Putin urges Syria talks, signals no shift

Reuters ^ | Monday, July 23, 2012 | Alexei Anishchuk et al (see comment)

[SunkenCiv]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Syria's crisis must be resolved through negotiations not force, and warned that if President Bashar al-Assad's government was toppled a civil war could continue.

After talks with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Putin said last week's vote to extend an observer mission showed that compromise could be found at the United Nations but gave no sign Russia would drop its opposition to sanctions or intervention.

"We think that the future of a country should not be decided on the basis of military victory or defeat of one of the sides, but through a negotiation process, on the basis of compromise and agreements reached," Putin said.

"The current Syrian leadership and the armed opposition must find in themselves the strength to organize a negotiation process," Putin told a joint news conference after the meeting in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

"In the course of the talks (they need to) decide how their country will live in the future."

But he stood firm on Russia's insistence that Assad's exit from power could not be a precondition for such a process and warned that the overthrow of the government would only bring more bloodshed.

"We fear that if the current leadership is removed from power unconstitutionally, the opposition and the current leadership may simply trade places," Putin said, adding that in that case "nobody knows how long civil war would continue".

Putin suggested that "structural changes" in government should come only after fighting stops and talks are held to determine how the country should be run in the future. "Doing it the other way around would be chaos," he said.

[SunkenCiv]

(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya and Michael Roddy)

[SunkenCiv]

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http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/syria-drones/

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AAP
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/at-least-23-summarily-executed-in-syria/story-fn3dxix6-1226433413738

UK Report Accuses Syria of Targeting Children
http://www.voanews.com/content/uk-report-accuses-syria-targeting-children/1443713.html

Syria’s regime is finished — do not mourn its passing
By David Gardner
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d016fd24-d4ad-11e1-bb88-00144feabdc0.html

Burgas attack a sign of Hezbollah’s potency, but could Syria’s problems hinder its future?
by Ben Sales
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http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/07/23/3101511/hezbollah-uncertain-future-but-still-dangerous

[arrogantsob]

It is bad when the Russians have a less dangerous foreign policy than we do.

[SunkenCiv]

The Russians are down to their last throw in the Middle East; the only reason Pootie’s foreign policy is “less dangerous” is that Zero is seen as a pushover. Russia’s moves to prop up Assad’s failed multigenerational dictatorship are dangerous to Pootie’s viability at home (even though their agitprop channels emphasize that Russians have unified behind him about this) because ultimately Russia will fail. It may take place because the regime continues to implode, and the Russians will have to run, or it may take place after Syria turns into Russia’s next Afghanistan (long parade of body bags).

It’s interesting to contemplate how the CIA (which can’t hit the floor with a handful of grapes, on a good day) will, with the help of Assad’s, Russia’s, and Iran’s many advocates here on FR, eventually will be blamed for the many-headed popular uprising against Assad, the same way that “foreign mercenaries” and “al-Qaeda” are and have been blamed for it.

[arrogantsob]

Just like in Egypt and Libya our government is abetting an Islamist takeover in Syria. This force has already been very destructive of the Christians there with the burning of hundreds of Churches and the murder of hundreds of Christians by the Moslem fanatics. Those tolls will explode should the Islamists be successful.

You don’t really believe that The Disaster and Shrillary have any ideas for foreign policy which will help our nation do you? Or that this revolt has anything to do with “democracy”?

[SunkenCiv]

You don’t really read anything I’ve already written about this, do you? Didn’t think so.