It may take quite some time for the UN to ratchet up its ceasefire monitoring mission in Syria, currently involving people, to the 300 agreed to by Syria last week. France isn’t planning to wait that long, however, and is already poised to push for a UN war against Syria within the next two weeks.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be defied by the current regime,” insisted French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who expected to put the war to a vote after a May 5 report by Kofi Annan on the “state of the ceasefire.”
The report’s content will likely be highly politicized, but with a number of UN Security Council members keen to use it as an excuse for war, it is virtually a foregone conclusion that it will be phrased vaguely enough to allow such a vote to proceed.
As for the monitoring team, the UN peacekeeping chief yesterday said that it would take a month to get the first 100 people on the ground. Without the full complement of monitors, a full ceasefire could never be confirmed, and unconfirmed reports of violence will almost certainly be spun as proof that the ceasefire is not working.
In many ways the war vote was the plan all along, with people calling the ceasefire “doomed” and France issuing statements condemning Syria for its failure before it even went into effect two weeks ago. The attitude from the West about the ceasefire has mostly been one of annoyance, irked that the “inevitable” collapse is taking so long and stalling their next effort to start a war.
Isn't that French government on the way out? Seems like Sarkozy is trying to trap his successor into supporting a war.
Le French need not worry. Their American pals are already on the job. All they need to do is tag along for the ride and help steal the oil later on.
A Catch-22 set up if there ever was one.
I thought Juppe, Sarkozy and the mastermind behind, Levy, would have other problems now??
But war is always used for desinformation and the distraction of the people.
W9
There is a typo in first paragraph :
"It may take quite some time for the UN to ratchet up its ceasefire monitoring mission in Syria, currently involving people, to the 300 agreed to by Syria last week."
Why is the US in such a hurry to topple the Syrian government? Because that is the gateway to Iran, next on the list.
And why Iran?
With Iran, Libya, Iraq and Saudi Arabia firmly under US control and other oil producers close to being controlled, the US can exert enormous pressure on China – eventually breaking it up.
That is the real goal. And they have told us they will do it – no power is to allowed to develop a capacity that could seriously challenge the US. China is the only power that can do so – in alliance with Russia. So China must be brought down. There are various ways – but a breakup, as with the USSR, and internal turmoil which an economic (oil deprivation) crisis could provoke, is probably the one that is most feasible and least costly. The other path is to break the alliance with Russia which Putin is too savvy to permit.
Can Russia/China prevent the downfall of the Syrian government? That remains to be seen but time is on their side and against NATO. Hence NATO is in a big hurry. The scenario unfolding before us is going to end up as perhaps the greatest and bloodiest chapter that humanity has ever seen.
Yes, it will get bloody. The Russians will lose their last foothold in the ME if Syria falls, so they'll probably do everything int heir power to keep it. With Putin returning to the Kremlin in two weeks, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Perhaps the Russians can threaten to rescind their support for the NATO war in Afghanistan if they go ahead with Syria? Perhaps they'll rethink offering that base on Russian soil to NATO, which was going to be used for supplying Afghanistan?
The UN peacekeeping chief, Herve Ladsous, came last September directly from the French foregin office under Alain Juppe to his UN post.
The French election is on May 6. and Sarkozy and his government are losing.
France is a member of 'Friends of Syria' and are demanding regime change in Syria.
The French May 5. deadline is as deadly to the peace process as paying the armed opposition to fight on.
The French still believe they are an imperial power. I find European servility towards the U.S.A. nauseating. One would have thought that the Europeans, after all their wars, and wars exported to their colonies, would know better, but the French, the British and the Germans, although they come to the stuation from different historical perspectives, are still colonists at heart.
To stop the conspirators all president bashar have to do
Is to step down and if he had done that right from the
Start the people could have reinstated him, that's what
President Nasser of Egypt did after he lost the 1967
War with Israel and that was a smart move by him.
President Bashar took the bait, swallowed the whole
Thing sinker and all.
Sounds like Sarkozy's down in the polls. "Le nain" is looking to bring his numbers up.
This has little to do with Syria and a lot to do with an election that Sarkozy looks like loosing! The attack on Libya was an (unsuccessful!) attempt on Sarko's part to win local elections and Syria is the obvious target. Just abut everyone in France is waiting for some sort of dirty trick on Sarko's part but precisely for that reason, the whole thing is more likely to blow up in Sarko's face than to help him. Also, in practical terms, Annan is to report on 5 May. Given time zones, the chances of the French getting in an attack in time for the evening TV news on Saturday 5 (that's what they did with Libya) before people vote on the 6th is very slight.
Germany is the only European country that is publishing the attrocities perpetrated by militants. The assasination lists, kidnappings, bombings of businesses that will not give them money, and killing of ordinary people. In Der Spiegel, an "executioner" was inteviewed. He proudly talks of how he killed a man that did absolutely nothing except that he was accused of supporting Assad. Poor man had to beg for his life, but the thug just slit his throat. They have the "Execution Squad", that kills condemned people in parks and cemetaries. All the talk about "Assad" murderning "his people" is garbage first class. The thugs that are imported from who knows where are murderers. They also use explosives for sabotage, to inflict maximum damage to small businesses, infrastructure, postal service, etc. This is both economic sabotage, as well as deliberate hardship for population. Even though they are occupying only small number of neighhorhoods, they are politically untouchable. Since Kosovo, I have not seen this level of support for what amount to criminal gangs in political garb.