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| Syrians return to Homs |
Someone tell the U.S. that the Syrian war is over. For all practical purposes the Syrian war is
over. Just a week after Pope Francis’
visit to the Middle East and his condemnation for those that manufacture and
supply with world with weapons of war for profit, the Syrian war is over. From the Global Post:
By Lesley
Wroughton and Missy Ryan
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Since Syrians rose up more than three years ago against longtime
President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. President Barack Obama has had a clear message:
Assad must go.
Now, even as
the United States seeks to increase support to moderate rebels to fight his regime, U.S. officials privately
concede Assad isn't going anywhere soon.
Yes, the
Obama/Bush foreign policy fiascos in the Middle East are finally coming to
their inevitable end, the U.S. is broke and broken can only lick its wounds and
hope to recover. The world is moving on
without us. The Middle East is sick of being
the host for endless wars of aggression for the benefit of Wall Street and the
Federal Reserve.
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| Colorado floods |
The contrast
between public rhetoric and private expectations reflects the Obama
administration's struggle to address the increasingly complex, messy conflict
in Syria, which is pitting world powers against one another - from Moscow to
Tehran and Washington.
Assad's allies portray him as confident and
in control ahead of a presidential election on Tuesday that the United States
dismisses as a farce with the opposition largely unrepresented and unable to
participate.
Yes, the U.S. dismisses the election in Syria as a farce
because they are not able to ensure the outcome like they did in Ukraine. So how is the U.S. installed government in
Ukraine doing for the Ukrainian people? Do
Ukrainian people feel the love yet? From Fox News:
Warplane kills 5 in attack on regional gov't office in Ukraine
At least five people were killed when a Ukrainian warplane attacked the regional government offices in the southeastern city of Luhansk, Russian media reported Monday.
The warplane
strafed the building, leaving "many people dead and wounded inside"
the regional government offices, which have been occupied by pro-Russian
insurgents for two months, a correspondent for Russia's RIA Novosti news agency
said.
Where are the
shrieks of “Yats is killing his own people?”
I mean really, the U.S. installed government in Ukraine’s “warplane
strafes the building” indiscriminating killing its citizens? Is that not a war crime?
The building's
exterior was "seriously damaged," the reporter said.
Ukrainian warplanes
began attacking the building on Monday, rebel spokesmen in Luhansk told
Russia's Interfax news agency.
"Ukrainian
fighter-bombers fired a projectile in
the city's center that exploded near the regional administrative
headquarters," a rebel spokesman said.
"There
are many dead and wounded among the rebels and civilian population," the rebel spokesman said.
Is the U.S.
Government and their puppet government immune from prosecution in a World
Court? Back to the Globe article:
Obama said on May 28 he would work with Congress "to ramp
up support for those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best
alternative" to Assad and to extremists who could be more dangerous for
the United States than Assad himself.
But despite that support, senior U.S. officials acknowledge in
interviews the difficulty of removing Assad, who said in April the three-year
war had swung decisively in his favor.
So has the
administration realized the error of its ways?
Are they finally realizing that the people of Syria want the war over
and that there is no alternative to Assad in the short-term?
As the conflict deepens, Syria's neighbors Jordan, Turkey, Iraq
and Lebanon are struggling to contain the effects.
Lebanon is grappling with a refugee population that has
increased the tiny country's population by a quarter; Iraq is beating back a
surge in militant violence driven at least in part by Syria; and Assad's
staying power has left Turkey's leadership frustrated and exposed.
"He may be
elected to be president of Syria, but he won’t control Syria," General
Martin Dempsey, the top U.S.
military officer, said in a recent interview with Reuters and the Pentagon's
news service.
General Dempsey
is starting to sound like a war criminal.
If Assad is elected President of Syria on June 3rd the US. will
not allow him to control Syria? Who the
hell are they to decide?
It seems as
though peace is starting to break out all over.
First signs of peace – Syria.
From the National:
BEIRUT // Exhausted and worn out from a year-long siege,
hundreds of Syrian rebels on Wednesday left their last remaining bastions in
the central city of Homs under a ceasefire deal with government forces.
