China backs Syria referendum, calls for end of violence [video included]
Russia Today
February 18, 2012
China is ‘extremely concerned’ over the crisis in Syria. The Chinese envoy has called for an end to the bloodshed, and the Assad-backed political referendum in the country which has been torn by protests and surging violence.
During his two-day visit to Syria Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhai Jun has called on both sides in the Syrian conflict to stop the violence and approach political reforms.
“The position of China is to call on the government, the opposition and the rebels to halt acts of violence immediately,” he said following talks with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Zhai Jun added that peace would serve the best interests of the Syrian civilian population.
“We hope that the referendum on a new constitution, as well as the forthcoming parliamentary elections pass off calmly,” the official was quoted by the Syrian state television as saying.
Zhai told Assad that China was willing to work with the Syrian government and opposition, Arab League, and Arab countries to reach a solution.
“China supports all the Arab League’s mediation efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and calls upon the relevant parties to increase communication and negotiations to find a peaceful and appropriate solution to the Syria within the framework of the Arab League, and on the basis of the Arab League’s relevant political solution proposals,” Zhai was quoted as saying.
Later in the day, the stance was reiterated on the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s website.
Following talks on Friday with his Syrian counterpart, Faisal Meqdad, Zhai Jun said that China urges the international community to respect the country’s sovereignty.
“We exchanged views on ways to strengthen our cooperation in the face of this difficult period in Syria,” the envoy said. “The sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Syria must be respected by all sides and by the international community.”
After a meeting with Zhai Jun, President Assad reiterated that the ongoing turmoil in the country is actually a plot to split Syria up.
“What Syria is facing is fundamentally an effort to divide it and affect its geopolitical place and historic role in the region,” Assad said, as cited by Syrian state television.
The Syrian opposition has rejected President Assad’s call for a referendum on a new draft constitution at the end of the month. The document is said to include a charter aimed at ending single-party rule in the country. “It is impossible for us to take part in this referendum before an end to the violence and killings,” AFP news agency quoted the opposition National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change.
Crisis-locked Syria now finds itself caught between two different diplomatic efforts. One, encouraged by the US and a number of Western powers, comes as condemnation of the country’s regime and call for speedy transition of power. Another, sponsored by Russia and China, calls for political dialogue of the conflicting sides.
The UN General Assembly resolution, adopted on Thursday, urges Syria’s President Assad to step down. The document was voted against by Russia and China and has no executive power.
The two countries maintain the conflict in the country should be resolved politically and oppose any military intervention into what they call Syrian internal affairs.
China’s efforts to mediate in the Syrian conflict are driven with the country’s willingness to show it as a global player, political scientist Joseph Cheng told RT.
“China certainly wants to exert and develop its influence in the Middle East region which is of strategic importance to China, and China increasingly believes that it is a global power,” he said. “It has global interest and this interest should be respected.”
Despite the condemnation of the violence in Syria coming from the international community, the protest movement and the violence show no signs of ending.
Following Friday prayers thousands reportedly took to the streets of Damascus to demand Bashar al-Assad resigns. Opposition forces say that at least three protesters have been killed in clashes with government forces, Reuters said. The information cannot be verified independently.
Protests are also said to have hit a number of other Syrian cities on Friday.
According to opposition activists, the Syrian army is continuing heavy shelling of the city of Homs.
As the situation remains unresolved in Syria, experts fear the fall of the Syrian regime will make another important player in the region, Iran, feel isolated and forced to act.
After the removal of Assad, Iran might turn unpredictable and even dangerous, Islamic affairs analyst David Hartwell told RT. “Perhaps, accelerating the nuclear program, accelerating its interference, or perceived interference in other countries in the region – perhaps Bahrain, Lebanon, or the Palestinian territories,” Hartwell said.
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[hat tip: End the Lie]
Escobar: Al-Qaeda agents worm into Syrian rebel army [video]
Russia Today
February 18, 2012
The EU states are calling for creating humanitarian corridors in Syria, which some fear could open the door to foreign intervention. But Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar says it’s already underway.
