Mean while the conflict in Syria continues with important developments. I think the Russians are correct that a large segment of the population still supports Assad. Amazing how tainted our views are when we view the war through the lens of our media who chose sides a long time ago.
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-conflict...145749091.html
Syria conflict: Is the West 'blackmailing' Russia to pass UN resolution?
Interesting opinion on how the UN was to blame on the slaughter in Bosnia and a call to reject any peace plan proposed by the UN."To our great regret, there are elements of blackmail," Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow today. "We are being told that if you do not agree to passing the resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, then we shall refuse to extend the mandate of the monitoring mission... We consider it to be an absolutely counterproductive and dangerous approach, since it is unacceptable to use monitors as bargaining chips."
"They tell us that we should persuade Assad to step down of his own free will. This is simply unrealistic," Lavrov said. "He will not leave, not because we are protecting him, but because he has the support of a very significant part of the country’s population... We will accept any decision by the Syrian people on who will govern Syria, as long as it comes from the Syrians themselves."
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opi...357115759.html
Syrian troops will soon regard everyone outside their own units as potential enemies.
In rural areas, these developments mean that the rebels can effectively control large swathes of territory with relatively weak forces. Confining regular forces to bases is a dire sign for the government in any insurgency. The authorities no longer govern much of the population, and can no longer extract taxes and recruits from it.A little regional tensionViewing these developments, commentators in the West are raising the spectre of "Bosnia". By this they mean the dissolution of a multi-ethnic country into warring ethnic cantonments. The West, of course, is prone to blame others for this outcome: It is the Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic who is being tried in The Hague for his war crimes.
However, the ethnic division and slaughter in Bosnia were a joint production between the ethnic paramilitaries and the UN. It was the efforts to achieve ceasefire and protect civilians that locked in place the ethnic division of the country. The US-sponsored Dayton accords ratified the ethnic separatism of the paramilitaries, completing their work for them.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCont...ention-in.aspx
Iran warns Turkey against military intervention in Syria
"Any attack on Syrian territory will meet with a harsh response, and the Iranian-Syrian mutual defence agreement will be activated," the Al-Watan newspaper said.
"Turkey has received very strong warnings in the past few hours and the following message -- beware changing the rules of the game," the paper added.Is Asia pivoting to the Middle East, I don't think so but the rumors are starting..."Turkey has agreed with the United States on a military intervention limited to the north of Syria, specifically the northern province of Aleppo, to pave the way for the creation of a safe haven guarded by the armed gangs."
http://english.sina.com/world/2012/0730/491368.html
China denied "missile destroyer heads for joint drill with Syria
According to some reports, there will be maneuvers in Syria sea area with Iran, Syria, China and Russia partaking in. In a written response to these concerns, Chinese Ministry of National Defense has denied the reports, declaring that the Type 052 “Qingdao” (hull 113) destroyer was on the way to visit Ukraine as planned.
Bookmarks