The BBC and the Guardian both make them sound like a growing guerrilla army against the Assad regime, but you have to take virtually everything that comes out of that region with a ton of salt. But somebody is attacking Syrian military targets: I just don’t know whether it’s this “Free Syrian Army.” Or what the FSA’s long-term plans are. Or anything else, really: there’s not much reliable info.
Tag: syria
Shall we reconsider blocking Ambassador Robert Ford’s appointment?
I’m starting to think that the current Republican opposition to Ford’s formal appointment as ambassador to Syria, while valid in general – we’re actually not well-advised to play Albright-style kissy-face games with rogue states – may be counterproductive in this specific case. Then again, the general principle doesn’t apply here, does it? After all, Ambassador Ford is not exactly playing nice with the Assad regime; he’s instead telling them things that they don’t like to hear. Like, for example, the truth:
…how ironic that the Syrian Government lets an anti-U.S. demonstration proceed freely while their security thugs beat down olive branch-carrying peaceful protesters elsewhere.The people in Hama have been demonstrating peacefully for weeks. Yes, there is a general strike, but what caused it? The government security measures that killed protesters in Hama. In addition, the government began arresting people at night and without any kind of judicial warrant. Assad had promised in his last speech that there would be no more arrests without judicial process. Families in Hama told me of repeated cases where this was not the reality.
Continue reading Shall we reconsider blocking Ambassador Robert Ford’s appointment?
Almost the Ultimate Carter Moment in Damascus.
Here is a free hint to all appointed members of the Obama administration: if Syrian ‘loyalists’ follow up today’s attack against the US Embassy in Damascus:
Protesters loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad briefly broke into the US embassy in Damascus on Monday and security guards used live ammunition to prevent them storming the French embassy, diplomats said.
…by actually seizing the embassy? If that happens, start updating your resumes. And don’t bother with sending them along to Democratic House Members (and any Democratic Senator up for re-election in 2012): we’ll be throwing them out of office, too.
Fair warning.
Moe Lane (crosspost)
PS: I’d like to know what the rules of engagement are for our embassy guards in Damascus, too.
#rsrh Oh, my aching [expletive deleted] head…
…as @allahpundit just tweeted, the birth certificate nonsense isn’t the biggest nonsense of the morning:
The brutal crackdown by Syrian President Bashar Assad may finally be getting the attention of world leaders — but apparently not enough to stop Syria from becoming the newest member of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Of course they did. It’s times like this that make me wish that my life had save points.
Moe Lane
Syria firing on funerals/protests.
The line between the two can get blurry in the Middle East, but it’s being reported that the Assad regime have escalating what has been a steadily-deteriorating situations in Syria. The death toll from yesterday is… well, Syria is keeping foreign reporters out, which makes getting an accurate count correct; but what is getting out is consistent with the Syrians using lethal means to enforce a crackdown.
Meanwhile, we’re issuing stern statements. One half of Hot Air – reasonably enough – asks what else the Obama administration could be doing right now; the other half of Hot Air – also reasonably enough – comments that one thing that we could be doing would be to at least suggest that the Assad regime should relinquish power. I mean, when a dictator’s firing on his own people already, just how much more upset and repressive is he likely to get if the USA formally calls for his ouster? Continue reading Syria firing on funerals/protests.
DNI nominee Clapper unlikely to be called out on WMD issue.
Theoretically, the confirmation hearings for proposed DNI James Clapper could be an opportunity for fireworks… only not in the way that one would think. It turns out that he’s a potential lightning rod for criticism from the Left:
President Obama’s choice to be the next director of national intelligence supported the view that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq sent weapons and documents to Syria in the weeks before the 2003 U.S. invasion.
[snip]
On Iraq, Gen. Clapper said in an interview with The Washington Times in 2004 that “I think probably in the few months running up prior to the onset of combat that … there was probably an intensive effort to disperse into private homes, move documentation and materials out of the country. I think there are any number of things that they would have done.”
Continue reading DNI nominee Clapper unlikely to be called out on WMD issue.