The problem with the Geneva Communique from the first Geneva round on Syria is that the government of Syria never subscribed to it. It was jointly chaired by the League of Arab States for Syria, whatever that may mean. Another problem is that it is, as so many diplomatic documents are, highly ambiguous. It plainly advocates a power sharing executive formed by some of the current government plus the opposition to oversee a transition to democracy. But it does not state which elements of the current government, and it does not mention which elements of the opposition, nor does it make plain if President Assad himself is eligible to be part of, or to head, the power-sharing executive, and whether he is eligible to be a candidate in future democratic elections.
Doubtless the British, for example, would argue that the term transition implies that he will go. The Russians will argue there is no such implication and the text does not exclude anybody from the process. Doubtless also diplomats on all sides were fully aware of these differing interpretations and the ambiguity is quite deliberate to enable an agreed text. I would say that the text tends much more to the “western” side, and that this reflects the apparently weak military position of the Assad regime at that time and the then extant threat of western military intervention. There has been a radical shift in those factors against the western side in the interim. Expect Russian interpretations now to get more hardline.
Given the extreme ambiguity of the text, Iran has, as it frequently does, shot itself in the foot diplomatically by refusing to accept the communique as the basis of talks and thus getting excluded from Geneva. Iran should have accepted the communique, and then at Geneva issued its own interpretation of it.
But that is a minor point. The farcical thing about the Geneva conference is that it is attempting to promote into power-sharing in Syria “opposition” members who have no democratic credentials and represent a scarcely significant portion of those actually fighting the Assad regime in Syria. What the West are trying to achieve is what the CIA and Mossad have now achieved in Egypt; replacing the head of the Mubarak regime while keeping all its power structures in place. The West don’t really want democracy in Syria, they just want a less pro-Russian leader of the power structures.
The inability of the British left to understand the Middle East is pathetic. I recall arguing with commenters on this blog who supported the overthrow of the elected President of Egypt Morsi on the grounds that his overthrow was supporting secularism, judicial independence (missing the entirely obvious fact the Egyptian judiciary are almost all puppets of the military) and would lead to a left wing revolutionary outcome. Similarly the demonstrations against Erdogan in Istanbul, orchestrated by very similar pro-military forces to those now in charge in Egypt, were also hailed by commenters here. The word “secularist” seems to obviate all sins when it comes to the Middle East.
Qatar will be present at Geneva, and Qatar has just launched a pre-emptive media offensive by launching a dossier on torture and murder of detainees by the Assad regime, which is being given first headline treatment by the BBC all morning
There would be a good dossier to be issued on torture in detention in Qatar, and the lives of slave workers there, but that is another question.
I do not doubt at all that atrocities have been committed and are being committed by the Assad regime. It is a very unpleasant regime indeed. The fact that atrocities are also being committed by various rebel groups does not make Syrian government atrocities any better.
But whether 11,000 people really were murdered in a single detainee camp I am unsure. What I do know is that the BBC presentation of today’s report has been a disgrace. The report was commissioned by the government of Qatar who commissioned Carter Ruck to do it. Both those organisations are infamous suppressors of free speech. What is reprehensible is that the BBC are presenting the report as though it were produced by neutral experts, whereas the opposite is the case. It is produced not by anti torture campaigners or by human rights activists, but by lawyers who are doing it purely and simply because they are being paid to do it.
The BBC are showing enormous deference to Sir Desmond De Silva, who is introduced as a former UN war crimes prosecutor. He is indeed that, but it is not the capacity in which he is now acting. He is acting as a barrister in private practice. Before he was a UN prosecutor, he was for decades a criminal defence lawyer and has defended many murderers. He has since acted to suppress the truth being published about many celebrities, including John Terry.
If the Assad regime and not the government of Qatar had instructed him and paid him, he would now be on our screens arguing the opposite case to that he is putting. That is his job. He probably regards that as not reprehensible. What is reprehensible is that the BBC do not make it plain, but introduce him as a UN war crimes prosecutor as though he were acting in that capacity or out of concern for human rights. I can find no evidence of his having an especial love for human rights in the abstract, when he is not being paid for it. He produced an official UK government report into the murder of Pat Finucane, a murder organised by British authorities, which Pat Finucane’s widow described as a “sham”. He was also put in charge of quietly sweeping the Israeli murders on the Gaza flotilla under the carpet at the UN.
