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.
doug scorgie, 5 Feb, 2014 – 5:29 pm
Doug, Habbabkuk does not answer questions. That’s not what his job is. It is to disrupt by trying to get you to answer pointless questions and cast unqualified aspersions and insinuations about your character. When he starts behaving respectfully he may get my respect. But he has a long way to go.
Thanks Someone ref George Lansbury cf MacShane.
Doesn’t Lansbury’s enormous energy come across in that link you gave. What a principled man.
‘“He apparently sees himself as another George Lansbury”
Denis MacShane is no George Lansbury, Denis MacShane is and always has been a cancer on the body of humanity, a truly disgusting individual.
George Lansbury
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRlansbury.htm ‘
There is this link to the Poplar Rates Rebellion which he led and which did indeed see him in Brixton Prison.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_Rates_Rebellion
and other notable prisoners there including Bertrand Russell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Brixton#Notable_former_inmates
We could do with George Lansbury now.
Should David Cameron be Prosecuted for Recruiting Brits to Fight in Al Qaeda Ranks in Syria?
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
February 05, 2014
Mary thanks for that… Lots of Great Links today cheers Folks…
Here is a peach Mr Blum
The Anti-Empire Report #125
“Who in the mainstream media supports Hamas of Gaza? Or Hezbollah of Lebanon? Who in the mainstream media is outspokenly critical of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians? And keeps his or her job?
Who in the mainstream media treats Julian Assange or Chelsea Manning as the heroes they are?
And this same mainstream media tell us that Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, et al. do not have a real opposition media”
http://williamblum.org/aer/read/125
Yes Bill Blum is great Brian. He has seen it all. Aged 80 now and still vigorous mentally and physically. I have an American friend in Washington who until recently used to cycle with him along the bank of a river there. The Potomac I believe.
Saw this earlier about the quenelle. LOL Dr Strangelove et al!
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/02/the-quenelle-blame-dr-strangelove-and-the-bomb/
The Blum piece is on the same site. Used to be able to comment on DV until the Hasbara/CAMERA/Israel Project trolls swamped and wrecked it and the editors couldn’t deal with them. Shame.
I was wondering when someone would come up with that scene from “Dr Strangelove”.
One must assume that the film character Dr Stranglove was an unrepentant Nazi and therefore an anti-semite. So I think the points made here about the quenelle and Dieudonné (and their supporters on this blog) have been proved….
“Should David Cameron be Prosecuted for Recruiting Brits to Fight in Al Qaeda Ranks in Syria?
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
February 05, 2014
Mary thanks for that… Lots of Great Links today cheers Folks…”
Yes, I agree, thanks Mary.
“Document Evidences Destabilization Plan Against Venezuela”
http://www.chavezcode.com/2013/11/document-evidences-destabilization-plan.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/revealed-how-the-west-set-saddam-on-the-bloody-road-to-power-1258618.html
Dr StrangElove Or How…… was a satire. He wasn’t a real person!
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, more commonly known simply as Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 British-American black comedy film which satirizes the nuclear scare. It was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, stars Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and features Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, and Slim Pickens. The film is loosely based on Peter George’s Cold War thriller novel Red Alert (also known as Two Hours to Doom).
The story concerns an unhinged United States Air Force general who orders a first strike nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. It follows the President of the United States, his advisers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer as they try to recall the bombers to prevent a nuclear apocalypse. It separately follows the crew of one B-52 bomber as they try to deliver their payload.
In 1989, the United States Library of Congress included it in the first group of films selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It was listed as number three on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs list.
“Doug, Habbabkuk does not answer questions. That’s not what his job is. It is to disrupt by trying to get you to answer pointless questions and cast unqualified aspersions and insinuations about your character.”
_____________________
Unsurprisingly, a tad slanted.
Compare and contrast :
Mr Scourgie to Habbabkuk : What is Zionism?
Habbabkuk to Mr Goss : Why could Arthur Scargill not have fixed the date for the miners’ strike for say one week later in order to give time for a national ballot to be held?
Time for a mode d’emploi for an Eminence and a brief glossary.
The Eminence says :
1/. I never respond to trolls
2/. Anyone who disagrees with me must be a troll
3/. I shall therefore never respond to someone who disagrees with me.
Glossary.
Troll : anyone who disagrees with me
Disruptor : anyone who asks me a difficult or embarrassing question
Creeping fascism : any action by the UK govt of which I disapprove
Zionist : anyone who challenges my anti-semitism
Eminence : one of the 20-odd regulars who use this blog as personal therapy
Evil : used to describe anyone in the public sphere who does anything of which I disapprove.
