’t trust what he says because he is too busy wearing his comfortable shoes to run away from OWS and to try to establish compliant governments in the ME. 0 really needs to apply his words to himself.

Any truth to these rumors that it’s outside agitators doing the killing, and the whole exercise we are reading about is a setup by the west ?

Exposed: The Arab agenda in Syria By Pepe Escobar
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB04Ak01.html

Go to Guns and Butter here. This is Bonnie Faulkner’s interview with Webster Tarpley. Tarpley indicts the cia and the US for what is going on in Syria. Listen to the intro and then at about the 40min point for greater discussion of the killing.

You are cheering on Russian and Chinese policy on human rights. Yet you call yourself progressive. This issue is one where the progressive bloc of the Democratic Party will never get it right. History is working against this amoral policy stance. Why do some many progressives insist on allowing humanitarian crises continue unabated?

So you suggest eternal war?

Washington has no legitimate business in Syria. Some “progressives” are not imperialists. Washington is eagerly trying to provoke a war with Syria and her ally Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Russia and China do not want this war and are trying to prevent it, in this case by denying Obama a puppet in Syria.

If you want to see the mother of humanitarian crises watch what happens when Washington starts WWIII by attacking Iran. Imperial Washington does not prevent humanitarian crises. It creates them.

Right on!

I suggest that we stop constructing false dichotomies and realize that not every intervention is a recreation of George W. Bush’s Iraq.

Let me ask you a related question: do believe, then, that Washington has no ‘legitimate business’ in promoting human rights and democracy? If you do, then at the very least you’re a progressive that doesn’t say human rights are inviolable, prevents massive and systemic violations from being stopped, and then complains when they intensify and the government doesn’t respond.

The progressive wing is free to become a party that doesn’t support human rights. But it is completely naive to support human rights, but deny any responsibility in the deaths of Syrians when you advocate a policy that prevents any and all intervention.

I’m shocked that people like you are perpetrating such bullshit. People are dying over there, there are multiple human rights organizations calling for an end to the brutality by the Syrian government. And you sit around with little or no information blindly backing the Russian government version of this? Russia is an arms supplier to the Assad regime, not a neutral party. Iran has “advisers” in there, also not a neutral party.

There are at this point numerous armed factions. There needs to be an end to armed violence. But the government needs to cease it’s firing on protesters. And on hospitals, and its detaining people and torturing them.

Human Rights Watch was calling on South Africa to end giving Russia cover for its vetoes by voting for the resolution. Physicians for Human Rights was calling on the UNSC to remand the Assad Regime’s behavior to the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC for investigation for crimes against humanity. Togo was calling for discussions on an action that would be short of intervention by more than just talk. Guatemala was calling for a resolution that reminded Bashir al Assad of his responsibility to protect his citizens’ human rights, but no intervention.

There are a lot of possible actions that don’t include military intervention and don’t sanction the Assad regime or continue, as the Russian Federation both does and demands the right to do, to supply arms to the Assad regime. Your assumption that there is no daylight between opposing the Russian platform and military intervention is stupid bullshit and willful deceit. You are being a warmonger, by ignorance, I’ll choose to believe.

i damand support for human rights, by ending foreign aid for regimes that violate them. Israelis for instance who have massacred far more people, with less justification, than Assad ever will. Indeed, many of those socalled rebels are probably proisrael moles.

human rights watch played a part in the run up to the iraq war as well. both of them. they arent all that credible with progressives.

I’m with you on ending Israel’s violations. No, the protesters are not pro-Israel moles. The ICRC field delegates have talked to plenty who are just average people. If you would like to prove otherwise, please start doing the forensics and producing the evidence. Don’t just let people die and allege shit as a way to justify ignoring it. PHR has documented some of the deaths. So has HRW. Some others have been documented by UNHCHR.

Until recently, the protests in Syria were largely peaceful. That’s a statement from SARC. Since they and the hospitals do the ambulance services, that is a neutral party. Now there are multiple armed factions, and the number of guns is increasing in the country. That’s a statement from the ICRC. Also a neutral party. So there are guns on all sides.

PHR has also documented government violence against hospitals and doctors. When that happens in Bahrain, this forum is loud in its condemnation. But in Syria? Crickets chirp.