The question any decent journalist should be asking him is “Sir Desmond De Silva, how much did the government of Qatar pay you for your part in preparing this report? How much did it pay the other experts? Does your fee from the Government of Qatar include this TV interview, or are you charging separately for your time in giving this interview? In short how much are you being paid to say this?”
That is what any decent journalist would ask. Which is why you will never hear those questions on the BBC.
John Goss
Rain mainly in the plain? What about How now Brown cow?
He acted dumb in 2008 pretending not to have foreseen the banking crisis. They don’t teach you nothing at Bilderberg. If anybody asks you anything about it just act as if you were very, very stupid.
“The whole world is in debt.”
Of course this is absolutely true – for all savings there has to be a debt somewhere. If you want anything other than the most primitive economy then you have to have debts and savings. Just imagine a world with no investment and no pensions for starters.
Res Dis, with a degree in economics of which about a third was made up of papers in Maths and Statistics, and Habbabkuk, I did not rejoice when the new Russian multi-millionaires came over here and bought up some of the best English football teams with oil money. There is a saying in Russia that some fish can swim in filthy water.
I’ve already answered all your questions about being a Commie. Check back.
Guano
The economists I admire like Stiglitz and Krugman did see the 2007-8 financial crisis as did Gillian Tett in her columns on the debt markets in the FT.
John Goss
And how do you believe said Russian millionaires made their money in Russia and became Governors in certain remote Russian provinces many miles away from their football clubs.
As to your “Could you please explain how an increase in the Dow Jones Index from 13200 to 16400 in recent times is in any way comparable to the increase in the index from 200 to 350 which occurred in a similar period in the run up to the 1929 Crash and can be seen as the basis for forecasting an imminent crash as you did in an earlier post which you linked to here.” I should have thought as an economist and statistician you could do that yourself. I did not create the graph. However money is not worth as much today as it was then because they keep printing more of it. Every time they print more it is worth even less. That is why when the next crash comes it will be more devastating than in 1929. However I would like to hear your views on why we are not heading for a deep depression and why the two graphs are incompatible.
Resident Dissident, 27 Jan, 2014 – 11:21 pm
I know because I read up on these things. Suggest you do too.
@ John Goss
“I’ve already answered all your questions about being a Commie. Check back.”
________________________
Yes, I know.
But I wasn’t asking you whether you were or are a Communist, was I. I firstly asked why you had taken the trouble to learn such good Russian, and, secondly, whether you regretted the demise of the Soviet Union. Why don’t you want to answer those very civil comments and why do you equate them with asking you whether you are a Communist?
Hi habby
My point was that the West prefers corrupt dictators abroad, who do its bidding, than anything that is beneficial to the inhabitants of the country concerned.
What are you contesting?
Habby, your questions might be civil, but I find them a bit ingratiating. My Russian is not that good. You need to live in a country to be fluent. I can get by but it is not as good as you seem to think. I hope this is a satisfactory answer. Are you trying to build up a dossier on me? The KGB probably already have one and NSA certainly have one. You could ask them if you want to further your knowledge.
@ Resident Dissident 27 Jan, 2014 – 8:49 pm
You said to Doug Scorgie ….
Since Doug Scorgie was replying to me at the time, I feel justified in sticking my oar in. I’ve analysed your formula ….
Locate a comment which sympathises with the victims of Western aggression.
Identify the writer as typical of the posters on this blog.
Describe what you think a typical poster on this blog ought to say.
Pour sarcasm on what the typical poster ought to have said.
Pout “I don’t know why I bother, I really don’t” and flounce off.
“Locate a comment which sympathises with the victims of Western aggression.
Identify the writer as typical of the posters on this blog.
Describe what you think a typical poster on this blog ought to say.
Pour sarcasm on what the typical poster ought to have said.
Pout “I don’t know why I bother, I really don’t” and flounce off.”
Sadly, that is the essence of his dissidence. It’s like distilled Hab. It leeches any beneficial minerals, and consigns any matter to nutritional death throes.
@ Clark,
Look into how the stuxnet exactly worked and you’ll find a path to its makers.
*******
If anyone would run his household the way governments run the economical environment, there would be nothing but bankrupt families.
Oh, wait, there are quite a few already.