Trougher : anyone who has managed to become reasonably well-off.
MSM : media in the pay of creeping fascists, Zionists, evil people and troughers, except when they print or televise something of which I approve (in which case I will quote them).
“Dr StrangElove Or How…… was a satire. He wasn’t a real person!”
_____________________
Is it past your bedtime, Mary?
I know he isn’t; that’s why I wrote “the film character Dr Strangelove”.
Duh!
“The HSCIC and NHS England are not asking for your permission to extract and upload your data – they’re forcibly taking your information.”
http://care-data.info/
A further setback for Agent Cameron in his storm initiative.
Now Paterson is out of action. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26057456
Pickles i/c. NOOoo! Not him. Surely not.
I will go to the ball tonight. I thought he had a lot of matters to attend to.
Samantha Cameron shows off her style credentials in £1,000 designer gown as she joins David Cameron at Conservative Party ball
Samantha, 42, wore blue Roksanda Ilinic gown
Attended Conservative Party Black and White Fundraising Ball with David
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2552515/Samantha-Cameron-shows-style-credentials-1-000-designer-gown-joins-David-Cameron-Conservative-party-ball.htm
You will find many mentions of donations for tickets to the Black and White Ball in the register of interests of Tory MPs.
Can’t see Liam and Jesse Fox.
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=467559525&EditorialProduct=News#
“Now that the nudge unit is privatised, it is protected from scrutiny. It is no longer subject to the Freedom of Information Act and it can sue for libel.”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/05/nudge-say-no-more-behavioural-insights-team
“Giant Sucking Sound? Emerging-Markets Fiasco To Topple European Banks”
http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2014/2/4/giant-sucking-sound-emerging-markets-fiasco-to-topple-europe.html
Where has everybody gone?
Richard Silverstein on the Sodastream Fiasco, from http://jfjfp.com/?p=55728
“The global movement for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights was initiated by Palestinian civil society in 2005, and is coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), established in 2007. BDS is a strategy that allows people of conscience to play an effective role in the Palestinian struggle for justice….
The struggle against the Occupation isn’t linear. It’s doesn’t run inexorably toward peace and justice. It meanders through history. It takes one step forward and a half-step back….
History has a way of making fools of those who believe the status quo can last forever. The harder we try to maintain it, the harder it tries to return to some form of social or political equilibrium. Eventually, this will happen to Israel too. It’s leaders and voters who elect them can continue to bury their heads in the sand and refuse to compromise. They will wake up one morning abandoned. Then their choices will be far more limited….
F.W. DeKlerk had gone through all the levels of grief when he negotiated the end of apartheid. Whatever shortcomings he may’ve had, he was smart enough to understand that the white minority had little choice but to concede and reach a suitable compromise. Israel’s leaders have yet to get to this point, the final stage of grief: acceptance.”
Sofia, while what you say is true, Israel, in accepting the SA model needs to find a decent person, like Nelson Mandela, to forgive it its sins. It no doubt realises this. It is actually in the same position, or similar, to Germany when surrounded by the “Great Powers”, decided to try and make an empire for itself. What Israel (or rather Zionism) has done is get the countries with which it has financial influence to do its dirty work for it. This stopped with Syria. Now it has to find a forgiving leader to exist at all. The wall, like the Berlin Wall, is its biggest mistake. People want to have the right to move about freely. That’s why I support all the whistle-blowers, Snowden, Murray, Assange, Manning (the whole lot).
Nice One Sofia…
But the suffering before the end – the evil bastards are using experimental BANNED weapons
On Tuesday, Gazan patients and doctors marked the World Cancer Day by staging a protest inside Gaza’s Shifa hospital.
An average of 1,000 cancer cases has been recorded annually among Gazans for the past two years.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Israeli regime’s use of internationally-banned weapons has sharply increased the number of cancer cases.
“Thousands of tons of unconventional weapons containing carcinogenic agents were fired on Gaza in the last 14 years. Many of the weapons used by the Israeli forces are internationally banned and contain illegal substances that not only affect people but they also have long-term effects on the environment,” said Health Ministry Spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
During the December 2008-January 2009 war against Gaza, Norwegian Doctor Mads Fredrik Gilbert, who volunteered at Gaza’s Shifa hospital, said that some victims had traces of depleted uranium in their wounds.