Human Rights Watch has documented government use of torture against civilians — not excluding children.

Is that a fact? Human Rights Watch isn’t credible but Dameocrat is? Who did the study of prisoners at Guantánamo? Dameocrat or HRW?

You’re bullshit. You don’t have evidence, you just denounce organizations that don’t agree with you.

its pretty easy to do scripted interviews. i am old enough to remember the babies being pulled out incubator stories in iraq war one. the resolutions are just to make a case for more war, which we cant afford. that is creating a humanitarian crisis in the us.

How i’m I a war monger for not wanting a war with Syria?

I don’t know what you think a progressive is Dylan. My political values are personified by Kucinich and Nader. My most important issues however are not left or right. They are democracy, liberty and constitutional government. I know that many conservatives value these also. I would like to see Washington promote democracy and human rights here in the United States.

When “my” government invaded Iraq without provocation and laid waste to the country creating millions of corpses and widows and orphans and refugees Washington said it was promoting democracy. If that’s promoting democracy I’m against it.

Anyway, if you want to make a case against progressives you are talking to the wrong guy. I have no use whatever for Democrats or Obama. I will be voting for Ron Paul in the Primaries and will probably vote Green in the general election.

Get out your constitution and see if you can find the part that says our president is supposed to be an emperor. Where does it say that we must control the world by force of arms. Our military is not promoting anything but the financial interests of the Oligarchy that owns what should be your government.

You seem like a good guy Dylan. I’m out of time today but I hope we meet again.

Because you’re advocating the Russian position, which is fomenting war in Syria. The Russians need to be made to cease and desist. The position required is to call on all parties to cease and desist, and to sanction the Syrian regime if it won’t. Russia favors continuing to supply arms to the regime and allowing the regime a free hand in its current policies.

Okay. I don’t think we should be supplying Israel with money for military use, either. I don’t think that we should abandon them completely, either, but this isn’t about Israel.

Do you think the United States gives that much money to Assad? USAID data is publicly available. No money is slated for Syria. The United States does not generally fund genocidal dictatorships, despite whatever conspiracy theories might be floating around the internet. So, what is cutting off funding going to do? Even specifically, how does cutting off funding for Israel solve the issue in Syria?

Regimes can function without United States monetary support. History is full of examples, if you bother to do the research.

The main issue I have with progressives, especially on FDL, is that they continually bring Iraq into the argument. Iraq does not exemplify the preferences of modern humanitarian intervention advocates. In fact, Iraq went against many of the principles. So when you bring up Iraq, you’re ignoring the real debate.

But, honestly, if you’re voting for Ron Paul, then you’re irrational. Trying to convince you that supporting humanitarian intervention falls directly in line with liberal political thought isn’t worth it. I don’t think many progressives now are interested in having a truly thoughtful discussion on this issue.

They’ve latched onto George W. Bush, Iraq, and anti-war dogma, and it’s mutated into a completely illiberal policy position. It’s one of the strangest political developments I’ve seen in years, and I’m really dismayed that it might become a standard Democratic principle.

That is absurd hyperbole. Go spend a month in Sudan, then re-read your post. I’m sure you’ll find it as equally ridiculous as I do. There is no humanitarian crisis in the United States.

Massacre, huh? The British press is in this insurgency up to their necks, even ferrying weapons into the “protesters.”

Massacre? Fifty-five people? What were the U.S. B-2 bombers dropping on Libya, lollipops?

Ondelette I have been reading your post on this forum and you obviously don’t have a clue what you are talking about. These so called HRW’s that are located in Paris, UK, and the U.S. also happen to be the same countries that routinely drop bombs on innocent people. Where are the HRWs then. Look at what is going on in Libya right now. Thousands of blacks locked away without trial and yet when Gadaffi was in power he at least tried to help everyone. Get off your soapbox idiot.

Come on, Mod. The name calling is getting out of hand.

The best thing that could happen for Syrians is for the West to stay out.

The best thing that could happen for Westerners is for the West to stay out.

Could it be any clearer?

I don’t have a clue? I knew about people needing help in Libya before there was any intervention there because they were black. I said something about it here. I follow that kind of stuff whether or not I read here, because I don’t really need you to give me a “clue”. I knew about the documenting of infractions against civilians as it was going on. Both sides, unlike apparently you.

