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
You’re a man with an interest in what goes on east of Warsaw, if you get my drift.
What’s your opinion about or reaction to the severe beating of the Ukrainian dissident?
I only ask because I’m sure you would severely condemn any English bobby who brought down his truncheon on the head of, say, an Occupy demonstrator.
“Is the use of the diminutive version of Ben’s name designed to insult or annoy him?”
__________________
There you go again, Mary, being negative! It was in endearment – do you know what that word means?
Of course I condemn all beatings from authority on individuals who peacefully protest. Why would you think otherwise?
“I will leave it to you ESLO to decide. After all you are much more ‘eminent’ than me.”
___________________
Well, Mary, thank God that one can be eminent without being one of the Eminences!
You’re probably clever enough to work out the difference without my assistance. But if not, I’m sure that Mr Scourgie or someone of his sort will be delighted to help!
PS – I do hope I don’t end up with a higher posting score than you today; you’d never forgive me and I certainly would not be able to forgive myself!
“Of course I condemn all beatings from authority on individuals who peacefully protest. Why would you think otherwise?”
_______________
By your usual radio silence when the beatings or other manifestations of oppression occur in countries of whose govts you seem to approve.
Pity these poor people.
Palestine Briefing February 2014
Gaza becoming ‘unfit for human habitation’
MPs’ chance to press for action on Gaza humanitarian crisis
Debate at 2.30-4 pm Wed 5th February 2014
MPs will have a chance to debate the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza when Conservative MP Sir Tony Baldry introduces a 90-minute debate on Gaza on Wednesday.
The cause of the crisis is the Israeli blockade of Gaza, but this has been exacerbated in recent months by the winter storm and the closure of tunnels to turn the long-running humanitarian crisis into a disaster.
Aid minister Alan Duncan and Middle East minister Hugh Robertson have both visited Palestine recently and staked out a more robust position on Gaza. Alan Duncan warned that Gaza could become ‘unliveable’ by the autumn with no food, power or clean water and could soon be ‘unfit for human habitation’.
Hugh Robertson pointed out recently that the Israeli blockade of Gaza and occupation of the West Bank cost the Palestinian economy 85% of its Gross Domestic Product every year – and urged Israel to relax its ban on building material imports to Gaza.
If the talks break up at the end of April without an agreement, as seems likely, the ministers will need to back up their words with actions that will persuade the Israelis to lift the blockade and let imports and exports flow freely in and out of Gaza again.
Netanyahu will try to blame the Egyptians for the crisis, but this is disingenuous. Egypt has only a passenger crossing into Gaza and has been forced by US and Israeli pressure to refuse access to goods.
As Alan Duncan pointed out in the Commons last year, citing an IMF report, the blockade and other restrictions imposed by the Israelis cost the Palestinians 78% of their GDP or $6.3 billion a year. Without the restrictions, Palestine would no longer be dependent on aid.
The Israelis promised under the Oslo Accords to build a ‘land bridge’, a secure road to connect Gaza to the West Bank, which would allow the Gazans to restart their mothballed factories and export to their natural market, only 25 miles away, but Netanyahu has blocked it.
Instead the Israelis have continued to control Gaza’s borders, ports, airspace, passports and telecommunications and maintain constant surveillance from drones and helicopters. They still occupy Gaza in every way except boots on the ground.
For MPs who are able to spare 90 minutes to attend the debate, here are useful things to read:
Latest UN reports on Gaza
UN weekly report with update to January 27th 2014
UN Humanitarian Monitor October 2013
UN OCHA Five Years of Blockade, June 2012
Briefing from the UN’s Ray Dolphin to UK delegations in January:
Gaza’s population is now 1.7 million on a strip the size of the Isle of Wight, 4,500 people per km² making it one of the most densely populated jurisdictions on earth.
Most fuel and building material was reaching Gaza via the tunnels. More than 1 million litres of fuel were coming in a day. Now there are none open. Fuel is unobtainable for most people. There is no building at all.
Water supplies will be unusable by 2016 and most now has to be boiled or treated.
Humanitarian imports are running at an average 833 lorry loads a week so far this year compared with 2,807 before the blockade. Gazan exports were running at 240 lorry loads a week before the blockade and now only a trickle of exports is allowed out. In the week ending January 27th there were 7 truckloads of carnations and strawberries sent to Holland.
