[I disagree with Thierry Meyssan only in his characterisation of this process as “a new Sykes-Picot agreement”. As Meyssan himself says Anglo-American imperialism is finished. Consequently, multipolarity triumphs and in particular Russian diplomacy. The US has entered into a de facto strategic partnership with Russia but this is a benign end of empire scenario rather than a new imperialist division of the world. We should not underestimate the potential within this process; the inauguration of a new post-imperial epoque of global peace.]
You’ve probably noticed the change in tone of the atlanticist press on the Syrian issue. The “rebels”, these “champions of Freedom”, have suddenly turned into fanatical terrorists who tear each other apart. For Thierry Meyssan, there is nothing new under the sun: Washington has simply abandoned the idea of overthrowing Assad and is heading to the Geneva II conference. Next step: the loss of French influence in the region.
UN-Arab League Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi says the United Nations “would like” Iran to attend the next Geneva conference on the crisis in Syria.
[“A frank and informal exchange with the National Coalition” is a diplomatic way of saying to the “rebel”leadership: “get your asses to the Geneva 2 peace conference”]
Intervention in Syria would implicate US in war crimes, warns top military officer
Martin Dempsey, the US’s highest-ranking military officer, has warned against intervention in the Syrian conflict. In a letter to the chairman of the senate armed services committee laying out military options, Gen Dempsey said arming and training rebels could lead to a deepening of US involvement; would cost $500 million a year initially; would risk arming al-Qaeda forces; and would implicate the US in war crimes
[A welcome note of realism from the British right. In fact the Western leadership is already preparing for Assad’s victory since there very little they can do to stop it and the ideological foundations of an intervention against Assad, who is , after all, conducting a war on terror, have been completely undermined. However, defeat can be magically turned into victory through a global shift in US foreign policy orchestrated by Obama. As I have been at pains to point out Obama is actually moving in a positive direction on a number of fronts.]
This morning’s report that hundreds of former Syrian rebels are laying down their arms and taking up the government’s offer of an amnesty is further evidence of what I have been saying (and writing) for months: President Bashar al-Assad is winning Syria’s brutal civil war.
It looks increasingly that solving the Egyptian puzzle is going to take us all to Syria. How far the army’s coup in Egypt resets the geopolitics of the Middle East, or, conversely, whether the coup itself forms the commencement of a region-wide tectonic shift that is going to play out over time – this is the big question.
(Reuters) – Britain’s parliament backed a motion on Thursday requiring Prime Minister David Cameron to give it a veto over any future move to arm Syrian rebels, in a symbolic vote the government said it would heed.
Certaines informations indiquent que le discours du 15 juin de Mohammad Morsi, appelant au Jihad en Syrie, était le coup d’envoi pour la formation d’un contingent égypto-palestinien qui serait envoyé en Jordanie pour participer à l’agression contre la Syrie à partir du front sud (Daraa).
[Certain information indicates that Morsi’s speech of the 15th June, calling for Jihad in Syria, was the cue for the formation of Egytian-Palestinian contingent to be sent to Jordan in order to participate in the aggression against Syria]
Le chef des Forces armées égyptiennes, le général Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, a indiqué que l’armée a procédé, avant le soulèvement populaire du 30 juin, à une évaluation stratégique de la situation dans le pays, qui a montré l’urgence de la formation d’un gouvernement d’union nationale. Mais le président Mohammad Morsi a refusé cette option. Après la destitution du chef de l’État et l’accélération des développements, de nombreuses questions se posent sur le rôle de l’armée et l’évolution du conflit.
MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) – Israel is ready to discuss the possible deployment of Russian peacekeepers to the disputed Golan Heights region between Syria and Israel, the Israeli ambassador to Russia said Tuesday.
Congressional committees are holding up a plan to send US weapons to opposition forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because of fears that such arms deliveries will not be decisive and might end up in the hands of radical militants, five US national security sources said.
“The countries that conspire against Syria have used up all their tools and they have nothing left except direct (military) intervention,” Mr Assad said, adding that such an intervention would not happen
Syria’s President Bashar Assad says his opponents have “used up all their tools” and failed to overthrow his regime. The remarks came as Western-backed Syrian opposition figures gathered in Turkey for talks on electing a new leadership.
In These New Times 