Human Rights Watch is a human rights watchdog organization, it isn’t allied with a government. It’s an international NGO. It has people working with it from all over the world. It isn’t trustworthy because it has people working with it in Europe? Who are you kidding? And what? That makes, say, the ACLU untrustworthy because they are U.S. based and the U.S. started the Iraq War? What an idiot.

Human Rights Watch has people documenting and doing forensic work in Syria, not just people writing from Europe. PHR did their surveys from outside via phone and Skype contacts and from some surveys inside. You can read their work here:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/PHR_Reports/syria-attacks-on-drs-patients-hospitals-final-2011.pdf
HRW’s stuff is here:
http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/syria
ICRC’ stuff is here:
http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/interview/2012/syria-interview-2012-02-03.htm

I think it’s you who don’t have a clue. You read shit like Pepe Escobar, instead of reading neutral observers. The ICRC and SARC are on the ground. They won’t say who they think did what. But they will say that the protesters are ordinary people, and they will say that the government has been holding detainees.

And what they don’t say speaks volumes: ICRC delivered 600 bodybags to SARC in December. What was that for? Because they make good oil changing pans for their ambulances?

So instead of thinking anyone who isn’t toeing the fringe line is an imbecile, why don’t you ask yourself whether maybe your excuses for all these demonstrations and bodies and torture victims aren’t beginning to sound like apologies for crimes against humanity?

Why is it that you don’t just say that the best thing for the Syrians is both a call for an end to violence and for all the outside nations to stay out? Why do you say the West and exempt Iran and Russia?

Massacre? Fifty-five people?

Taking a break from writing excuses for the CIA for drone casualties?

Do you understand how you sound? Neocon much?

Does the U.S. sell arms?

Totally without defending a single thing that Israel does, you should be fair on this. If you count since Bashir al Assad came to power in 2000, the comparison is 5400 for Assad, about 6800 for Israel. If you count since, say, 1980 to get the Israel-Palestinian Conflict, as B’Tselem does, and to get the whole Assad Family legacy of cruelty, then the Assads win the cruelty death match, with the Assads coming in at about 25,000 (Hama plus the current one) with a minimum estimate of 15,000, and a maximum estimate of 45,000, and Israel coming in at 7,980. Have a nice day.

You really don’t know squat about Syria, do you? Look up the Hama massacre.

Yup. Didn’t say they didn’t. Irrelevant to the Syria problem.

Yeah I did’nt say I took the Russian position

there is this oft forgotten rule of law known as the “clean hands” doctrine.

what is says, essentially, is that if you don’t have “clean hands” you have no legitimate voice.

the united states, the united kingdom, nato, do not have “clean hands”.

should we recount the incidents of the usa’s “dirty hands”? where we had no inhibitions to kill vast numbers of “wogs”. since the end of ww2.

not to be exhaustive, but the invasions of seasia.

the school of the americas and the invasions of central and south america.

the coup in guatemala in 1954.

the coup in iran.

the many attempted coups in cuba.

the coups in the lebanon.

the coup in the dominican republic.

the coup in grenada.

and of course, all the coups in the usa.

let us go back and reflect upon one of the reasons for the last invasion of iraq: the decision by saddam hussein to sell his hydrocarbons for euros. this was a thread to the us dollar as the global reserve currency.

let us go back and reflect upon the principal reason for facilitating the insurrection in libya. it was gassafi’s decision to establish a gold medium of exchange for libyan hydrocarbons. that could not be tolerated by the usa or the nato states. it would officially bankrupt them.

what happened in libya is exactly what operation ajax did to mossadegh in iran. the intell services, particularly the sas, sbs were infiltrated to manage the insurrection. it was an invasion. hidden from the ignorami that populate the purportedly amerikan progressive left.

and let us conclude with the activities of the usa. just so that we can put syria into perspective.

let us consider how the OWS activities have been dealt with by the usg and its coordination with local police entities, for instance. cannot you see it as a level of “squashing” that could easily accelerate to kent state like behavior?

and then there is gitmo, of course.

and bradley manning.

and i won’t even mention israel and its history of palestinian genocide.

so, the usa and its myrmidons have been doing in syria what they did in iran decades ago. and in libya months ago. and the lesson is, assad needs to shut down those insurgencies. after all, they are as instigated by foreign agents as certainly as we have organized the oppositions to so many governments over the years of our empire.

when we excuse our dictator, barry obombya, then i think we are obliged to excuse all dictators.

don’t you? and if you don’t, why don’t you?

what causes you to excuse the homicidal ways of the usa?