Forecasts of Gaza in 2020 shows that it will have
•A population of 2.1 million
•A population density of 5,835 per km²
•There will be a shortage of 450 schools (compared with a shortage of 250 now)
•The Gaza aquifer will be irreversibly polluted, but water demand will be up 60%
•There will be a shortage of 71,000 housing units
http://martinlinton.org/2014/02/03/gaza-becoming-unfit-for-human-habitation/
A Public School is a place where those ‘in the know’ of the abomination we call the post-colonial stage of British Empire are trained to disguise their youthful, transparent fascination with politics and power, while those not in the know of the loopy loop of teacher – pupil connivancy, are left in deepest ignorance of the fundamentals of commerce, politics, or anything that could be useful to them to earn a living, apart from the Arts, English, Maths and Religion.
Mr Gove knows that only too well. He would facilitate the stray wolf into the ways of the devil, by bringing Public School standards into state schools, but he would also destroy the high standards of practical awareness of life that are instilled in normal children. The standard of education in Public schools for those who are not interested in the Macchiavellian pursuit of power is appalling. This is the standard Mr Gove wishes to intall across state schools.
The blood is always redder on the other side of the fence. His aim is to increase the number of Liam Fox and Nick Clegg-type psychopathic liar madmen in the parliamentary voting system. In neo=con eyes, there are far too many decent folk in the village of Westminster
H, I suspect you’ve reached your dotage, but if not can I kindly advise you to grow up.
And for all the adults here is Aaron Russo on various encroachments into the liberty of US citizens. He tells his audience many things about the new democracy including how since 1998 every telephone was to be constructed with an in-built listening device so the secret services could listen in to all Americans’ conversations and about legislation 666 which enables security authorities to enter your home without permission when they like. It has been estimated, he says it would takes 23,000 years to read all the legislation issued by the state, but ignorance of the law is no excuse, and many other entertaining gems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qgzy29A05A
““Of course I condemn all beatings from authority on individuals who peacefully protest. Why would you think otherwise?”
Some have a difficult time understanding concern for all ethnic/social groups. Pandering to a specific sector of human beings (ingroup versus outgroups) is a fundamental failing, John.
“Banker left Speechless by Irish Journalist”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHu1kRT6hU
“They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger… they are driven by greed, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor… They ravage, they slaughter, they seize by false pretenses, and all of this they hail as the construction of empire. And when in their wake nothing remains but a desert, they call that peace.”
Tacitus (55-120)
Mary
3 Feb, 2014 – 9:46 am
Re Gove:
“He picks up a lot of ‘donations’ and even got free tickets from the ROH for the Wagner.”
Why would Gove admit to a love of Wagner’s music?
“…what people today remember from Wagner’s quasi-philosophical period is his contention that it was the Jews who were responsible for much that was going wrong in art and society.”
(Wikipedia)
Wagner was promoted during the Nazi era as one of Adolf Hitler’s favourite composers.
Wagner’s operas have never been staged in the modern State of Israel, and the few public instrumental performances that have occurred have provoked much controversy.
Despite Wagner’s known writings against Jews, there was no opposition to his music in the early Zionist movement and its founders; Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, was an avid admirer of Wagner’s music.
What are Gove and his concubine up to?
This needs some serious analysis as Gove is a devout friend of Israel.
Compare and contrast this press release from S&R Eggs Wisconsin and the content of this article by Martha Rosenberg below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
EGG FARM REMAINS FULLY OPERATIONAL
Whitewater, WI- S&R Egg Farm Inc., a locally owned company announced a fire occurring just before 8pm on Friday 1/31/2014. The result was a total loss of one of the companies fourteen barns. All other barns remain in full production. There was no damage to the company offices or facilities in which the eggs are processed and packaged for shipment to customers. The company is happy to report no injuries occurred as a result of the fire.
The company would also like to report that no chemicals or other explosives were involved in the fire, contrary to local news reports. The company plans to rebuild the facility with no disruption of service to its customer base during the rebuilding process.
S&R Egg Farm would like to thank and acknowledge the efforts of all the Fire Departments deployed and appreciates those sending compassionate regards. No further information will be released until the investigation is concluded.
S&R Egg Farm, Inc. has been in business since 1958 and employs 155 people
It is a 3rd Generation Company
/..
http://www.sreggfarm.com/
No mention of the hens burned alive or the horrible conditions in which they were kept. Human greed and cruelty.
