Democracy Now!
"Thousands of defiant Occupy Wall Street protesters streamed into Zuccotti Park late Tuesday less than 24 hours after police forcibly removed them from their camp. Police arrested more than 200 people, including about a dozen who had chained themselves to each other and to trees. As protesters returned, a judge upheld the city’s ban preventing them from bringing backpacks, tents and sleeping bags with them into the park. Democracy Now! spoke with protesters as they regrouped after the raid. "The reason I’m down here is because I’m tired of seeing suffering of so many people while you have 1 percent who is accumulating all this wealth on the backs of all the workers," says Ray Lewis, a retired police captain from the Philadelphia Police Department. He critiques his colleagues for "basically just enforcing the laws of the dictators, which is the 1 percent. They’re having their healthcare cut, their pensions cut, and their salaries reduced. And they don’t even realize it."....."
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Free Syrian Army attack Damascus
(Click on map to enlarge)
Syrian army defectors have attacked a string of military bases near Damascus. Clashes between defectors and troops have in the past been concentrated in the provinces of Idlib, Homs and Daraa
Paddy Allen
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011
Paddy Allen
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011
Attack on Syrian intelligence base is most audacious yet
Symbolic significance of assault on Syria's feared Air Force Intelligence directorate will not be lost on civilians
Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011
"Syria's Air Force Intelligence directorate is a central part of the Assad regime's repressive apparatus – less concerned with aviation matters than keeping tabs on the opposition. Wednesday's rocket and machine gun attack on one of its facilities on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, Hasrata, looks like the most audacious and precisely targeted attack yet by President Bashar al-Assad's enemies. Its symbolic significance will not be lost on Syrian citizens.
Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011
"Syria's Air Force Intelligence directorate is a central part of the Assad regime's repressive apparatus – less concerned with aviation matters than keeping tabs on the opposition. Wednesday's rocket and machine gun attack on one of its facilities on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, Hasrata, looks like the most audacious and precisely targeted attack yet by President Bashar al-Assad's enemies. Its symbolic significance will not be lost on Syrian citizens.
This feared organ of state security owes its ostensibly anomalous role to the fact that the president's father and predecessor, Hafez, was commander of the air force before coming to power in 1968. It played a key internal role in crushing the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s and its officers have often been stationed at Syrian embassies abroad....
Its current head, Jamil Hassan, is a member of the Alawite sect and part of the Assad family's inner circle. AFI personnel have often been seen in action against protesters and are reported to have fired live ammunition to disperse demonstrators in Damascus in April, killing 43......"
Al-Jazeera Video: Al Jazeera World: Gaza Lives On
"The Israeli blockade may have taken a heavy toll on Gazans, but this film reveals life and hope among the devastation."
Delivering "Democracy," 15 Tons at a Time: Report: U.S. Air Force Receives New 15-Ton Bunker Buster Bombs
U.S. Air Force started receiving the massive bombs in September, Bloomberg news agency reports; the bombs are capable of destroying underground targets, such as Iran's nuclear sites.
"The U.S. Air Force has received new 30,000-pound bombs capable of destroying deep underground bunkers, the Bloomberg news agency reported.
The bombs, designed to be delivered by B-2 stealth bombers, "will meet requirements for the current operational need," U.S. Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jack Miller said in a statement to Bloomberg.
The U.S. Air Force reportedly started receiving the bombs in September. The bombs are six times bigger than the U.S. Air Force's current bunker-busters....
The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out conducting military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, some of which are located in fortified underground locations."
Assad will only go if his own tanks turn against him
Predictions of Syrian leader's imminent demise are hopelessly optimistic
By Robert Fisk
"....And my Middle Eastern crystal ball broke many years ago. But I'll hazard a dangerous prediction: Assad's time is running out, fast – but don't believe the State Department and the Washington "tink thanks" (as I call them) and the EU or the Arab League. He ain't going yet....
The truth is that Russia was once Libya's only arms supplier; it was selling combat jets, frigates, tanks and anti-aircraft systems to Colonel Gaddafi after the West's 1974 arms embargo and had 3,500 advisers in the country. Its ships could refuel at the Tripoli naval base. Now it is associated with the dead and hated regime. Russia was 73rd on the list of nations to recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council.
