Russia: Syria rebels obsession with Assad blocks peace

[cqo_000]

Source: Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's foes are bent on overthrowing his government and called their "obsession" with this goal an insurmountable obstacle to peace.

"Everything runs up against opposition members' obsession with the idea of the overthrow of the Assad regime. As long as this irreconcilable position remains in force, nothing good will happen - armed action will continue, people will die," he said.

Lavrov also accused Western and Arab states that have recognized the opposition Syrian National Coalition of undermining chances for a peaceful solution to the conflict by granting too much support to the rebels.

Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister since 2004 and the face of its policy on the Syrian conflict, said Moscow's main goal in Syria was to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible.




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-syria-rebels-obsession-assad-blocks-peace-130836943.html

[backscatter712]

1. There will be peace in Syria...

after Assad's lifeless corpse is hung from a meathook.

[raidert05]

2. and...

All the Christians are pushed to Beirut and the kill all of the Alawite sect Muslims...there motto is Christians to Beirut, Alawites to the wall

[Comrade_McKenzie]

7. Amen to that. nt

[RiverNoord]

3. You've got to be kidding

Seriously, the protest didn't become a rebel uprising until Assad's government started killing non-violent protesters. As in, the actual basis for the rebellion is the removal of the guy who's got his military killing people who aren't too keen on his government. That's not an obsession - it's the whole point of the rebellion.

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Seven regime policemen were shot and killed on March 20, 2011.

That was also the day rioters in Daraa burned Baath party headquarters, the courthouse, and a commercial enterprise.

Killings by security forces escalated after that, as did violent protests.

There is a handy timeline here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Syrian_civil_war_(January%E2%80%93April_2011)

There were people looking to start an armed uprising, and the regime fell right into it. Now, Syria burns.

[geek tragedy]

5. They rioted after those policeman opened fire using live ammunition.

Per your link and its citations.

Crowds have set fire to the courthouse and other buildings on a third straight day of demonstrations in the southern Syrian city of Daraa.

Residents said one person was killed and scores injured when security forces used live rounds against protesters. Witnesses said dozens were also taken to be treated for tear gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque.

Thousands took to the streets on Sunday, calling for an end to corruption and 48 years of emergency law and to protest the killing of five civilians in a similar demonstration two days earlier.

[David__77]

10. The Syrian state should not have opened fire. They should have used non-lethal measures.

They fell into a provocation. States wishing to maintain sovereignty need to invest in non-lethal equipment and training to maintain public order and state power. These tools can be used to foil provocations aimed at undermining order and laying the bases for "revolution."

[geek tragedy]

12. "They fell into a provocation". No, they're a fucking dictatorship and thus behaved like

a fucking dictatorship.

The provocation is the dictatorship itself. The non-lethal means of resolving it is free and fair elections.

But, you are a supporter of dictatorship and oppose democracy, so of course you disagree with me.

[RiverNoord]

6. Um... Ok...

Not to put too fine a point on it:

Wikipedia? Not exactly an authoritative source for information on currently ongoing civil wars.

Nevertheless, the timeline described in your link starts on January 26 with an act of self-immolation and the first violence against security forces, after many protests, is described as taking place on March 20, almost three months later. The violence was the result of protests and heavy handed security responses (in Daraa, a small city of around 100,000, as compared to pre-war Damascus - around 1,700,00) which came about because of the ongoing detention since the 6th of March of a group of boys, all under 15, for anti-regime graffiti.

The current civil war is the result of decades of Allawite suppression, sometimes extremely violent, of the Sunni majority of the country. I don't claim to have any insight into who are the 'good guys' or the 'bad guys' or whether the question even makes sense.

One more thing - what modern country with a population over, say, a couple of million, doesn't contain people looking to engage in armed conflict of some sort? I'd say that there are a great many more in the U.S. than there ever were in pre-war Syria. Some people are always looking for a fight.

[Alamuti Lotus]

8. Rest assured, angry American liberals--the CiA has a plan to kill Assad..

It's a plan they've used to assassinate world leaders before....they're just having trouble convincing Assad to fly down to Dallas.

(with a nod to the late great Mr Hicks, of course)

[pampango]

9. Filipinos were 'obsessed' with Marcos' departure, Egyptians with Mubarak's exit, Iranians with the

Shah's exit. It is funny how people look forward to the exit of repressive dictators.

Russia Criticizes Syria Rebel ‘Obsession’ With Assad Exit

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said on Wednesday that the main obstacle to peace in Syria is the opposition’s “obsession with the idea of toppling the Bashar al-Assad regime.” He also said the Kremlin’s Emergency Ministry flights that removed 77 Russians from the conflict zone early Wednesday did not signal the start of an evacuation.

In an annual news conference, Mr. Lavrov made clear that Russia was unlikely to alter the position it had staked out in Syria, opposing any international measures to force Mr. Assad from power after nearly two years of violence. More than 60,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the United Nations.

Mr. Lavrov offered some insight into Russian adjustments as Mr. Assad’s military position weakens and rebels dig into the suburbs ringing Damascus, noting that Russia’s Foreign Ministry “proceeds from the notion that there should be no nonessential employees” in the Russian Embassy in the capital, and that the families of Russian diplomats were sent home “long ago, because it is not very calm to work there, and that’s correct.”

Last week, Russia announced that it was closing its consulate in Aleppo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/world/europe/russia-criticizes-syria-rebel-obsession-with-assad-exit.html

[David__77]

11. Assad would get a good showing at the polls, I believe.

Who would run against him? George Sabra? The man who endorses Nusra Front? It would be an interesting campaign, but the savage terrorists who oppose any such thing as election as a matter of principle, will never let it pass in peace.

[geek tragedy]

13. Yes, your hero Assad is wildly popular and the only reason St. Assad hasn't called

elections are the evil people who can't appreciate what a blessing the Ba'ath party has been for Syria.

You are a good reminder that the Authoritarian left is still active, the ideological heirs of those who cheered on Soviet tanks in Hungary.