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US-Funded Tunisian President Prepares to Withdraw Recognition of Syrian Government
US begins reaping rewards of its 2011 campaign of Arab destabilization.
by Tony Cartalluci
Land Destroyer Report
February 5, 2012
Reuters reported, “Tunisia “to withdraw recognition” of Syria government,” and specifically that newly appointed Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki made the announcement on his Facebook page. Reuters also notes “Tunisia’s decision to sever ties with Damascus carries moral weight because the north African country’s revolution last year started off the “Arab Spring” upheavals which later spread throughout the Middle East, including to Syria.” What Reuters of course fails to mention is that the “Arab Spring” was engineered years in advance, planned, funded, and directed by the US State Department, with Moncef Marzouki a direct recipient on record of such support which ultimately paved his way from obscurity to now president of the North African nation.
The US Put Moncef Marzouki of Tunisia into Power
Last December, the BBC hailed Tunisia’s assembly and their election of a new president in their article, “Tunisian activist, Moncef Marzouki, named president.” What the BBC predictably failed to mention was that Marzouki’s organization, the Tunisian League for Human Rights, was a US National Endowment for Democracy and George Soros Open Society-funded International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) member organization.
Photo: Tunisia’s new “president,” Moncef Marzouki, a veteran Western collaborator whose last two decades of political activity have been supported and subsidized by the US government and US corporate-financier funded foundations.
It was earlier reported in “Soros Celebrates the Fall of Tunisia,” that Marzouki was named “interim-president” of Tunisia and that the myriad of NGOs and opposition organizations that worked with him to overthrow the government of Tunisia were fully subsidized and backed by the US government and US corporate-funded foundations.
Marzouki, who spent two decades in exile in Paris, France, was also founder and head of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, a collaborating institution with the US NED World Movement for Democracy (WMD) including for a “Conference on Human Rights Activists in Exile” and a participant in the WMD “third assembly” alongside Marzouki’s Tunisian League for Human Rights, sponsored by NED, Soros’ Open Society, and USAID.
Marzouki, along with his Libyan counterpart Abdurrahim el-Keib, formally of the Petroleum Institute, sponsored by British Petroleum (BP), Shell, France’s Total, the Japan Oil Development Company, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, makes for the second Western proxy installed into power either by covert sedition or overt military aggression, during the US-engineered “Arab Spring.”
Now, it is quite clear how Marzouki is reciprocating the foreign-backed plot that thrust him into power – complete servitude toward Wall Street and London’s foreign policy in backing this very same foreign-funded gambit now playing out in Syria.
Like Tunisia, Syria is a Premeditated Foreign-Funded Destabilization
Syria has been slated for regime change since as early as 1991. In 2002, then US Under Secretary of State John Bolton added Syria to the growing “Axis of Evil.” It would be later revealed that Bolton’s threats against Syria manifested themselves as covert funding and support for opposition groups inside of Syria spanning both the Bush and Obama administrations.
In an April 2011 CNN article, acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner stated, “We’re not working to undermine that [Syrian] government. What we are trying to do in Syria, through our civil society support, is to build the kind of democratic institutions, frankly, that we’re trying to do in countries around the globe. What’s different, I think, in this situation is that the Syrian government perceives this kind of assistance as a threat to its control over the Syrian people.”
Toner’s remarks came after the Washington Post released cables indicating the US has been funding Syrian opposition groups since at least 2005 and continued until today.
In an April 2011 AFP report, Michael Posner, the assistant US Secretary of State for Human Rights and Labor, stated that the “US government has budgeted $50 million in the last two years to develop new technologies to help activists protect themselves from arrest and prosecution by authoritarian governments.”
The report went on to explain that the US “organized training sessions for 5,000 activists in different parts of the world. A session held in the Middle East about six weeks ago gathered activists from Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon who returned to their countries with the aim of training their colleagues there,” (emphasis added). Posner would add, “They went back and there’s a ripple effect.” That ripple effect of course is the “Arab Spring,” and in Syria’s case, the impetus for the current unrest threatening to unhinge the nation and invite in foreign intervention.”