So now the Syrian city of Tartous contains the only 24-hour port open to the Russian navy in the Mediterranean....
One thing is now clear. Quite apart from the massive civilian casualties, even opponents of the regime now admit that Assad faces an armed insurgency. This may originally have been a myth promoted by the regime, but the monster has now been born. Anti-Assad activists now openly speak of "armed insurgents"......"
By Robert Fisk
"....And my Middle Eastern crystal ball broke many years ago. But I'll hazard a dangerous prediction: Assad's time is running out, fast – but don't believe the State Department and the Washington "tink thanks" (as I call them) and the EU or the Arab League. He ain't going yet....
The truth is that Russia was once Libya's only arms supplier; it was selling combat jets, frigates, tanks and anti-aircraft systems to Colonel Gaddafi after the West's 1974 arms embargo and had 3,500 advisers in the country. Its ships could refuel at the Tripoli naval base. Now it is associated with the dead and hated regime. Russia was 73rd on the list of nations to recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council.
So now the Syrian city of Tartous contains the only 24-hour port open to the Russian navy in the Mediterranean....
One thing is now clear. Quite apart from the massive civilian casualties, even opponents of the regime now admit that Assad faces an armed insurgency. This may originally have been a myth promoted by the regime, but the monster has now been born. Anti-Assad activists now openly speak of "armed insurgents"......"
Syrian army defectors attack intelligence base near Damascus
Attacks on President Bashar al-Assad's military bases come two days after rebels kill 34 soldiers and security officials in Daraa
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011
"Syrian army defectors have attacked a string of military bases near Damascus, including an intelligence complex on the outskirts of the capital, in the first such reported assault on a major security facility in the eight-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
Members of the Free Syrian Army fired shoulder-mounted rockets and machine guns at the compound run by Air Force Intelligence in Harasta, a suburb of the capital.
A gunfight ensued and helicopters circled the area. The attack appeared to mark an escalation in armed confrontations between government and opposition forces instead of clashes involving street protesters.
"I heard several explosions, the sound of machine gunfire being exchanged," a Hasrata resident told Reuters.
Other attacks targeted military checkpoints in the suburbs of Douma, Qaboun and Arabeen and Saqba....."
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 November 2011
"Syrian army defectors have attacked a string of military bases near Damascus, including an intelligence complex on the outskirts of the capital, in the first such reported assault on a major security facility in the eight-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
Members of the Free Syrian Army fired shoulder-mounted rockets and machine guns at the compound run by Air Force Intelligence in Harasta, a suburb of the capital.
A gunfight ensued and helicopters circled the area. The attack appeared to mark an escalation in armed confrontations between government and opposition forces instead of clashes involving street protesters.
"I heard several explosions, the sound of machine gunfire being exchanged," a Hasrata resident told Reuters.
Other attacks targeted military checkpoints in the suburbs of Douma, Qaboun and Arabeen and Saqba....."
Egypt: Free Blogger Held in Maspero Case
No Transparency in Military Investigation of Killing of Copts
Human Rights Watch
November 15, 2011
"(New York) – Egypt’s military prosecutor should immediately release an award-winning blogger charged in connection with the demonstration by Christian Copts on October 9, 2011, which turned deadly, Human Rights Watch said today. Alaa Abdel Fattah was detained and later charged with incitement and theft of a military weapon, even though the prosecutor had presented no evidence to support the charges. His detention came as military prosecutors started questioning activists and priests about their alleged involvement in publicly encouraging Copts to demonstrate on that day.
During the protest in the Maspero area, military vehicles ran over demonstrators and the military used excessive force to disperse protesters, resulting in the deaths of 27 civilians and one military officer. A November 2 report by the National Council for Human Rights, Egypt’s government-appointed human rights commission, said members of the military were responsible for killing demonstrators. Investigations related to this demonstration remain solely in the hands of military prosecutors, who have called in activists and priests for questioning but have refused to reveal any information about whether they are investigating any military officers for their roles in killing Coptic protesters.