Good. Progress. Ask them to stop. The Russians and the Iranians need to be out of there. The Russian veto was pathetic.

Second thing that’s pathetic is the MSM treatment, but not for the reasons seen by commenters here. It’s because we aren’t seeing enough of the deliberations in the UNSC, and we aren’t seeing what the neutral observers are saying in Syria. The former? We need to hear from the non-permanent members. They’re the ones talking sense right now, esp. Guatemala, Togo. South Africa is acting weird, but they can be reasoned with. The call by HRW to have the Arab League documents be public is a good one. Governments — especially permanent member governments — shouldn’t be allowed to do anything in closed negotiations at all.

And the neutral observers. They say the place is awash with guns. They say the violence isn’t full country. They say there is widespread direspect for protected and neutral parties. That needs to be spotlighted. Observers, like the Arab League or anyone else that would stop this thing from becoming war, can’t operate without respect for neutrality. And the press is the institution that can spotlight that.

See this thing isn’t about choosing which side’s story to buy. It’s about not buying one side’s story or the other. Anything else is a track to war.

Ask the U.S. to stop selling arms

Do you understand the difference between advocating for the Syrian government to stop killing and advocating for the U.S. to get involved? There is a world of difference between the two and this forum needs to understand that. The U.S. not needing to get involved does not make Assad a good guy. He still needs to face judgment for crimes against his people. Maybe that never happens in order that the greatest good happens to the greatest number. But he has killed, he has tortured, and justice is the origin of rule.

the last resolution, of this nature, the un passed was most certainly used to justify the bombing of libya, and the installation of the oil theft regime there.

Really? And that justifies people dying? You are advocating people dying. We’re not re-deciding Libya here, we’re talking about Syria. Intervention was not on the table at the UNSC meeting, it wasn’t in the Arab League proposal brought by Morocco. You and you alone are proposing it, based on Russia using that as a smoke screen for their continued support for the Assad regime. Stop supporting Russia and stop supporting Assad. You’re supporting murderers.

with us or against. have fun!

Here are the changes proposed by Russia to the text of the UN resolution. The US refused even to discuss them.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/02/text-of-the-unsc-resolution-on-syria-with-russian-changes.html#more

http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/Report_of_Arab_League_Observer_Mission.pdf

Some excerpts from the January 2012 Report of the Arab League Observer Mission in Syria

A. Monitoring and observation of the cessation of all violence by all sides in cities and residential areas

25. On being assigned to their zones and starting work, the observers witnessed acts of violence perpetrated by Government forces and an exchange of gunfire with armed elements in Homs and Hama. As a result of the Mission’s insistence on a complete end to violence and the withdrawal of Army vehicles and equipment, this problem has receded. The most recent reports of the Mission point to a considerable calming of the situation and restraint on the part of those forces.

26. In Homs and Dera‘a, the Mission observed armed groups committing acts of violence against Government forces, resulting in death and injury among their ranks. In certain situations, Government forces responded to attacks against their personnel with force. The observers noted that some of the armed groups were using flares and armour-piercing projectiles.

27. In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against Government forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries. Examples of those acts include the bombing of a civilian bus, killing eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel oil. In another incident in Homs, a police bus was blown up, killing two police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed.

28. The Mission noted that many parties falsely reported that explosions or violence had occurred in several locations. When the observers went to those locations, they found that those reports were unfounded.

29. The Mission also noted that, according to its teams in the field, the media exaggerated the nature of the incidents and the number of persons killed in incidents and protests in certain towns.
….

D. Confirming the withdrawal of the military presence from residential neighbourhoods in which demonstrations and protests occurred or are occurring
….