US Finally Reaping Rewards from Installed Proxy-Regimes
Quite clearly the orchestrated reordering of the Arab World was done in a specific order, so that easier nations to topple would be able to eventually contribute to fueling the downfall of more difficult targets as US proxy regimes were installed. Tunisia’s diplomatic attack against Syria is just one example. The despoiling and destruction of Libya by NATO-backed LIFG terrorists has provided a base of operation for the international mercenaries who are now verifiably sending fighters into Syria, led by notorious LIFG commander Abdul Belhaj.
It may be the threat of foreign-funded destabilization hanging over the heads of despotic regimes like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates that have them jumping through diplomatic and tactical hoops in support for Wall Street and London’s geopolitical ambitions. Of course, ultimately, the destabilization of Syria is directed at weakening and ultimately attacking Iran as well.
This illustrates yet another justification for Russia and China, and other nations to begin fully resisting the mafioso protection racket that is the UN Security Council and yet another attempt to foist a war of aggression and conquest onto the population of the world. Ultimately, however, it is up to the people, worldwide to identify the corporate-financier power structures that provide the foundation from which this sweeping genocidal, domineering campaign is being carried out – and then boycott and replace them utterly out of existence. Because when the parasitic global elite are done picking the bones of nations afar, they will turn in on their own people – as has always happened throughout human history.
Syrian Girl: Why al-Qaeda is al-CIA-da [video]
Infowars.com
February 18, 2012
In Syria, they know the score. In America, they are largely clueless.
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Groundhog year: Cooking Syria ‘Libya-style’
Elena Ostroumova, Elena Medvedeva
Russia Today
February 17, 2012
Libya is marking the first anniversary of the revolution that brought the country plenty of destruction, but not as much democracy. And while NATO denies intentions to interfere with Syria, Libyans have learned the hard way “freedom” is exported.
NATO has ‘no intention’ 2.0
“NATO has no intention whatsoever to intervene in Syria. We appreciate very much all the efforts to find a solution to the conflict in Syria. I appreciate the work of the Arab League. I do believe that a regional solution has to be found,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Brussels on Wednesday.
It would be easy to take these words at face value, if less than a year ago Fogh Rasmussen did not declare that NATO would not intervene in the conflict between Muammar Gaddafi and the Libyan opposition:
“I would like to stress that NATO has no plans to intervene [into Libya] and we have not received any request,” he said in February 2011.
The Libyan recipe is being followed with utmost care, down to the tiniest detail. Washington has already come up with calls for “Friends of a democratic Syria” to unite and rally against the government of President Bashar Al-Assad.
The club has every chance of growing into a new iteration of the “Friends of Libya,” which oversaw international help for opponents of late, deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Moreover, the group coordinated NATO military operations to protect Libyan civilians, something that is not envisioned in Syria – for now.
Excellent investment vs. Humanitarian mission
Still, humanitarian and peacekeeping rhetoric around Syria is reaching a boiling point, and many cannot get rid of an unpleasant feeling of déjà vu. During the uprising in Libya, the UN and NATO dashed to the country to end “crimes against humanity,” but with the very beginning of the military operation, many wondered at the sudden zest for human rights.
“You have to find a political and economic interest before you start believing in humanitarian reasons. In all humanitarian interventions there is another reason that is much more important,” science professor at Paris West University Nanterre La Defense Pierre Guerlain told RT.
In Libya’s case, no sooner had UN resolution 1973 on the “no-fly zone” been adopted, than the National Transitional Council (NTC) approached the French leadership with a tempting offer. France was to get 35 per cent of Libya’s oil sector in exchange for “full and constant support” of the NTC in its fight against Muammar Gaddafi, reported France’s Liberation newspaper.
British author and Guardian journalist Simon Jenkins says that access to oil and the Mediterranean were the real causes of the Libyan war.
“There are mixed motives in all these interventions. We tend to intervene in countries where we have some interests – in this case oil,” he told RT.
Another lucrative option for Western powers was pricey rebuilding contracts. First, bombs tore Libya apart, and later Western companies got paid to put the country back together. According to the UK Department of Trade and Investment, the value of contracts to rebuild Libya in areas ranging from electricity and water supplies to healthcare and education, could amount to upwards of US $300 billion over the next 10 years.