“Instead of identifying which members of the military were driving the military vehicles that crushed 13 Coptic protesters, the military prosecutor is going after the activists who organized the march,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Abdel Fattah’s detention is a blatant effort to target one of the most vocal critics of the military. The prosecutor’s acts further entrench military impunity by failing to build public confidence that there will be a transparent investigation of those responsible for the deaths.”....."
Human Rights Watch
November 15, 2011
"(New York) – Egypt’s military prosecutor should immediately release an award-winning blogger charged in connection with the demonstration by Christian Copts on October 9, 2011, which turned deadly, Human Rights Watch said today. Alaa Abdel Fattah was detained and later charged with incitement and theft of a military weapon, even though the prosecutor had presented no evidence to support the charges. His detention came as military prosecutors started questioning activists and priests about their alleged involvement in publicly encouraging Copts to demonstrate on that day.
During the protest in the Maspero area, military vehicles ran over demonstrators and the military used excessive force to disperse protesters, resulting in the deaths of 27 civilians and one military officer. A November 2 report by the National Council for Human Rights, Egypt’s government-appointed human rights commission, said members of the military were responsible for killing demonstrators. Investigations related to this demonstration remain solely in the hands of military prosecutors, who have called in activists and priests for questioning but have refused to reveal any information about whether they are investigating any military officers for their roles in killing Coptic protesters.
“Instead of identifying which members of the military were driving the military vehicles that crushed 13 Coptic protesters, the military prosecutor is going after the activists who organized the march,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Abdel Fattah’s detention is a blatant effort to target one of the most vocal critics of the military. The prosecutor’s acts further entrench military impunity by failing to build public confidence that there will be a transparent investigation of those responsible for the deaths.”....."
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Defeatest Article by Jospeh Massad
As the uprising proceeded in Tunisia last December and January and as it picked up in Egypt in January and February, developments seemed clear. Despite attempts to suppress the press, much of the news of what was unfolding reached national and international audiences immediately. The situation changed dramatically when the uprisings began in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. While a quasi news blackout suppressed coverage of the ongoing popular revolt and its violent suppression in Bahrain by Bahraini and Saudi forces (and only intermittent coverage of Oman was allowed), we continued to get important updates from Yemen. It was in Libya where the lies and propaganda started from the first week of the revolt. It was there that international forces, extending from the Gulf to Europe to the US, took charge of propagandising against Gaddafi (that he used his forces to strafe demonstrators, that his forces received Viagra and raped hundreds of women, that he used "African" mercenaries against his own people, that he was preparing to use chemical weapons against his people, that he had already killed 50,000 Libyans, etc. - all proved to be lies that international observers and agencies finally exposed as baseless fabrications) and ultimately of overthrowing Gaddafi’s dictatorship under the guise of the popular uprising led by NATO forces who actually bombed and killed hundreds of Libyan civilians.
A lesson in imperialism
This is the lesson for those in Syria who are struggling to bring about democratic rule. The evidence is clear. If you live in an Arab country whose dictator is a client of the Americans, the US will do everything in its power to suppress your revolt, and if you succeed despite US efforts, the US will sponsor the counter-revolution against you directly and indirectly through its local allies, especially Saudi Arabia and Israel, but now also Qatar. This of course applies to the situations in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, and in Saudi Arabia itself. If you happen to live in a country whose dictator, though friendly to the West, maintains an independent line on foreign policy or at least a line that cannot always be guaranteed to serve Western interests - and this applies to Syria and Iran (and lest we forget their services to the West, both countries helped actively the US effort to unseat Saddam, and the Syrian regime helped with US efforts in supporting rightwing forces in Lebanon against the Lebanese left and the PLO in the 1970s) and less so Libya, then the US will help sponsor your revolt against your dictator to bring about a more pliant dictator to serve its interests without equivocation, and it will do so in the name of supporting democracy. The US also explains its counter-revolutionary efforts in countries where the revolts succeeded in overthrowing the American-sponsored dictators as "pro-democratic" measures.