Keep up the good work and spread prosperity even thinner over the crumbs the other 99% are allowed access to.
According to the tealeaves at the bottom of my cup I’m about to fart…
Shit.
Diarrhea.
Thanks for the research Brian.
The decision by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reject an invitation from Putin to attend the Sochi opening ceremonies is noteworthy. Putin and Netanyahu are on better speaking terms with one another than is the case with Putin and Obama. Although Putin and Netanyahu are worlds apart on issues like Syria and Iran, they mutually recognize the importance of business ties between Russian Jews living in Israel and their compatriots in Russia. Netanyahu’s rejection of Putin’s invitation may have arisen from advance knowledge of Saudi plans for an attack on the Winter Games. Israel and Saudi Arabia have forged close intelligence and military links owing to their common cause against Iran and Assad’s government in Syria.
The potential for a chemical weapons terror attack in Sochi has been known by worldwide intelligence agencies for quite some time. However, rather than warn of this threat, a number of world leaders cynically used their opposition to Russia’s policy on homosexual advocacy to decide to boycott the opening ceremonies. Among those leaders who hid behind the lavender curtain rather than reveal the actual reason for their absence — the threat posed by the Saudis to the Sochi games — are U.S. President Barack Obama, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Francois Hollande, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, and European Justice and Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte and King Willem-Alexander, Norwegian King Harald and Prime Minister Erna Solberg, and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev are scheduled attend the ceremonies.
Some leaders are only planning on attending the closing ceremonies only. These include Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Bulgarian PresidentRossen Plevneliev. Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski will attend the opening ceremonies.
http://milfuegos.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=6
@ A Node & Ben,
Where most share what they see as their take on ‘right, truth and justice,’ some others contribute nothing but vitriol and virtual, corrosive acid in an attempt to blister the bejesus off of fellow forum members’ names and bolster their own ballooning horse manure. This misplaced ‘god-syndrome’ begs for ‘ignore buttons’ to be added to the pages, so their contributions collapse when activated, allowing me to use my middle finger for the other, more appropriate gestures.
Mark
Cheers…and great post there, Re Sochi Games….i sometimes wonder if there is a deliberate Building up and fear mongering of an imminent event, only for it to pass without incident… in which case, rather than the Opening ceremony, it would be the Closing ceremony to fear … or an even later event.
More nato Terrorism being Spoken up RE Libya, from asshole Edouard Guillard –
Fighting has flared up again in southern and western Libya as clashes between pro-Gaddafi forces and rebel militias have resulted in the seizure of several towns and an airbase by the loyalists. These developments prompted French Admiral Edouard Guillard TO APPEAL FOR A RENEWED IMPERIALST INTERVENTION IN LIBYA… claiming that developments on the southern border could lead to a “terrorist threat.” (Washington Post, January 27)
Dissatisfaction is growing among the Libyan population with the current situation. Once the most prosperous nation in Africa, with a standard of living that exceeded several states in Europe, the conditions inside the country have drastically deteriorated since the 2011 counter-revolution.
This decline in living standards, the failure of the regime to reign in the militias which terrorize the population, the collapse of the oil industry and widespread corruption has drawn broad criticism even among the favored elites. Another decree was issued in January which prohibits scholarship students and public employees from speaking out in opposition to the conditions prevailing in Libya.
In the same article published by AllAfrica.com, it points out that “Libya’s government passed Resolution 13/2014 on January 24, discontinuing scholarships to students studying abroad and salaries and bonuses to Libyan employees, for ‘taking part in activities inimical to the February 17 revolution,’ which is widely understood to encompass statements and protests against the current government. It calls on Libyan embassies abroad and others to draw up lists of names and refer them to the Prosecutor General for prosecution.”
Imperialism in Crisis
These events in Libya demonstrate that there is no benefit for the masses in oppressed nations where U.S. and other imperialist states have overthrown governments and installed puppet regimes. The situation in Libya is also mirrored in Iraq where people are dying every day from internecine conflict and the overall horrendous conditions prevailing among the majority of the population.