Confirming the accreditation by the Syrian Government of Arab and international media organizations and that those organizations are allowed to move freely in all parts of Syria

44. In Homs, a French journalist who worked for the France 2 channel was killed and a Belgian journalist was injured. The Government and opposition accused each other of being responsible for the incident, and both sides issued statements of condemnation. The Government formed an investigative committee in order to determine the cause of the incident. It should be noted that Mission reports from Homs indicate that the French journalist was killed by opposition mortar shells.

Annex 2. A list of media organizations identified and a list of media organizations that entered Syria, according to the official information.
……

50. Some observers reneged on their duties and broke the oath they had taken. They made contact with officials from their countries and gave them exaggerated accounts of events. Those officials consequently developed a bleak and unfounded picture of the situation.
….

E. The media

68. Since it began its work, the Mission has been the target of a vicious media campaign. Some media outlets have published unfounded statements, which they attributed to the Head of the Mission. They have also grossly exaggerated events, thereby distorting the truth.

69. Such contrived reports have helped to increase tensions among the Syrian people and undermined the observers’ work. Some media organizations were exploited in order to defame the Mission and its Head and cause the Mission to fail.
….

70. The purpose of the Protocol is to protect Syrian citizens through the commitment of the Syrian Government to stop acts of violence, release detainees and withdraw all military presence from cities and residential neighbourhoods. This phase must lead to dialogue among the Syrian sides and the launching of a parallel political process. Otherwise, the duration of this Mission will be extended without achieving the desired results on the ground.

71. The Mission determined that there is an armed entity that is not mentioned in the protocol. This development on the ground can undoubtedly be attributed to the excessive use of force by Syrian Government forces in response to protests that occurred before the deployment of the Mission demanding the fall of the regime. In some zones, this armed entity reacted by attacking Syrian security forces and citizens, causing the Government to respond with further violence. In the end, innocent citizens pay the price for those actions with life and limb.
….

In some cities, the Mission sensed the extreme tension, oppression and injustice from which the Syrian people are suffering. However, the citizens believe the crisis should be resolved peacefully through Arab mediation alone, without international intervention. …..

75. Recently, there have been incidents that could widen the gap and increase bitterness between the parties. These incidents can have grave consequences and lead to the loss of life and property. Such incidents include the bombing of buildings, trains carrying fuel, vehicles carrying diesel oil and explosions targeting the police, members of the media and fuel pipelines. Some of those attacks have been carried out by the Free Syrian Army and some by other armed opposition groups.

Obama has no “legitimacy” to demand that Russia or China do anything, as he is delivering lethal weapons to put down and kill resident populations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and is now harboring the war criminal Ali Abdulla Saleh.
Here Libyan rebels moved to Syria to fight Al Asad’s regime on behalf of the sponsors of human rights everywhere: Saudi Arabia.
You don’t have to be for NATO or the US/GCC puppets to be against Assad, but if the US imperial puppets remove him, all balance of power is lost.
Alastair Crooke: Syria and Iran: the great game
“Regime change in Syria is a strategic prize that outstrips Libya – which is why Saudi Arabia and the west are playing their part”
Taking down Syria is not just a prize by itself, it leads the way to take out Iran, and Hezbolla. If they can destroy this power axis, Israel will have free reign for the sociopathic religious nut zionists to realize greater Israel which extends all the way into iraq.

ondelette plays the part of the useful fool. every. single. time.
Libyan rebels are torturing the loyalists and refuse to let them return to their homes. Crickets from her about that following her boisterous cheerleading during that last misadventure.

Thank you. This is being ignored, because it doesn’t support the narrative. dday should have a read too.

27. In Homs, Idlib and Hama, the Observer Mission witnessed acts of violence being committed against Government forces and civilians that resulted in several deaths and injuries. Examples of those acts include the bombing of a civilian bus, killing eight persons and injuring others, including women and children, and the bombing of a train carrying diesel oil. In another incident in Homs, a police bus was blown up, killing two police officers. A fuel pipeline and some small bridges were also bombed.

28. The Mission noted that many parties falsely reported that explosions or violence had occurred in several locations. When the observers went to those locations, they found that those reports were unfounded.

All your sunni mercenaries are belong to us. (and they are well armed)

I’m very satisfied that someone, even if it is Russia and China, is willing to impede the blatant imperialism of the USA in its quest for hegemony and colonization.