Those who see the Syrian popular struggle for democracy as having already been hijacked by these imperial and pro-imperial forces inside and outside Syria understand that a continuation of the revolt will only bring about one outcome, and it is not a democratic one - namely, a US-imposed pliant and repressive regime à la Iraq and Libya. If this is what the Syrian demonstrators are struggling for, then they should continue their uprising; if this is not their goal, then they must face up to the very difficult conclusion that they have been effectively defeated, not by the horrifying repression of their own dictatorial regime which they have valiantly resisted, but rather by the international forces that are as committed as the Syrian regime itself to deny Syrians the democracy they so deserve. In light of the new move by the Arab League, the US, and Europe, the struggle to overthrow Asad may very well succeed, but the struggle to bring about a democratic regime in Syria has been thoroughly defeated.
It was the United States that destroyed Syrian democracy in 1949 when the CIA sponsored the first coup d’état in the country ending democratic rule. It is again the United States that has destroyed the possibility of a democratic outcome of the current popular uprising. My deep condolences to the Syrian people.
This Is What Revolution Looks Like
By Chris Hedges
Posted on Nov 15, 2011
"Welcome to the revolution. Our elites have exposed their hand. They have nothing to offer. They can destroy but they cannot build. They can repress but they cannot lead. They can steal but they cannot share. They can talk but they cannot speak. They are as dead and useless to us as the water-soaked books, tents, sleeping bags, suitcases, food boxes and clothes that were tossed by sanitation workers Tuesday morning into garbage trucks in New York City. They have no ideas, no plans and no vision for the future.
Our decaying corporate regime has strutted in Portland, Oakland and New York with their baton-wielding cops into a fool’s paradise. They think they can clean up “the mess”—always employing the language of personal hygiene and public security—by making us disappear. They think we will all go home and accept their corporate nation, a nation where crime and government policy have become indistinguishable, where nothing in America, including the ordinary citizen, is deemed by those in power worth protecting or preserving, where corporate oligarchs awash in hundreds of millions of dollars are permitted to loot and pillage the last shreds of collective wealth, human capital and natural resources, a nation where the poor do not eat and workers do not work, a nation where the sick die and children go hungry, a nation where the consent of the governed and the voice of the people is a cruel joke.
Get back into your cages, they are telling us. Return to watching the lies, absurdities, trivia and celebrity gossip we feed you in 24-hour cycles on television. Invest your emotional energy in the vast system of popular entertainment. Run up your credit card debt. Pay your loans. Be thankful for the scraps we toss.....
Despotic regimes in the end collapse internally. Once the foot soldiers who are ordered to carry out acts of repression, such as the clearing of parks or arresting or even shooting demonstrators, no longer obey orders, the old regime swiftly crumbles. When the aging East German dictator Erich Honecker was unable to get paratroopers to fire on protesting crowds in Leipzig, the regime was finished. The same refusal to employ violence doomed the communist governments in Prague and Bucharest. I watched in December 1989 as the army general that the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had depended on to crush protests condemned him to death on Christmas Day. Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak lost power once they could no longer count on the security forces to fire into crowds....."
Posted on Nov 15, 2011
"Welcome to the revolution. Our elites have exposed their hand. They have nothing to offer. They can destroy but they cannot build. They can repress but they cannot lead. They can steal but they cannot share. They can talk but they cannot speak. They are as dead and useless to us as the water-soaked books, tents, sleeping bags, suitcases, food boxes and clothes that were tossed by sanitation workers Tuesday morning into garbage trucks in New York City. They have no ideas, no plans and no vision for the future.
Our decaying corporate regime has strutted in Portland, Oakland and New York with their baton-wielding cops into a fool’s paradise. They think they can clean up “the mess”—always employing the language of personal hygiene and public security—by making us disappear. They think we will all go home and accept their corporate nation, a nation where crime and government policy have become indistinguishable, where nothing in America, including the ordinary citizen, is deemed by those in power worth protecting or preserving, where corporate oligarchs awash in hundreds of millions of dollars are permitted to loot and pillage the last shreds of collective wealth, human capital and natural resources, a nation where the poor do not eat and workers do not work, a nation where the sick die and children go hungry, a nation where the consent of the governed and the voice of the people is a cruel joke.
Get back into your cages, they are telling us. Return to watching the lies, absurdities, trivia and celebrity gossip we feed you in 24-hour cycles on television. Invest your emotional energy in the vast system of popular entertainment. Run up your credit card debt. Pay your loans. Be thankful for the scraps we toss.....
