I'm glad many people think Pres Obama is able to play the world on Syria. I'm really sure all the refugees and families of the dead in Syria are singing his praises.
This is not a slam Obama diary. He is but a human in the middle of massive interests far beyond the control of a single power.
This is to try to explain why some of us on the left are pissed. Pissed at a lot of people playing games with Syria as millions suffer.
First of all, Syria is not something that our government just deals with when the newspapers print something. In fact, there is quite a lot going on that not only our government, but more importantly (for this discussion) France and England and the GCC.
France and England were the leaders of the 'get rid of Qadhaffi' crowd. As was quite reported in our media, we led from behind. Now Libya is bunch of militia run fiefdoms.
No one bothered to ask who actually was behind this push (hint: it wasn't Obama). Nor did anyone really give a damn about the results. It is now off everyone's radar.
As soon as that was done, France and England (the leaders not the people) started on Syria.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe condemned the attack and demanded the authorities carry out an immediate investigation.
“It is up to the Syrian authorities to ensure the safety of international journalists on its territory and to protect the fundamental freedom which is freedom of the press,” Juppe said in a statement. He said Paris’ ambassador had been sent to Homs.
So the the French backed FSA lob mortars at civilians, killing a French a journalist. Who is to blame? Assad of course. Meanwhile, we all we hear about is how 'peaceful' the opposition is. Why? Because our governments intentionally cover up the war crimes of opposition. The French government was more concerned with blaming Assad than looking after who killed their own citizen.
(63% of French do not want to get involved in Syria)
England:
British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Sunday described Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as 'delusional' for failing to see the bloodshed from the 23-month conflict in his country was his own doing.
delusional
Oddly, the English people voted against going to war. Where is Tony Blair and his ability to blindly support a war when you need him.
So Syria is delusional. It is all poor Syrians fighting a corrupt regime. Let's see who is delusional.
Libya:
The mainly Sunni Muslim city has seen regular protests in support of the 13-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in neighbouring Syria, and any arms shipped there could have been smuggled across the border to anti-Assad rebels.
The army said in a statement the weapons were found in three containers carried by the Sierra Leone-flagged Letfallah II, which was impounded along with its 11-man crew and taken to a navy port in Beirut.
Pictures released by the army showed dozens of crates inside the containers, some of them filled with belts of heavy ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades.
Labeling on one box said it contained fragmentation explosives, and several identified them as coming from Libya.
Libyan arms to rebels
So Libyan Salafists are sending arms to Syrian Salafists. When the same organization was sending suicide bombers to kill U.S. troops, we were so angry...we blamed Al Asad for letting them through. (at no time time did we go to the root of the problem...Eastern Libya and the Sunni-fundamentalists there...like the ones that killed our Ambassador).
Lebanon:
BEIRUT: Future MP Oqab Saqr confirmed in remarks published Monday the authenticity of recent audio recordings implicating him in arms transfers to Syrian rebels and voiced readiness to face any potential legal measures against him in the affair.
“Yes. This is my voice and those are my words. I am not in the habit of denying my words or voice and I am not ashamed of what I have done and am doing,” Saqr told pan-Arab Ash-Sharq al-Awsat.
link
This was long before Hizballah was involved in Syria. So if you see a Lebanese politician whine about Hizballah being involved in Syria is bad for Lebanon (read Hariri), you can tell they are nothing but lying sack of shit. They don't give a damn about Lebanon. They didn't 2 years ago when they started gun running for the rebels.
Qatar:
Qatar spent a fortune funding the Muslim Brotherhood out of Syria. I say out of, because Syria rejected the Muslim Brotherhood. They can fund some neat media events, but not a whole lot of presence inside SYria.
Saudi Arabia:
Our hope for democracy in the Middle East (typed with extreme hatred).
They bribe people and fund some of the worst people in the world. We say nothing of the Saudi backed Sunni-extremists and their daily bombing of Shi'ites in Iraq.
Neo-cons:
They want Syria destroyed. Just as they were happy when Libya ceased to be a country. This is actually the opposite of giving a damn about the citizens of a nation. They want to make sure the government is so weak their corporate masters can walk all over it and its citizens.
Obama does not own any of those processes. I've not seen him support them, nor have I seen him fight them.
Turkey:
One of the centers in Turkey used as a military base for the Syrian opposition is the Reyhanli “military” refugee camp, located in Hatay province. This camp is exclusively reserved for Syrian officers, among them generals and colonels, and their families who have defected to Turkey. This camp, which hosts around 1,000 Syrians, is tightly guarded by Turkish security forces. Even foreign diplomats who want to meet the camp residents are not allowed to enter. However, it is possible to meet Syrian officers outside the camp and get information regarding the latest developments in Syria and the incidents taking place within this camp.
link
So here Turkey has decided to destroy all human dignity and use refugees as his pawns of war. Sure is one way to stop humanitarian funding when you know the funds are just going to support continued warfare and more refugees.
Does Obama 'own' this? No. Does he 'control' this? No. Is he able to stop this international nonsense and get everyone together to stop the nonsense? No.
Until then, spare me the 11th dimensional chess bullshit. I want the war to stop. I want the egos to stop. I want the gun running to stop. I want the games to stop.
Until the US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia sit down like adults (hint: the US and Saudi will refuse) there will be no peace.