I think it’s you who don’t have a clue. You read shit like Pepe Escobar, instead of reading neutral observers. The ICRC and SARC are on the ground. They won’t say who they think did what. But they will say that the protesters are ordinary people, and they will say that the government has been holding detainees.

And what they don’t say speaks volumes: ICRC delivered 600 bodybags to SARC in December. What was that for? Because they make good oil changing pans for their ambulances?

Are you indicting your own neutral sources by reading between the lines, to determine your truth.. by the things that they don’t say?

Are 600 empty bodybags are the equivalent of 600 deaths of simple civilian protestors?
Is it only Syrian military forces that is doing the killing? That the Syrian Government is holding detainees?

al-akhbar are as neutral as is possible to be: Foolishly Ignoring the Arab League Report on Syria

Almost immediately once-staunch advocates of this Arab League “intervention” in Syria began to undermine the [observer] mission’s efforts.

Before inking the final deal, an Arab League official had warned me that certain member states – Qatar, most prominently – were setting up conditions that would preclude the participation of the Syrian government.[]

The disappointed spoilers launched a public relations blitz to cast doubt on the mission’s participants, the Arab League’s capabilities, and the investigation’s discoveries.

For the last month, there have been incessant allegations about the Sudanese head of mission Lieutenant General Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, now suddenly accused of war crimes. Rumors abounded about mission observers quitting their posts because of the “horrific” nature of the Syrian government’s onslaught against its civilians. International NGOs and a slew of Western politicians even offered to “train” the mission observers – implicitly suggesting that Arabs lack observation and negotiation capabilities, or worse perhaps, that the observers need to be taught to view the Syrian conflict through external lenses.

The sense of responsibility for the welfare of backward people is just heart warming..

It was hard to doubt these rumors entirely. The Arab League has, after all, refused to make the final monitors’ report available to the general media. But the report has suddenly popped up as an annex to the UN resolution on Syria currently being hotly debated at the Security Council. Most puzzling though, is that few Western or Arab journalists congregated at the United Nations this week are drawing attention to this critical document that provides insight into the very events contested at Security Council sessions.[]

The full monitor’s report of the Arab League, as revealed here, refers in several instances to efforts aimed at undermining the mission and its activities:

“Since it began its work, the mission has been the target of a vicious media campaign…that increased in intensity after the observers’ deployment. Some media outlets have published unfounded statements, which they attributed to the head of the mission. They have also grossly exaggerated events,” it said.

“Such contrived reports have helped to increase tensions among the Syrian people and undermined the observers’ work. Some media organizations were exploited in order to defame the mission and its head and cause the mission to fail.”

The effort to “defame” the mission – ostensibly by opponents of the Syrian government – is a strange one.

It’s not strange if you understand that the goal is regime change, and that it is not human rights concerns.
To recap: Arab League attempted discredit the mission, then hide the report they commissioned, but it was leaked. (also reported by in “shit like Pepe Escobar“) Now, the same M$M that tried to defame the mission are ignoring the report.

The report – while short – is professionally written, detailed, and highlights the difficulties inherent in covering a hard-fought conflict. It also criticizes the Syrian regime’s actions and shortcomings in sticking to the protocol and protecting civilians:

“On being assigned to their zones and starting work, the observers witnessed acts of violence perpetrated by government forces and an exchange of gunfire with armed elements in Homs and Hama. As a result of the mission’s insistence on a complete end to violence and the withdrawal of army vehicles and equipment, this problem has receded.”[]

But then the report veers sharply away from conventional narratives about the nature of the Syrian conflict by observing: “The mission determined that there is an armed entity that is not mentioned in the protocol.”

Though the report attributes this development “to the excessive use of force by Syrian government forces in response to protests,” it also points out that “in some zones, this armed entity reacted by attacking Syrian security forces and citizens, causing the government to respond with further violence.”

The report then provides several examples of this:
“In Homs and Dera‘a, the mission observed armed groups committing acts of violence against government forces, resulting in death and injury among their ranks. In certain situations, government forces responded to attacks against their personnel with force. The observers noted that some of the armed groups were using flares and armor-piercing projectiles.”

These don’t sound like “ordinary people”. Do you think that they got the “armor-piercing projectiles” from the Russians?
You’re siding with Killers ondelette, again.