Despotic regimes in the end collapse internally. Once the foot soldiers who are ordered to carry out acts of repression, such as the clearing of parks or arresting or even shooting demonstrators, no longer obey orders, the old regime swiftly crumbles. When the aging East German dictator Erich Honecker was unable to get paratroopers to fire on protesting crowds in Leipzig, the regime was finished. The same refusal to employ violence doomed the communist governments in Prague and Bucharest. I watched in December 1989 as the army general that the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had depended on to crush protests condemned him to death on Christmas Day. Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak lost power once they could no longer count on the security forces to fire into crowds....."
From Tahrir Square to Liberty Plaza, the occupation continues
The kinship between the pro-democracy activists in Egypt and Occupy Wall Street is real. United, we can make freedom prevail
"......In Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is becoming increasingly aggressive in the fight to preserve the privileges of elites against our 99%. Since they took power – after we forced former President Mubarak from office on 11 February – the military has tried and sentenced over 10,000 civilians in military courts merely for engaging in peaceful dissent. We have seen concerted efforts to divide the people who came together to demand their rights: some of the same divide-and-conquer tactics employed against the Occupy movement over the past few weeks.
Attacks on Coptic Christians have increased, with the police offering little protection and with state media fanning the flames. When Copts peacefully protested outside of the Maspera state television building, security forces opened fire with live ammunition and ran demonstrators down with armored personnel carriers. They killed 27 and injured hundreds more. When Muslim activists came to the Copts' defense, the regime reacted harshly. The military recently extended the imprisonment of blogger Alaa Abd el-Fattah due to his outspoken criticism of the military for the Maspera massacre. We are grateful for activists around the world that have stood in solidarity with us and demanded Alaa's immediate release..... "
Al-Jazeera Video: Syria's 'bloodiest day' leaves scores dead
"At least 70 people have been killed in violence across Syria over the past 24 hours in one of the bloodiest days since an anti-government uprising began eight months ago, activists reported.
The new death figures come as a delegation from the main Syrian opposition bloc, the Syrian National Council (SNC), visited Moscow for talks with Russian diplomats.
Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports from Amman....."
Arundhati Roy: Occupy Wall Street is “So Important Because it is in the Heart of Empire”
Democracy Now!
"Renowned Indian writer and global justice activist Arundhati Roy is preparing to address Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday. She recently joined us in the studio to talk about the Occupy movement. "What they are doing becomes so important because it is in the heart of empire, or what used to be empire,” Roy said. “And to criticize and to protest against the model that the rest of the world is aspiring to is a very important and very serious business. So... it makes me very, very hopeful that after a long time you are seeing some nascent, real political anger here. She also discussed her new book, "Walking With The Comrades," a chronicle of her time in the forests of India alongside rebel guerillas who are resisting a brutal military campaign by the Indian government...."
"Renowned Indian writer and global justice activist Arundhati Roy is preparing to address Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday. She recently joined us in the studio to talk about the Occupy movement. "What they are doing becomes so important because it is in the heart of empire, or what used to be empire,” Roy said. “And to criticize and to protest against the model that the rest of the world is aspiring to is a very important and very serious business. So... it makes me very, very hopeful that after a long time you are seeing some nascent, real political anger here. She also discussed her new book, "Walking With The Comrades," a chronicle of her time in the forests of India alongside rebel guerillas who are resisting a brutal military campaign by the Indian government...."
Real News Video: Former IAEA Inspector: Misleading Iran Report Proves Nothing
Robert Kelly: Latest IAEA report recycles old intelligence and is meant to bolster hard liners
Looting Libya as A "Reward": Libya seeks UK firms to develop oil sector and construction industry
Nuri Berruien, head of Libya's National Oil Company, said the government would 'favour our friends' to develop its reserves
The Guardian
"Libya began touting itself as the next Dubai to UK investors, as the country's government said it would reward its "friends" when it begins selling off lucrative oil contracts.
Representatives of the country's National Transitional Council called City executives to a central London hotel to drum up British interest in the "massive opportunities" on offer in Libya....."
The Guardian
"Libya began touting itself as the next Dubai to UK investors, as the country's government said it would reward its "friends" when it begins selling off lucrative oil contracts.