In Syria, over 100,000 people have died over the last three years since the U.S. has supported a counter-revolutionary assault on the population. The current Geneva II talks in Switzerland are ostensibly designed to reach a political solution although the U.S. and its allies are continuing to finance and coordinate those seeking the overthrow of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
http://libya360.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/renewed-intervention-threatened-after-pro-gaddafi-forces-seize-areas-in-southern-libya/
Bit of cross checking but same story @
http://www.modernghana.com/news/518488/1/renewed-intervention-threatened-after-pro-gaddafi-.html
Syria Deal Will Allow Women, Children Out of Rebel-Held Homs
Go,Gaza. Go!
Money use exploits and transposes evil. It’s use other than a form of currency is unnatural and as a form of currency it’s true value is relinquished.
Society could function so much differently if not for the pursuit of gain through the possession of money.
Work and helping each other. A system of reliance!
Debts and saving! It’s humans your dealing with.
Herbie
“My point was that the West prefers corrupt dictators abroad, who do its bidding, than anything that is beneficial to the inhabitants of the country concerned.
What are you contesting?”
____________________
I’m contesting your point as quoted above.
But you haven’t really responded to the question(s) implicit in my post of 23h00 yesterday, which was also a question of logic if you will. Would you care to do so?
Don’t feed the trolls. They only come back for more like Oliver Twist.
John Goss
“I hope this is a satisfactory answer.”
__________________
Well, that would have been a satisfactory answer had the question been “how good is your Russian”. But it wasn’t.
The questions, as now revised in the light of your non-answer, are 1/. why did you learn Russian, and 2/. do you regret the demise of the Soviet Union?
Of course I’m not trying to build up a dossier on you; I just think the answers to those questions would help me (and perhaps other, casual readers) see where you’re coming from in respect of your posts on a number of themes.
Jay
You are so right. As the Good Book says, the love of money is the root of all evil. Are you a practising Christian?
Perhaps they could apply some of their brain power to the problem of the deteriorating state of the royal residences.
Queen down to her last million due to courtiers’ overspending, report finds
Report by the Commons public accounts committee finds the Queen’s advisers are failing to control her finances while the royal palaces are “crumbling”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10600671/Queen-down-to-her-last-million-due-to-courtiers-overspending-report-finds.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_royal_residences
PS Suggestions for the collective nouns for royal residences?
Sky News have just had a Con Friend of Israel MP on to discuss the problem. Of course Israel is expert on home demolition. Perhaps that expertise will come in useful to reduce the nation’s liabilities for maintenance!
In Occupied Palestine
Sunday, 26 January 2014
Israeli Army opens fire on farmers and shepherds in Northern Gaza
Israeli Navy opens fire on Palestinian fishing boats
Israeli Army prevents villagers from farming their land in 3 West Bank areas
Zionist arsonists set fire to crops on Palestinian farmland
Israeli troops terrorise 6 youngsters aged from 12 to 17
Man hospitalised after Israeli Army checkpoint dog attack
Occupation settler vandalism – Israeli Army complicity
Israeli Army destroys 3 Palestinian homes
Israeli soldiers abduct two 17-year-old youths
Night peace disruption and/or home invasions in refugee camp and 9 towns and villages
2 attacks – 27 raids including home invasions – 2 injured
6 acts of agricultural/economic sabotage
25 taken prisoner – 16 detained – 113 restrictions of movement
Read newsletter
http://palestine.org.nz/phrc/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1834&Itemid=43
“Of course this is absolutely true – for all savings there has to be a debt somewhere. If you want anything other than the most primitive economy then you have to have debts and savings. Just imagine a world with no investment and no pensions for starters.”
So if I put a few quid a week away to save up for something I want I’m in debt am I?
Pete Seeger rest in peace. Where have all the flower-people gone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqTf8DU6a0
Habby, my comments tell you where I am coming from, you don’t need to know more. If you want to know about people you should start sharing some of your own personal details.
Fred, spot on. The great evil of banking is liquidity ratio. Banks lend out more than what they have. It is the fallacy. Much better if bankers were paid a modest salary and a modest charge was made on transactions. Simply put, you have a cake divided into eight equal slices. Eight people can have a slice. Then the cake’s gone. The banks behave as though there are eight cakes, or these days eighty cakes. Quite obviously it spells disaster as soon as society loses confidence.
Mary. 28 Jan, 2014 – 8:14 am
Oliver Twist was in the workhouse and starving. The trolls get pleasure from trying to upset decent people like yourself.
Maybe Habba.
More a learned philanthropist.