Syria: Russia circulates UN resolution condemning violence

Russia has circulated among other UN Security Council members the draft of a new resolution aimed at reducing the violence in Syria.

The resolution strongly condemns the violence by "all parties, including disproportionate use of force by Syrian authorities".

Russia called emergency talks of the 15 nation body on Syria however to propose the new resolution, which Western diplomats said they did not find acceptable but could be negotiated on. The French envoy to the UN welcomed the move, saying it was "an extraordinary event."

Western members of the council who have been pressing for tough measures against President Bashar Assad's regime welcomed the move, but said it didn't go far enough because it didn't include an arms embargo or other sanctions.

It also "urges the Syrian government to put an end to suppression of those exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association" and called for speedy investigations into events that killed or injured civilians and security personnel.

But the text does not mention sanctions. The draft also says the council "decides that nothing in this resolution shall be interpreted as an authorization of any sort of military interference in Syria by anyone."

The Russians have pulled the plug, IOW, they’ve blinked, they’ve backed down, they’ve wet their Soviet-era adult diapers and need to get home to change.

The French have rejected the Russian proposal, saying it’s a step in the right direction but doesn’t go far enough. Ha.

France rejects Russia’s Syria resolution
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=249757

the Russians didn’t know how bad it was going to be, although they must have known it would be bad when they backed off.

Libyan Leader Calls on Syria’s Assad to Step Down
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/12/16/libyan-leader-calls-on-syrias-assad-to-step-down/

Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Syria, 4 Reported Dead
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Syrian-Protesters-Security-Forces-Clash-in-Homs—135727508.html

and the Assad dynasty? Well, turns out that the Russians weren’t 100 percent responsibility for the stonewalling:

Report: Syrian Soldiers Ordered to ‘Shoot and Kill’ Protesters
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/report-syrian-soldiers-ordered-shoot-kill-protesters/story?id=15163622

And, that’s the end of the line. The Syrian army hardliners will be targets of every other Syrian soldier, reservist, and press-gang thug.

FRiends, we will probably have a new Syrian regime for Christmas this year.

Here's a repost of one of my comments from September of last year.

Russia has a few military friends in its Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO: members listed below). Iran has "observer" status in the organization.

The following excerpts are from the CIA World Factbook (over a year ago, check for updates)

Russia

Religions:
Russian Orthodox 15-20%, Muslim 10-15%, other Christian 2% (2006 est.)
note: estimates are of practicing worshipers; Russia has large populations of non-practicing believers and non-believers, a legacy of over seven decades of Soviet rule

Kazakhstan

Religions:
Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%

Kyrgyzstan

Religions:
Muslim 75%, Russian Orthodox 20%, other 5%

Tajikistan

Religions:
Sunni Muslim 85%, Shia Muslim 5%, other 10% (2003 est.)

Uzbekistan

Religions:
Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3%

Belarus

Background:
Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.

Religions:
Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)

Armenia

Religions:
Armenian Apostolic 94.7%, other Christian 4%, Yezidi (monotheist with elements of nature worship) 1.3%

From PalestineFacts.org

What led to the Six Day War in 1967?

Excerpt:
Military Provocation By Arab Countries and Soviet Disinformation

At the same time, and unknown to the Israelis, the Soviet Union mounted a disinformation campaign pushing Egypt to join Syria against Israel. At that time, the Soviets were providing military and economic aid to both Syria and Egypt. On May 13, 1967 a Soviet parliamentary delegation visited Cairo and informed the Egyptian leaders that Israel had concentrated eleven to thirteen brigades along the Syrian border in preparation for an assault within a few days, with the intention of overthrowing the revolutionary Syrian Government. This was a complete fabrication designed by the Soviets to destabilize the Middle East. Similar false information may have been given to Egypt by the Soviets as early as May 2.

The build up and aggressive intent were denied by Israel. UN Secretary General U Thant reported that UNTSO observers on the Syrian border:

... have verified the absence of troop concentrations and absence of noteworthy military movements on both sides of the [Syrian] line.
Nasser probably correctly interpreted the Soviet information as an indication to him that the time was ripe for an attack on Israel and that he had their backing. With the United States deeply distracted by the War in Vietnam, the Soviets had reason to think there would be no US intervention.

Thanks familyop. The main military (and economic) provocation by the Arabs was the expulsion of the UN observers in the Sinai, Nasser’s remilitarization of the Sinai, and massive troop buildup pursuant to the invasion, and the cooperation between the Saudis and Egyptians on the closing of the Gulf of Aqaba at the straits. As always, the UN scratched its ass and did nothing, while the USSR was pushing for a final victory over the Israelis while LBJ had this country ass-deep in Vietnam.

The Israelis knew they were basically on their own, and couldn’t survive a first strike, so they treated Egypt’s actions as the act of war that they were, and the IAF carried out a meticulously planned and practiced series of air raids which destroyed the Arab air forces on the ground, and cratered the runways. Anything that the Arabs managed to put in the air was either shot down or chased off.

The 70,000 dead the Egyptian army suffered in this entire fiasco turned out to be for the most part due to thirst as the deserters tried to cross the Sinai on foot (before or after the vehicle fuel ran out). The propaganda machine of Nasser’s regime was so much a part of life that even Nasser was kept unaware of the scope and rapidity of the defeat. When the survivors of the shattered army started to swim the Canal, the jig was pretty much up. Someone had to tell Nasser, and he fell apart. His death a few years later is sometimes attributed to the debacle — one that he engineered.

Regardless of the Russian role, Nasser was the main mover behind the 1967 war, and indirectly he ushered in the era of Islamofascism. His successor Sadat helped that process along, even while seeming to struggle against it in some ways.

I honestly thought (and posted here) that the Arab states were preparing for another joint invasion of Israel about four or five years ago. That might have been exceptionally good timing for such an attack. The fact is, the Iraq theater of war resulted in a delay, as it split the jihadist / Islamofascist world, and deepened the divide between the Arabs and the Iranians. The Turkish Islamofascist regime certainly has tried to bridge that gap, and expand its influence, while building ties with the Iranian mullahcracy.

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