The game in Syria seems more complicated, as the country is but a modest producer of oil and gas. The Arab Gas Pipeline, which exports Egyptian natural gas to Jordan, Lebanon and Israel, might be of some regional interest. But even after the pipeline is expanded to Turkey, Iraq and Iran, its importance will hardly be global.
Targeting Damascus may be a geopolitical tool employed against Iran in the regional power reshuffle. A revival of Iran’s empire casts worries on Turkey and Qatar, and with Tehran’s growing influence over post-war Iraq and Afghanistan, an attack on Assad’s regime, a close Iranian ally, seems only too logical.
“Damascus is to be persecuted not exactly for repressing the opposition, but because it is unwilling to sever ties with Tehran,” the head of the Russian national security council, Nikolay Patrushev, told Kommersant newspaper.
Western troops out – off with democracy?
NATO, taking control of the Libyan operation on March 31, 2011, interpreted the UN resolution the way it saw fit. Under the flag of “protecting civilians,” the alliance quickly focused on getting rid of Muammar Gaddafi and his regime, and propping up a government, which is now more or less in power.
In late October, Gaddafi was assassinated in his hometown of Sirte, an event videotaped and broadcasted by media around the world. This brought the fighting to an end, and NATO was quick to declare their campaign in the country as one of the “most successful in NATO history.”
Given all that, what is to become of Syria if the West chooses to bring democracy there as well? The opposition Syrian National Council has already offered Gaddafi’s fate to President Assad and his family.
Three months into a relative peace in Libya, the circumstances surrounding Muammar Gaddafi’s death remain a mystery. Armed groups still answer to no central authority in NATO’s newly-liberated Libya, and refuse to give up their arms.
On February 16, the UN General Assembly passed the new draft resolution on Syria calling for President Assad to step down and demanding a transition to democratic rule.
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[hat tip: Infowars]
- Libya’s NTC recognizes Syria’s Rebel SNC (and the war’s not even over yet)
- Libya Redux: France and al-Qaeda Assist Free Syria Army in Turkey
- NATO says will not intervene in Syria
- Muammar Gaddafi urges followers to turn Libya ‘into a hell’
- Kucinich: Time to end Nato’s war in Libya
- NATO Murders Libya for a Lie
- Former CIA Officer: ‘NATO’s War in Syria Not in US Interest’
- Russia May Sell Syria Advanced Weapons as NATO Prepares to Attack
- Ron Paul: Obama’s Misadventures – Libya to Be Occupied, Syria Next?
- Foreign intervention in Syria?
- ‘Libya rebels to divide in victory vacuum’
- Libya: Berlusconi backs Nato strikes by Italy jets
Russia votes down Syria ‘regime change’ resolution [video]
Russia Today
February 16, 2012
The majority of the UN General Assembly has adopted a non-binding resolution, that piles more pressure on the Syrian President to step down. Russia was among those who voted against the motion. Moscow maintains the conflict should be solved through a gradual political transition, led by the Syrian people.
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Tsunami Close Up: No Sign Of Major Quake [video]
By Zen Gardner
Before It’s News
February 11, 2012
This below was no 9.0 quake. Besides the amazing tsunami footage, you’ll see it was a very short quake, no cracked buildings, no fallen debris, crooked poles, nothing. The guy on the sidewalk wobbles a bit and that’s it.
Everyone went on business as usual.
Yet this mountain of water arrives. What’s going on?
Compare pictures of the disaster that much smaller quakes like the Kobe quake wrought. And this supposed 9.0 supposedly happened right off shore of Fukushima.
Examine everything. The matrix is built on lies, and the bigger the lie the less people notice.
“Only small secrets need to be protected. The big ones are kept secret by public incredulity.” – Marshall McLuhan
See: Fukushima: What Really Happened?
Yu Muroga was doing his job making deliveries when the 11 March 2011 earthquake hit in Japan. Unaware, like many people in the area, of how far inland the Tsunami would travel, he continued to drive and do his job. The HD camera mounted on his dashboard captured not only the earthquake, but also the moment he and several other drivers were suddenly engulfed in the Tsunami. He escaped from the vehicle seconds before it was crushed by other debris and sunk underwater. His car and the camera have only recently been recovered by the police. The camera was heavily damaged but a video expert was able to retrieve this footage.
Something to wonder about.
Zen
