Syria's Assad warns of 'earthquake' if west intervenes

[alp227]

Source: Reuters

Western powers risk causing an "earthquake" across the Middle East if they intervene in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad said, after protesters called for foreign protection from a crackdown in which 3,000 people have been killed.

Assad's warning came ahead of Syrian government talks on Sunday with the Arab League aimed at starting a dialogue between the government and opposition and ending violence which has escalated across Syria in recent days.

Activists said Syrian forces killed more than 50 civilians in the last 48 hours and one activist group said suspected army deserters killed 30 soldiers in clashes in the city of Homs and in an ambush in the northern province of Idlib on Saturday.

Assad's suppression of the seven-month uprising has drawn criticism from the United Nations and Arab League. Western governments have called on him to step down and imposed sanctions on Syrian oil exports and state businesses.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/30/syria-assad-warns-earthquake-west-intervenes

[Demeter]

1. Yes, but Unfortunately that Won't Be a Consideration

that Disaster Capitalists are willing to acknowledge. It's no skin off their nose if the whole Middle East goes up in flames...there's lots of profit in regime change for corporations that were formerly shut out by dictators, as we have seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Uganda, and next, Syria.

[Uben]

2. He'll wind up dead like Ghaddafy

...a bullet thru his head by his own people. Live by the sword..........

[Arctic Dave]

3. So now the defectors admit they are also killing people.

The term "activist" is a perversion of the word. The are what the US called an "insurgency" in Iraq.

[hack89]

5. So fighting evil is itself evil? nt

[Arctic Dave]

8. Define evil?

Is supporting it evil, evil? Does having evil as your ally make you evil?

Alas, it doesn't really matter because what we have isn't a Tolkin fantasy book but a good ol fashion issurection.


Makes one wonder though. If we frame it your terms, was the US the military the "evil" player in Iraq?

[hack89]

9. So a people rising up to overthrow a despotic and brutal government

is somehow bad because it involves violence? Are you saying the people have no legitimate grievances or do you think the government is a legitimate one and has the right to do what it is doing?

There are no outside players in Syria (except perhaps for Hezbollah and Iran) so I don't see the parallel to Iraq.

[Arctic Dave]

11. You don't see a paralell? Really?

Trying to oust a brutal tyranical invading occupier who is there to take your resources and turn you into a client state of their demands.

If the were such a bad apple then why did we ask them for help to occupy Iraq?

[hack89]

13. But there is no invading occupier in Syria - just the people.

The Syrians opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 - there was no serious effort to enlist their help.

[Arctic Dave]

14. Did the Iraqis want the US in their country? No.

They started to kill the people who let them in. The US called them "insurgents" and quickly began killing them, same as in Afghanistan.

What they had was an internal war going on between two factions, the same as in Syria. Syrians are being trained in Turkey and Lebenon and returning to fight the government there (could be called jihadist). Are you starting to see the paralells now?

As for the US enlisting the help of Syria, they said they would do with strings attached (golan heights). The US also used Syria
's help for "interogation", just like they used Egypt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition_by_the_United_States

I believe the US and Syrian alliance would best be called "frienemies".

[hack89]

15. No - your revisionist history is funny

Syrian civilians found sanctuary in Turkey and Lebanon when their government violently cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrations. They fled there to stay alive. There is no evidence what so ever of military training camps.

As for factions, do you deny that Syria is ruled by a minority sect that has brutally suppressed any opposition for decades? Your "factions" are not equal in size - the government is a very small minority.

Your understanding of Iraq is equally flawed. It too was ruled by a religious minority that used brutality to suppress the majority. The slaughter in Iraq was the Sunni Baathists fighting desperately to regain power. The vast majority of the killing in Iraq was muslim killing muslim.

I am always dumbfounded the moral gymnastics many here go through to condemn the US - in this case you are defending a despotic regime that clearly used violence to suppress the majority. And you are able to condemn those fighting for their freedom as just another "faction". Pathetic.

[PufPuf23]

16. There is a Russian military base in Syria that is

the only Russian military presence on the Mediterranean Sea.

[zerox]

10. Is there a particular reason why you have posted this over and over and over...

and over again in the past few days?

[Arctic Dave]

12. Is there a reason why poeple keep posting the same same story over and over again?

If you have a problem with it then tell people to stop beating the same dead horse.

[HereSince1628]

4. Considering all the earth shaking events after Arab spring

I think he must means there would be another tremor in the Middle East.

[originalpckelly]

6. We should really start an Assad death pool.

I'll take sometime early in Jan. About Jan 7.

Anyone else?

[Kennah]

19. Put me down for April 15th

[madrchsod]

7. it`s time for the al-assad reign to be over..

the family has had a good run and it`s time for another dynasty to take over.

[pampango]

17. Juan Cole: Why a No-Fly Zone won’t Work in Syria

Syrian troops fired into peaceful demonstrations in Hama and Homs on Friday. Repression of protests yesterday is estimated to have cost 40 lives. The BBC reports that some demonstrators are calling for a “no-fly zone” imposed by the international community on Syria. (The BBC video shows a sign demanding a hazr jawwi or aerial curfew.)

There are many reasons for which the protesters will not get their wish for a no-fly zone over Syria.

Most important, a no-fly zone is not a practical response to the Baath government’s repression. On Friday, troops just shot into the crowds. Unlike Qaddafi, Bashar al-Assad is not bombing his cities with jets from the air. Nor are helicopter gunships or tank units central to the coercive abilities of the Syrian state. Syrian geography is complex, and plinking tanks from the air is not an option in Syria.

There is no Arab League resolution urging intervention in Syria. There is no United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing war. In the absence of a UNSC resolution, any attack on Syria would be considered an act of aggression and could open US politicians and military men to prosecution in international courts.

Russia and China are against Western intervention, which dooms any condemnatory resolution at the UN security council. In international law since 1945, especially in the UN charter, the only grounds for going to war are self-defense or as a result of a UNSC resolution. Neither obtains in Syria and any foreign intervention would therefore be illegal, and the pilots could be tried in international courts.

It breaks my heart to say all this. The youth of Syria is being cold-bloodedly shot down by army snipers. You wish there was a way to stop it. But there isn’t. There isn’t a practical set of military tactics outsiders could deploy effectively in this situation. There is no international framework of legality for an intervention.

But it should be remembered that the political wing of the Syrian opposition in any case does not want such an intervention, and that most Syrians are determined to go it alone. They want to do what the Tunisians and Egyptians did. They should be given a chance, since that would be the best outcome possible.

http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/why-a-no-fly-zone-wont-work-in-syria.html

[AverageJoe90]

18. I do hope the Syrian people are able to overthrow Al-Assad......

[krabigirl]

20. tired of the US intervening everywhere.

[aranthus]

21. How do you define intervention?

I'm assuming that you mean militarily, but there are other ways of intervening. In fact, virtually anything we might do or not do vis a vis any country can be an intervention of some sort. If we trade with a dictatorship, that supports the government. Prohibit trade with the same government and you're helping the opposition. I'm not particularly in favor of any kind of military action against Syria, mostly because there isn't enough of an opposition to help. But what's wrong with helping people throw off dictators?