The exit of about 1,200 fighters and civilians will mark a de
facto end of the rebellion in the battered city, which was one of the first
places to rise up against Bashar Al Assad’s rule, earning it the nickname of
“capital of the revolution.”
Gaining control of Syria’s third-largest city is a major win for
Mr. Al Assad on multiple levels. Militarily, it solidifies the government hold
on a swath of territory in central Syria, linking the capital Damascus with
government strongholds along the coast and giving a staging ground to advance
against rebel territory further north.
Politically, gains on the ground boost Mr. Al Assad’s hold on
power as he seeks to add a further claim of legitimacy in presidential
elections set for June 3.
So,
the U.S. is providing more weapons to ensure unending war in Syria and is
already refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of tomorrow’s elections in
Syria. So what is Putin doing? According to the IB Times:
Russia has pledged hundreds of millions of euros in financial
aid to the Syrian regime in 2014, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant.
Citing a high-ranking official in Moscow, the paper revealed the money will go towards running social
programmes, after the Syrian government requested a financial boost.
What?? Russia’s financial aid will go to social programs? The social programs have been devastated in
the U.S. and E.U. in favor of Wall Street profits and “shareholder value”.
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| Homeless tent city in U.S. |
"Syrian authorities are to receive €240m worth of help this
year, it is a confirmed figure," the newspaper quoted its source as
saying.
"De facto, it is a debt-for-financial-aid transaction,
which won't require budget allocations since we are talking about Syria's debt
payments to Russia that we couldn't receive due to the Syrian war. Now these funds, which are still in the
Syrian budget, will be spent on Syrian social projects."
So how is the election in war-torn Syria shaping up, since the
U.S. and E.U. are doing everything they can to thwart the will of the
people? From The Guardian:
Bashar al-Assad
supporters stage rallies in Australia ahead of Syrian poll
Hundreds are expected to sign petitions backing al-Assad at
rallies in major cities, in absence of polling stations.
Australians backing Bashar al-Assad in the upcoming Syrian presidential elections are staging rallies across the country to help expats register their support.
Hundreds are expected to sign petitions backing al-Assad at
rallies in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne ahead of the 3 June poll. The
petitions will then be sent to Damascus, organisers said.
The Syrian government has been unable to set up overseas polling
stations in Australia because the country’s embassy shut in June 2012, a month
after top Syrian diplomats were expelled. A consulate still operates in Sydney,
but is not large enough to facilitate the poll.
“People are trying to get their voices heard,” an al-Assad
supporter, Elle Mohamad, said. “I think people want the world to know that
Syrians have a right to vote, to determine who their leaders are going to be.”
Now there’s a unique idea “that Syrians have a right to vote, to
determine who their leaders are going to be.”
That is contrary to the elections in the United States since the Supreme
Court coup of December 12, 2000. The
U.S. has not had an election determined by the people since.
Earlier this month the US secretary of state, John Kerry, labeled the
presidential poll a
“farce” and a “fraud on democracy”.
Well John Kerry ought to know a “farce” and a “fraud on democracy”
when he sees it, just look at the Ukraine election monitored by Zionist Joe
Biden, John Kerry and Victoria Nuland.
So, Syrians in Australia are demanding to determine their
leadership. But what’s this?
From The Guardian:
Syrians in Lebanon
battle crowds to vote for Bashar al-Assad
Massive turnout for 'expatriate' voting in embassies before
Syria's June election though many refugees boycott polls
Hundreds of Syrians desperate to vote for Bashar al-Assad tried
to rush their embassy near Beirut on Wednesday, scuffling with Lebanese troops
using batons and sticks to beat the crowds back as voting abroad started ahead
of Syria's national election on 3 June.
Tens of thousands of Assad supporters flocked
to the hilltop embassy in a town south-east of the Lebanese capital to cast
ballots, snarling traffic outside, keeping schoolchildren trapped in buses for
hours and forcing some schools to cancel scheduled exams. Lebanon has more than
a million Syrian refugees.
"With our souls, with our blood, we will
sacrifice for you, Bashar" and "long live Syria!" were some of
the chants heard from many in the crowd.
Meanwhile, the election commission in Ukraine declared Petro
Poroshenko the new president of Ukraine hours after government warplanes
strafed a building in a city center killing civilians. Wow, great democracy.