__________________
Why Are These “Farmers” Still In Business
by MARTHA ROSENBERG
It was a four-alarm fire requiring more than 50 fire departments and 100 firefighters. But owners of S&R Egg Farm in La Grange, Wisconsin say chemicals and explosives were not involved in the late January fire. Unless, of course, you count the ammonia buildup from 300,000 hens caged over their own manure in the barn that burned down. All the birds burned alive.
Whether you care about animals, the environment or the tax dollars used in extinguishing the blaze for which water had to be trucked in, charges should be brought against the owners of S&R Egg Farm. News outlets describe the operation as a “third-generation, family-owned business founded in 1958, producing up to 2 million eggs a year,” but no “family farm” produces 2 million eggs a year. Battery egg operations with millions of hens are a blight on farm workers, animals, the environment and the face of US agriculture. Grocery stores, distribution centers, egg wholesalers and food consumers should refuse to buy any products linked to S&R Egg Farm.
/..
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/03/why-are-these-farmers-still-in-business/
“Why would Gove admit to a love of Wagner’s music? ”
Why shouldn’t he? Unless you’re suggesting that anyone who likes Wagner is an anti-Semite and a Nazi. It is possible to enjoy the music without having to subscribe to the composer’s political views.
Stephen Fry is a huge fan of Wagners music and recently spoke to BBC Radio on the subject.
Sorry I cannot provide the link.
Jay: “Sorry I cannot provide the link.”
http://bit.ly/1aXgB0g
Sorry, that last link was me being unnecessarily sarcastic. Looks like he’s done many radio interviews on the subject. Was this the one you wanted:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mfd3
Kerry truly is a buffoon balloon.
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Fatah-wants-Kerry-prosecuted-before-ICC-for-threatening-Abbas-340127
“It is possible to enjoy the music without having to subscribe to the composer’s political views.”
______________________
As, indeed, it is possible to enjoy the oeuvre of a novelist or poet without having to subscribe to his political views.
Eminences please take note!
From the egregious Mary
“I hold no candle for Morgan, BLiar’s right hand, but Poison Gove’s politicisation of this job is a move too far down the road of creeping fascism.”
___________________
For Heaven’s sake, what is the matter with this woman?
A big Blairite creep is being replaced by a Tory donor, who may or may not also be a big creep.
Fair enough, but a manifestation of CREEPING FASCISM?
Fascism is far too serious a word (and phenomenon) to be thrown around in this careless, SILLY manner.
To round off – and after reflection – this thread is suffering as all threads do when commenters have run out of puff, get bored and start being silly
In contrast, the two previous ones attracted only a hundred or so comments each and so stayed relatively to-the-point and sane.
In the absence of self-discipline from the Eminences, a new thread is urgently required.
**************
Good night to a select few, and nightmares (Mr Gove as a succubus?) to the many.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Woodpecker
A native, Please let things get better for people, and in turn we can help nature.
Monday, 27 January 2014
“Galloway accuses Michael Gove of misleading parliament”
http://www.georgegalloway.net/2014/01/galloway-accuses-michael-gove-of.html
Bastards…. This –
US plane loaded with weapons for Al Qaeda mercenaries fighting in Syria, landed in Jordan
Al-Wahda news network quoted Jordanian sources as saying that a US aircraft, loaded with weapons arrived in al-Mafraq airport to hand over these weapons to the armed terrorist groups in Syria, referring to the graduation of a new batch of 1500 gunmen, of al-Zaatari camp residents, who were trained for fighting and using weapons to join nearly 50000 others existing in Syria.
US Security officials have unveiled that the US congress had secretly endorsed a bill to fund weapon shipments to the armed terrorist groups in Syria through Jordan.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-plane-loaded-with-weapons-for-al-qaeda-mercenaries-fighting-in-syria-landed-in-jordan/5367248
Along with all the other horrors this will lead to… is the Continuation of This –
Palestinians Starving inside Al Qaeda held Syria Refugee Camp. Al Nusra is supported by Israel
By Russia Today
Global Research, February 03, 2014 –
http://www.globalresearch.ca/palestinians-starving-inside-al-qaeda-held-syria-refugee-camp-al-nusra-is-supported-by-israel/5367224
AND THIS –
Israel Supports Al Qaeda Rebels: Syria Opposition Terrorists Treated in Israeli Hospital
http://www.globalresearch.ca/israel-supports-al-qaeda-rebels-syria-opposition-terrorists-treated-in-israeli-hospital/5367210
I wonder Why, with so much going on Re this topic…. that Habbabkuk….can’t wait For a new post From Craig, why not just mossy along Until Craig posts again.