“The Israeli forces used all sorts of weapons against us. They are testing their weapons on us and on our children,” said a Gazan cancer patient.
Over 160 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and about 1,200 others injured in Israel’s eight-day offensive on the coastal enclave, which ended on November 21, 2012.
Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/05/349419/israeli-arms-causing-cancer-in-gaza/
Jon, Brian. Thanks.
I was giving the article a speedy read when I ran into …“The struggle against the Occupation isn’t linear. It’s doesn’t run inexorably toward peace and justice. It meanders through history. It takes one step forward and a half-step back.” Then I had to go back to the beginning and read it properly.
I was tempted to post the lot but I settled for a few paras.
That worm’s turning and there will have to be so many different kinds of healing in the aftermath whatever new realities emerge.
A bit more from Richard Silverstein,
“But the Johansson story was the crossing of a political Rubicon. Proof of that may be seen in the first-ever Israel cabinet meeting devoted solely to BDS. At this meeting, none of the ministers could coalesce around a single plan to combat it. Haaretz reports that Minister for Strategic Planning (that’s the portfolio that encompasses existential threats like “delegitimization”) proposed a $30-million plan to amplify Israel opposition to BDS.”
“An average of 1,000 cancer cases has been recorded annually among Gazans for the past two years. ”
Which means Gaza has a cancer rate of 59 per 100,000 compared to 524/100,000 for the UK.
Whilst not wanting to appear to be supporting Israel’s actions over Gaza this feeble propaganda really is taking the urine.
Whilst not wanting to appear to be supporting Israel’s actions over Gaza this feeble propaganda really is taking the urine.
uk pop 63,705,000
Gaza pop 4,420,549
Kempe….with MUCH restraint… GO AWAY….
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/02/scarlett-johansson-israeli-apartheid-is-profitable/
>>>
http://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/scarlett.jpg
Now it’s tubes of toothpaste ‘they’ are worrying about. Of course the ‘they’ is the US. Putting the skids under Putin before Sochi even starts.
Sochi 2014: US warns airlines of Russia ‘toothpaste’ bomb threat
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26061903
Wait for all the smear stuff on Russia. It’s already started. The Russia4Love campaign was well covered on the ‘news’ channels last night. They even showed film of a protest in Jerusalem. The short video is contained within this link.
Sochi 2014: Gay rights protests target Russia’s games
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26043872
There is obviously a SOCHI 2014 team at work within ZBC.
I thought I would look to see who is running the Russia4Love campaign. AllOut had the look of Avaaz. A yes. The campaign originated in September in the US. All the usual here.
https://www.allout.org/en/about
HOW IS ALL OUT STRUCTURED?
All Out is a combined effort of two nonprofit organizations – Purpose Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity that focuses on education and changing culture, and Purpose Action, a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization that focuses on changing policy. All Out’s global team is led by co-founder Andre Banks and advised by both boards. Each organization has its own board of directors (listed below) who are responsible for its governance and oversight.
Purpose Foundation Board of Directors:
John Barabino, entrepreneur and former executive of Google, DoubleClick, and Firefly
Jeremy Heimans, Co-founder & CEO of Purpose, co-founder of Avaaz and co-founder of GetUp!
Michael Evans, president of Moynihan Station Development Corporation and former chief of staff to the Lieutenant Governor of New York State
Purpose Foundation’s organizational documents and annual reports on Form 990 can be found here.
Purpose Action Board of Directors:
Rashad Robinson, executive director of ColorOfChange.org and former senior director of media programs at GLAAD
Brett Solomon, executive director of Access, former campaigns director at Avaaz, former executive director of GetUp!
Douglas Atkin, director of community at Airbnb, former chief community officer of Meetup, author The Culting of Brands
Andre Banks, executive director of Purpose Foundation, former strategy director at Purpose and former deputy director of ColorOfChange.org
Jeremy Heimans, Co-founder & CEO of Purpose, co-founder of Avaaz and co-founder of GetUp!
“uk pop 63,705,000
Gaza pop 4,420,549”
You really don’t understand what “per 100,000” means do you?
We’re back to the Black Widow on Sky who also carry the toothpaste bomb story.
‘Black Widow’ Security Threat For Sochi Games
Updated: 12:56am UK, Thursday 06 February 2014
By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent
Terror can be inflicted on society in a variety of different ways and by an equally varied collection of terror groups across the globe, but the delivery of the “terror” can be separated into two basic categories.
