Posted by seumasach on June 6, 2013
“This is a monster strategic defeat for the NATO-Gulf Cooperation Council-Israel axis.”
Pepe Escobar
6th June, 2013
The “Friends of Syria” are appalled. Their much vaunted “rebel held” stronghold of Qusayr is gone. This BBC headline sums it all up: “Syria conflict: US condemns siege of Qusayr.”
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Posted by seumasach on June 6, 2013
A realistic assessment as befits the author of “The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat.” I would only point out that the defeat of the rebels doesn’t mean the defeat of diplomacy- it is a precondition for it. The takfirist rabble was never going to feature at an international peace conference even if they were disposed to negotiate and, furthermore, they would never respect any cease-fire agreement. A token presence, however, can always be arranged. The essential role of the peace conference, in the first instance, is to conceal the reality revealed in this article. But we can have high hopes that once the process has been set in motion its consequences will be positive and far-ranging.
Vali Nasr
4th June, 2013
Syria’s uprising offered the possibility of a strategic defeat of Iran. In this scenario, Iran would be weakened by the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, its single Arab ally and a vital link to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia. Isolated, Iran would become more vulnerable to international pressure to limit its nuclear program. And as Iran’s regional influence faded, those of its rivals — U.S. allies Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — would expand.
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Posted by seumasach on June 5, 2013
British attempts to blacklist Lebanese resistance movement end in failure
5th June, 2013
The UK government has failed in its desperate attempt at the European Union to blacklist the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah as a “terrorist group”, local media reported.
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Posted by seumasach on June 4, 2013
Britain and France are dithering all the way to the peace conference. They just can’t deal with the new reality namely, being hung out to dry by Washington.
Jason Ditz
3rd June, 2013
A week after British and French officials sabotaged EU talks and forced the Syrian arms embargo to expire, the British government seems to be having second thoughts, with Foreign Secretary William Hague saying the nation is now unsure whether or not to arm the Syrian rebels.
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Posted by seumasach on June 4, 2013
“Kerry’s expression of concern about the response by the Turkish authorities was followed by a series of rebukes across Washington on Monday as the US sought to distance itself from one of its most important regional allies over the affair”.
Ergodan is being neutralised as a major player in the destabilisation of Syria
Turkish protests: John Kerry voices concern over police use of force
4th June, 2013
The US has called for an investigation into the political violence inTurkey and urged restraint on all sides following the fifth day of escalating nationwide protests against the rule of the prime minister,Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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Posted by seumasach on June 3, 2013
Chinmaya R. Gharekhan( former Indian Ambassador to the United Nations, was until recently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Special Envoy for West Asia)
4th June, 2013
Secretary John Kerry has demonstrated courage and wisdom in abandoning his predecessor’s insistence on President Bashar al-Assad’s departure as a precondition to talks for a political solution to the Syrian crisis, thereby bringing the American position closer to that of Russia and many others, including India. He has to go a step further and drop objection to Iran’s participation in the Geneva II conference. Iran has more than convincingly established its potential to prolong the conflict; it should be given an opportunity to play a constructive role.
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Posted by seumasach on June 3, 2013
1st June, 2013
Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi says Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is “terrorizing” his own people, calling on the premier to resign his post.
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Posted by seumasach on June 3, 2013
Pepe Escobar
3rd June, 2013
Is this the Turkish Spring? No, at least not yet. Is Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the new Mubarak? No, at least not yet.
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Posted by seumasach on June 3, 2013
Talking to All Sides including Iran
Fred H.Lawson
June, 2013
Secretary of State John F. Kerry took a major step toward engaging the United States in the quest to find a solution to the devastating civil war in Syria during his visit to Moscow on May 6-7. Kerry persuaded Russian President Vladimir V. Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov to join Washington in organizing an international conference to lay the foundation for a transitional government, whose members would include a broad range of Syrian political actors. More important, the secretary signaled that the Obama administration would not insist that Syrian President Bashshar al-Asad step down before the talks began, and agreed with his hosts that the Syrian armed forces would remain intact as part of an overall settlement.
Posted in Global peace process, Syria | Tagged: syrian peace conference | Leave a Comment »
Posted by seumasach on June 2, 2013
Obama has now moved to marginalise Qatar, the main component on the ground behind the fall of Tripoli and the destruction of Libya. Funnily enough, at the same time, Turkey, Qatar’s other half, are undergoing a sort of coloured revolution.
Saudi Edges Qatar to Control Syrian Rebel Support
2nd June, 2013
Saudi Arabia has prevailed over its small but ambitious Gulf neighbor Qatar to impose itself as the main outside force supporting the Syrian rebels, a move that may curb the influence of Qatari-backed Islamist militants.
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Posted by seumasach on June 2, 2013
Gwynne Dyer
2nd June, 2013
Sometimes, in diplomacy, a translator is not enough. You need a code-breaker. This is very much the case with the latest round of diplomatic statements about the civil war in Syria, currently the biggest armed conflict anywhere in the world. So here they are, deciphered.
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In These New Times 