Re. Wagner: I would like to make it clear to the Excrescences that my mention of Gove’s alleged love of Wagner intended no allusion to the antisemitism of the composer (although this is well established and Gove is of Jewish parentage) Rather, it was based on my perception of Wagner’s music as nuance-free bombastic shit which appeals to no-one with a microgram of good taste, thus accurately reflecting Gove’s psyche. Or vice versa. Thank you.
From Egypt, Ukraine, the Turkish-Syrian border, Cuba and Thailand: How the West Manufactures “Opposition Movements” – by ANDRE VLTCHEK
Government buildings are being trashed, ransacked. It is happening in Kiev and Bangkok, and in both cities, the governments appear to be toothless, too scared to intervene.
What is going on? Are popularly elected administrations all over the world becoming irrelevant; as the Western regime creates and then supports thuggish ‘opposition movements’ designed to destabilize any state that stands in the way of its desire to fully control the planet?
[..]
Of course the EU cannot do in Ukraine, what it freely does in many places like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It cannot just come and pay some proxy countries, as it pays Rwanda and Uganda (that are already responsible for the loss of over ten million Congolese lives in less than 2 decades), to plunder Ukraine and kill almost all those people that are resisting.
Europe, again and again, for centuries, has proven that it is capable of massacring entire nations without the slightest mercy, (while showing almost zero historic memory) and with almost no moral principles, at least compared to the rest of the world. But it is canny, and unlike the United States, it knows plenty about tactics, strategy and PR.
What the EU did in Libya is clear. Anyone claiming that the United States is acting on its own, must be exercising enormous discipline not to see how closely linked are the interests and actions of the old and new usurpers of Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East, Asia and Oceania. France is acting, once again, as the arch neo-colonial thug, particularly in Africa.
But Ukraine is ‘right there’, too near geographically, to the EU itself. It has to be destabilized, but it all has to appear very legitimate. ‘The rebellion’, ‘revolution’, ‘uprising of its people’; that is the way to handle things ‘properly’.
[,.]
What the West is now doing to the world; igniting conflicts, supporting banditry and terror, sacrificing millions of people for its own commercial interests, is nothing new under the sun. It is called ‘ordinary fascism’. And fascism came and was defeated, in the past. And it will be again. It will be defeated because it is wrong, because it is against natural human evolution, and because people all over the world are realizing that the feudal structures that Western fascism is trying to administer all over the world, belong to the 18th century, not to this one, and should never again be tolerated.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/03/west-manufactures-opposition-movements/
Two-faced slimy arsehole (now there’s an image for you) exposed:
1. May, 2013
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/396387/Iain-Duncan-Smith-Pensioners-have-all-earned-their-universal-benefits
2. Feb, 2014
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/iain-duncan-smith-targets-poor-3109721
Well done the Scots.
Bedroom tax axed in Scotland: Holyrood rivals back SNP Government’s £15m plan to banish hated spare-room policy
3 Feb 2014
IN what is a stunning victory for the Daily Record-led campaign, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the £15m proposal yesterday which means the vicious Con-Dem policy will effectively be abolished north of the Border.
/..
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/bedroom-tax-holyrood-rivals-back-3107134
From Beelzebub
“…and Gove is of Jewish parentage)”
_____________
Are you referring to his natural or to his adoptive mother?
Remarkable how often the Eminences and the fleas that live on them claim that people they have taken against are of Jewish origin.
Probably some kind of mental illness for which they should seek treatment on the NHS.
NHS England – medical records upload
Big brother is watching you (and me and everyone else).
Go to http://www.care-data.info/ about the way all our medical data is going to be uploaded to a commercial site that can then be sold to phamaceutical companies etc etc.
YOU CAN OPT OUT. The item is long but you should read it to understand what it’s about. It is NOT about sharing data between doctor’s practices and hospitals (which already happens and in general is a good idea), but about commercial companies being able to get hold of ALL your medical data. You can access the form to opt out from the site and then you drop it in to your doctor’s surgery who have to put a code against your medical record so that it cannot be uploaded. This process is starting next month so don’t hang about.
The form https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14156524/caredata_trifold.pdf