The first is known as the “Spectacular”: a massive attack designed to kill and maim as many as possible and to cause as much damage and disruption as possible. In many ways it is very much an act of war.
The 9/11 attacks on New York, the Mumbai assault in India and the West Gate Mall rampage in Kenya are clear examples.
The second variant of “Terror” is perhaps even more frightening and causes greater terror across whole countries with remarkably little effort: it is the attack by untraceable assailants driven by a fundamentalist ideology and with a total lack of self-preservation.
Random suicide attacks and bombs on trains and buses, the bombing of tourist spots or pop concerts and, in this month of the Olympic Games in Sochi, sporting events, causes panic and widespread disruption, although the number of actual casualties maybe quite small.
/…. No link but it’s on this page in a separate window
Video US Warns Of Sochi Flight Threat
Article ‘Black Widow’ Threats In Sochi
Article The Caucasus’ History Of Conflict
http://news.sky.com/story/1207293/toothpaste-bomb-fears-over-russia-flights
Of course the USUKIsNATO axis never ever inflict any terror on people.
I think I whole heartedly understand universal suffrage and equality and freedom it’s the common sense that I am needing.
The rights of the people are paramount for total equality. The state is responsible for its people.
But as is the case the countries wealth is taken away from the people,
We should be on to a winner.
http://hnp.org.za/site/index.php?id=73
Slightly more comprehensible statistics:
Gaza population is actually ~ 1.76 million.
29% of all 2011 deaths in the UK were due to cancer
12.4% of all 2013 deaths in Gaza were due to cancer
Kempe wins that round. And the age structure of the two populations probably tells us why: cancer rises sharply in longer-lived populations.
On the other hand, cancer deaths , and particularly breast cancer deaths, in Gaza are rising, and have been for some time. In 2011, Gaza had one mammography unit, which was not functional (I am guessing due to bombing or Israeli embargoes on supplies), and four screening facilities. In the US there are 25 screening centres per million of population.
It’s entirely credible that this is at least partly due to toxic materials released in the course of major assaults by the IDF over decades, including asbestos, DU and whatever heavy metal the bastards were using in DIME rounds. Also pesticide contamination , whether of homegrown or imported food.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/cancer-rates-soar-gaza-war.html
However many deaths from cancer in Gaza, whether per 100,000 or otherwise, it is ALWAYS the case that there is a shortage of medical supplies and facilities.
Read this about children with the hideous disease Epidermolysis bullosa. Read about the extortion at Cairo by the Eqyptians, Israel’s collaborators in Gaza’s oppression. However bad things get, the Palestinians possess the quality of SOUMUD, persistence and steadfastness.
Gaza children with terminal illness spend their final years under the siege February 3, 2014 International Solidarity Movement, Charlie Andreasson | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
http://palsolidarity.org/2014/02/gaza-children-with-terminal-illness-spend-their-final-years-under-the-siege/
Also some sad news about the author of Wallender. He has terminal cancer. In 2010 he went on a Free Gaza boat. Bravo Mr Mankell! and our thanks and best wishes.
Henning Mankell: chronicler of his own decline
After years of exploring Sweden’s darkest fears in his fiction, the creator of Wallander faces his own anxiety after being diagnosed with cancer. He will now chart his illness in a newspaper column
Since Wallander’s demise, Mankell has focused on his other writing, which, including children’s stories, makes up more than 75% of his corpus. But it has been his political actions that have gained headlines, most notably his decision in 2010 to join an aid flotilla that was bound for Gaza.
In the event, the boats were halted by Israeli troops in an action that left nine members of the convoy dead. Mankell was arrested and then sent back to Sweden. Mankell sees the democratic state of Israel as a criminal nation, likening it to the South African apartheid regime.
http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/feb/01/henning-mankell-chronicler-decline
FACT, Mary. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) needs your support. Non-political, simply does what it can.
Exposure of Palestinians to Israel’s toxic wastes is not confined to Gaza, though.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/columnists/peter-eyre/6338-palestine-an-israeli-dumping-ground-for-radioactivetoxic-waste
There’s a reference there to Dimona waste being dumped in central Gaza – presumably before the Israeli squatters pulled out. Worrying.
All true Beelzebub.
‘Israel approves East Jerusalem homes
Israeli officials give final approval for 558 apartments in Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, in a move Palestinians say could derail peace talks’ BBC website.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26056608
Don’t know about ‘derailing’ peace talks. More like completely wrecking them.