Representatives of the country's National Transitional Council called City executives to a central London hotel to drum up British interest in the "massive opportunities" on offer in Libya....."
Syria uprising falls victim to power plays
By Ramzy Baroud
Asia Times
"....Despite the Arab League's decision to suspend Syria, it is very probable that some Arab countries are keen to employ the league in a similar fashion to the way it was used with the war on Libya: a mere springboard that eventually allowed NATO's war to take place.
Signs of such a scenario are becoming clearer, especially following the league's vote to suspend Syria. In a New York Times editorial on November 8, the role of the Arabs seems to be confined to just that. The Arab League "should eject Syria and urge the United Nations Security Council to condemn Mr Assad and impose international sanctions against the regime", the Times counseled.
"Russia and China will find it harder to block a Security Council resolution - as they did in October - if the Arab world calls for action that goes beyond the sanctions already imposed by the United States and Europe."
And so the saga continues. If Syria doesn't wrestle its fate from the hands of these self-serving forces, the Syrian uprising and Syria as a whole will continue to be marred by uncertainties and foreboding possibilities. "
Asia Times
"....Despite the Arab League's decision to suspend Syria, it is very probable that some Arab countries are keen to employ the league in a similar fashion to the way it was used with the war on Libya: a mere springboard that eventually allowed NATO's war to take place.
Signs of such a scenario are becoming clearer, especially following the league's vote to suspend Syria. In a New York Times editorial on November 8, the role of the Arabs seems to be confined to just that. The Arab League "should eject Syria and urge the United Nations Security Council to condemn Mr Assad and impose international sanctions against the regime", the Times counseled.
"Russia and China will find it harder to block a Security Council resolution - as they did in October - if the Arab world calls for action that goes beyond the sanctions already imposed by the United States and Europe."
And so the saga continues. If Syria doesn't wrestle its fate from the hands of these self-serving forces, the Syrian uprising and Syria as a whole will continue to be marred by uncertainties and foreboding possibilities. "
Syria: isolated and losing friends
Damascus is loyal to Bashar al-Assad, but the president must realise the prospect of keeping hold of his country has gone
Editorial
guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 November 2011
"Syria's expulsion from the Arab League on Wednesday marks a change for an organisation whose more traditional posture is astride a fence. The move is largely symbolic. It is not clear what sanctions Arab League members could impose, and any plea for the United Nations to act will be blocked by Russia and China in the security council (Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday accused the US and France of inciting violence and blocking dialogue). But symbolism matters. Syria was not just one of a 22-member group, but a founding member and central player. Suspension is a blow to Syria's claim to be the beating heart of pan-Arabism. And isolation could be a precursor to recognising the Syrian National Council, the umbrella group of the opposition.....
But members of the league could also have less altruistic motives. The leading role in the decision to suspend Syria was played by the current chairman, Qatar. The rich but tiny kingdom provided planes, at least 18 shipments of weapons and special forces for the intervention in Libya. Under the increasing influence of Saudi Arabia, Qatar has become a major player in a wider power battle with Iran. Saudi Arabia blames Iran for instigating rebellion among the Shia majority in Bahrain, whereas the truth is they had reason enough to protest....."
Editorial
guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 November 2011
"Syria's expulsion from the Arab League on Wednesday marks a change for an organisation whose more traditional posture is astride a fence. The move is largely symbolic. It is not clear what sanctions Arab League members could impose, and any plea for the United Nations to act will be blocked by Russia and China in the security council (Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday accused the US and France of inciting violence and blocking dialogue). But symbolism matters. Syria was not just one of a 22-member group, but a founding member and central player. Suspension is a blow to Syria's claim to be the beating heart of pan-Arabism. And isolation could be a precursor to recognising the Syrian National Council, the umbrella group of the opposition.....
But members of the league could also have less altruistic motives. The leading role in the decision to suspend Syria was played by the current chairman, Qatar. The rich but tiny kingdom provided planes, at least 18 shipments of weapons and special forces for the intervention in Libya. Under the increasing influence of Saudi Arabia, Qatar has become a major player in a wider power battle with Iran. Saudi Arabia blames Iran for instigating rebellion among the Shia majority in Bahrain, whereas the truth is they had reason enough to protest....."
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