Syria’s Fragile Ceasefire Continues to Hold

US, France Vow to Intensify Efforts at UN

The ceasefire which rebels were calling “doomed” last weekend officially began today, and so far it is holding, with only a handful of incidents by both sides and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisting that the ceasefire would only be “meaningful” if it leads to regime change.

Indeed, to hear Western officials talk you wouldn’t even know that a ceasefire is in place, with Presidents Obama and Sarkozy issuing a statement demanding that Syria stop its “brutal crackdown” and vowing more steps at the UN Security council hours after the ceasefire had already begun.

The US also lodged a formal complaint with the UN Security Council claiming that Syria wasn’t in “full compliance” with the Annan plan despite the ceasefire. The UN is expected to send monitors for the ceasefire int he next few days.

“We cannot call what’s happening on the ground a full ceasefire,” White House spokesman Jay Carney added, despite the lack of actual firing. For now at least, Syrians are seeing something they haven’t seen in awhile, calm.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.