Despite the carnage in Syria, the country's
president has retained significant support among large sections of the
population, particularly among
Christians, Alawites and
other religious minorities.
That
support has been reinforced as Islamic militants have gained more strength
among the rebels fighting to topple Assad.
Assad comes from the minority Alawite sect, an
offshoot of Shia Islam that has ruled Syria for the past 40 years. The majority
of rebels are Sunni Muslims.
In Lebanon, a country of 4.5 million people,
which has long been dominated by its Syrian neighbour, the election turned into
a massive show of support for Assad and his Lebanese ally, the Shia militant
Hezbollah group.
Early voting for Syrians living abroad was to
take place in embassies and consulates around the world where staff have not
defected to the opposition. Some European countries, including France and
Germany, have said they will not allow Syrian expatriate voting to be held in
their capitals.
What?? France and Germany will not allow the Syrians in their
country to vote for their own government? Well France and Germany are hostages to the
Federal Reserve Bank that is “holding their gold for safekeeping.”
A funny thing happened
on the way to the Vatican
June 8th has been set as the date that Pope Francis
will meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas in the Vatican. The invitation was
extended during the Pope’s recent Mideast visit. The press in the U.S. downplayed the prayer
meeting because Netanyahu was not invited.
From Newsweek:
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet at the Vatican and pray for peace
together at an unprecedented gathering on June 8, the Vatican said on Thursday.
In one of his boldest political gestures since his election in
March, 2013, Pope Francis invited the two leaders to come to the Vatican and
hold a joint prayer meeting with him during the pontiff's trip to the Holy Land
last week…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the key Israeli decision-maker, will not be at
the prayer meeting. Furthermore, Peres is due to leave office in July.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, the key “decision-maker” was no
included. I suspect that is because
Netanyahu and John Kerry aren’t interested in peace. But uh oh, looks like peace is beginning to
take hold in spite of Netanyahu and Kerry.
From L.A. Times:
Hamas joins
Palestinian unity government; Israel vows sanctions
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new
interim government Monday following an agreement with his arch rival, the
Islamist Hamas movement, to reunify their ranks after seven years of division.
Israel opposed the creation of the unity government because it
is backed by Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization. Israeli
officials said they would impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas said in a pre-recorded speech aired on official
Palestinian TV following the swearing in ceremony that the new government --composed of 17 ministers who do not belong
to any political party, including the incumbent prime minister, Rami Hamdallah
--will not be responsible for negotiations but only for preparing for national
elections and running daily life in the Palestinian areas.
Well, if you are going to have peace you need a unified
Palestine. That is the first step.
In response to the formation of the new government, the Israeli
security cabinet held an urgent meeting Monday afternoon. After a
two-and-a-half-hour discussion, the
cabinet unanimously agreed "to not negotiate with a Palestinian government
that relies on Hamas, a terrorist organization which calls for the destruction
of Israel."
It also decided to authorize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to impose additional sanctions on the
Palestinian Authority and "to hold the Palestinian Authority
responsible for all actions that harm the security of Israel" if they
originate in the West Bank or Gaza Strip.
Yep, Netanyahu
is not interested in peace.
Referring
to Abbas by his nickname, Netanyahu said: "Today, Abu Mazen said yes to
terrorism and no to peace. This is the direct continuation of Abu Mazen's
policy of refusing peace."
Abbas
said that while several countries, including the European Union, Russia and, to
some extent, the United States, have welcomed the new government, Israel stood
against it.
I think the Pope
is looking at the U.S. and Israeli Governments and can see there will never be
peace, partly because the U.S. is hardly a fair negotiator. Pope Francis, in meeting with Peres and Abbas
is appealing to the people of Palestine and Israel to force their governments
finally make peace.
So June is
shaping up to be a real interesting month for peace in the world. The Syrian war is over, Syrian elections take
place tomorrow and Palestine has a united government just a week away from
prayer meeting in the Vatican.
The real losers
here are the Ukrainian people with their U.S. installed government killing their
citizens. I suspect at some point the
people of Ukraine will demand a government accountable to their people. A government that places social programs over
war and austerity. Can’t happen soon enough.
By Patricia
Baeten
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