The west should do more than a strike in Syria, report

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obama , syriaA limited strike against Syria might convince the Assad regime not to use chemical weapons again, but it won’t change the balance of power in Syria’s civil war or bring about President Obama’s stated goal of regime change, analysts and rebel leaders agree, according to an article by US Today that was published on Tuesday

Syria’s President Bashar Assad has behind him Russia’s veto at the United Nations, Iran’s military backing and Lebanon’s Hezbollah’s foreign fighters , the report added.

For this reason the washington post urged Obama in an editorial titled ” military might is not enough” to do more :

“The United States can’t dictate the outcome in Syria, and it would be foolish to send ground troops in an effort to do so. But by combining military measures with training, weapons supplies and diplomacy, it could exercise considerable influence. The military measures could include destroying forces involved in chemical weapons use and elements of the Syrian air force that have been used to target civilians, as well as helping to carve out a safe zone for rebels and the civilian populations they are seeking to protect.”

“Such military action should be seen as one component of a policy that finally recognizes a U.S. interest in helping to shape Syria’s future, the WP editorial concluded.

“The threats to our interests have only gotten worse, and our inaction has been quite harmful to our interests,” USA quoted Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and a former senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, as saying

“There’s no reason to think those consequences won’t continue to worsen, and yet you don’t see any momentum toward any kind of effective action by the United States and our allies to do anything about it,” he said.

Assad “has used all kinds of weapons, chemical and cluster bombs, during massacres in Syria,” said Abu Jaafar al-Mugarbel, an activist based in Homs, in western Syria.

“There is nothing that can stop the regime from doing that except military intervention. It is not the best way forward but there is nothing else after all that has happened,” he said.

Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian group based in France, says more than 350 people were killed in an apparent chemical weapons attack. The United Nations says more than100,000 people have died in more than two years of civil war.

The rebels repeated Monday what they have been saying for more than a year: They need the United States to impose a no-fly zone over Syria to stop Assad’s planes from bombing rebel safe havens, and to strike the Syrian tanks that are shelling cities.

“First, hit military locations to stop missile attacks and air raids, which kill thousands of civilians,” said Abu Rami, a 32-year-old anti-Assad activist in Homs. “But I’m against ground intervention in Syria to avoid what happened in Iraq. It is unacceptable for all Syrians.”

Tony Badran, an analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies says what Obama does now may determine whether Assad falls. “The question is whether your intervention will have the broader goal of removal of this regime,” Badran said. “Based on how they’re talking about it … they’re defining it very narrowly, as a slap on the wrist, don’t do that again. If you do, there will be a more serious response.”

Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said “It’s clear the administration does not intend to decisively tip the balance in favor of Syria’s insurgency.” “Everything the administration has done up to now has suggested they don’t want to own the outcome of this and their most preferable outcome is some sort of negotiated solution, ” Alterman added

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6 responses to “The west should do more than a strike in Syria, report”

  1. “The threats to our interests have only gotten worse, and our inaction has been quite harmful to our interests,” USA quoted Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and a former senior director for Middle East affairs at the NationalSecurity Council under President George W. Bush, as saying”

    YOUR INTERESTS? OR ISRAELI’S INTERESTS…

    THIS WAR IS NOT ONLY ABOUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS USED BY THE RESISTANCE MADE IN TURKEY, THIS WAR IS ABOUT LEBANESE TERRITORY AND SYRIAN LAND:

    Just Remember that when Lebanon and Syria Re-established Diplomatic relations in 2009, We opened Our Embassy in Syria and Syria opened theirs in Lebanon respecting each other autonomy,

    Stating that Shebaa Farms are Lebanese.

    This is what Israel didn’t like because goes against their greed for keeping the Golan Heights and Shebaa farms, And this is why USA the UK and Israel harvested from Turkey an insurrection to topple Bashar Assad, Israel Don’t want anybody to have peace in the region is goes against them, Israel always will try to divide the region fomenting civilian unrest and rivalry the same way is been during many years, is a war of divide and defeat and is time for everyone to see what is really behind all this innocent bloodshed, is Evil.

    Lebanese army maps published in 1961 and 1966 specifically pinpoint several of the Shebaa Farms, including Zebdine, Fashkoul, Mougr Shebaa and Ramta, all of which are designated as being lebanese. Lebanese Ministry of Tourism maps also show the Lebanese-Syrian border running west of the Shebaa Farms. Syria has officially acknowledged the Farms are Lebanese.

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon. Assad told a news conference in Paris before ending a state visit to France, Beirut and Damascus will demarcate their countries’ border at Shebaa Farms after Israel withdraws from the region. They will then submit a new map to the UN.

    You see? This is how is being played and is not in the mainstream media, Don’t be foolish and at least understand from where this war is coming!

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      You’re repeating yourself … again.
      Is that a ‘copy&paste’ from Mao’s Communist Manifesto?

  2. “The threats to our interests have only gotten worse, and our inaction has been quite harmful to our interests,” USA quoted Michael Singh, managing director of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and a former senior director for Middle East affairs at the NationalSecurity Council under President George W. Bush, as saying”

    YOUR INTERESTS? OR ISRAELI’S INTERESTS…

    THIS WAR IS NOT ONLY ABOUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS USED BY THE RESISTANCE MADE IN TURKEY, THIS WAR IS ABOUT LEBANESE TERRITORY AND SYRIAN LAND:

    Just Remember that when Lebanon and Syria Re-established Diplomatic relations in 2009, We opened Our Embassy in Syria and Syria opened theirs in Lebanon respecting each other autonomy,

    Stating that Shebaa Farms are Lebanese.

    This is what Israel didn’t like because goes against their greed for keeping the Golan Heights and Shebaa farms, And this is why USA the UK and Israel harvested from Turkey an insurrection to topple Bashar Assad, Israel Don’t want anybody to have peace in the region is goes against them, Israel always will try to divide the region fomenting civilian unrest and rivalry the same way is been during many years, is a war of divide and defeat and is time for everyone to see what is really behind all this innocent bloodshed, is Evil.

    Lebanese army maps published in 1961 and 1966 specifically pinpoint several of the Shebaa Farms, including Zebdine, Fashkoul, Mougr Shebaa and Ramta, all of which are designated as being lebanese. Lebanese Ministry of Tourism maps also show the Lebanese-Syrian border running west of the Shebaa Farms. Syria has officially acknowledged the Farms are Lebanese.

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon. Assad told a news conference in Paris before ending a state visit to France, Beirut and Damascus will demarcate their countries’ border at Shebaa Farms after Israel withdraws from the region. They will then submit a new map to the UN.

    You see? This is how is being played and is not in the mainstream media, Don’t be foolish and at least understand from where this war is coming!

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      You’re repeating yourself … again.

  3. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Well, here go ‘The Analysts’ again. Anal misfits all. Must be mostly men.

  4. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Well, here go ‘The Analysts’ again. Anal misfits all. Must be mostly men.

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