Archivo etiqueta «Siria»
By Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to Britain (THE GUARDIAN, 09/02/12):
Rather a lot of megaphone diplomacy followed the recent UN vote on Syria. Confusion and anger flowed from British and western media. So why did Russia and China veto the UN security council draft resolution on Syria? As Chinese ambassador in the UK, I feel it is timely to give a more measured explanation of why China voted no. Also, I want to explain how together we can, must and should give peace a chance in Syria.
Since day one of this crisis, China has been watching the … Seguir leyendo
By Nicholas Noe, a contributing writer for Bloomberg View and the editor of “Voice of Hezbollah: The Statements of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 07/02/12):
ALMOST one year after anti-government protests began in Syria, a disaster of enormous moral and strategic proportions is fast approaching. Full-scale civil war is now likely. And a multifront, conventional and possibly unconventional war ignited by events in the Levant is also increasingly plausible.
However, many in the West, in some Arab governments and even in the Syrian opposition still think a “controlled collapse” of Bashar al-Assad’s government is possible.… Seguir leyendo
By Wadah Khanfar, former director general of the al-Jazeera network (THE GUARDIAN, 06/02/12):
While Russia and China were using their veto to abort a UN security council resolution against the Syrian regime, the news of a massacre in Homs came thick and fast. In an unprecedented escalation, the Syrian regime sought to exploit the international hesitancy to have a bloody showdown with its opposition.
This came after Syrians had observed for the first time in 30 years the anniversary of the massacre carried out in Hama in February 1982. It is regarded as one of the most gruesome … Seguir leyendo
By Robert A. Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 03/02/12):
As the death toll in Syria has climbed to perhaps 7,000, proponents of humanitarian intervention are asking, quite reasonably, why the West does not intervene as it did in Libya last year. Not only was Libya’s dictator, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, ousted with relatively few Western casualties, but the NATO campaign also set a precedent for successful humanitarian intervention.
In the 63 years since the United Nations adopted a genocide convention in the wake of the Holocaust, world leaders have failed … Seguir leyendo
By Yagil Beinglass and Daniel Brode, intelligence analysts at Max-Security Solutions, an Israeli geopolitical risk consulting firm (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 31/01/12):
Russia has been steadfast in its diplomatic support for the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, even as Assad becomes ever more isolated within the Arab League and the international community.
The Kremlin sent a strong message earlier this month when its aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, anchored off the Syrian port of Tartus. Then last week, Moscow said a draft resolution introduced at the U.N. Security Council by the Arab League calling on Assad to … Seguir leyendo
By Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Mark Hanis, co-founders of the Genocide Intervention Network (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 31/01/12):
Drones are not just for firing missiles in Pakistan. In Iraq, the State Department is using them to watch for threats to Americans. It’s time we used the revolution in military affairs to serve human rights advocacy.
With drones, we could take clear pictures and videos of human rights abuses, and we could start with Syria.
The need there is even more urgent now, because the Arab League’s observers suspended operations last week.
They fled the very violence they … Seguir leyendo
By Aryeh Neier, president of the Open Society Institute and a founder of Human Rights Watch, and the author, most recently, of Taking Liberties: Four Decades in the Struggle for Rights (Project Syndicate, 17/01/12):
For months now, it has been clear that no peaceful, even satisfactory, resolution of the conflict in Syria is possible without external intervention. Paradoxically, too many Syrian civilians have been tortured, wounded, and killed to stop the demonstrations seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. The victims’ families, friends, and neighbors simply will not accept the Assad regime’s continuation in any form. So what will … Seguir leyendo
Por Yezid Sayigh, investigador asociado del Centro Carnegie de Oriente Medio de Beirut Traducción: José María Puig de la Bellacasa (LA VANGUARDIA, 15/01/12):
La crisis siria ha entrado en una fase de estancamiento perjudicial que puede prolongarse durante la mayor parte del año en curso. Presiones externas y desafíos internos han continuado y continúan caracterizando la situación. Es evidente que el régimen no ha podido sofocar la revuelta y es muy improbable que lo consiga en lo que resta de año. Pero la oposición –tanto en el exilio como el grueso de ella en el interior del país– parece … Seguir leyendo
Por Félix Arteaga, investigador principal de Seguridad y Defensa, Real Instituto Elcano (REAL INSTITUTO ELCANO, 12/12/11):
Tema: El régimen sirio continúa desmoronándose sin que existan expectativas de que una intervención externa o una rebelión armada puedan acelerar su caída y poner fin a la represión, que ya ha causado más de 4.000 víctimas mortales.
Resumen: El destino del régimen sirio está sellado desde que se enrocó en una espiral de represión sin sentido pero su caída no está tardando días sino meses porque la presión internacional se ha ido aplicando con cuentagotas y doble rasero. Quienes intervinieron en Libia … Seguir leyendo
By Stephanie Saldaña, the author of The Bread of Angels: A Journey to Love and Faith (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 08/12/11):
Seven years ago, I stood in the chapel of a monastery in the Syrian desert and stared up at a wall of frescoes from the 13th century.
Nearby, a burly man in a gray habit was explaining the paintings to a family visiting from a neighboring village. “That’s Mariam, may peace be upon her,” he said, pointing up. He moved his hand toward the bearded portrait of a man. “And that’s Ibrahim al-Khalil, may peace be upon him.”… Seguir leyendo
By Rana Kabbani, a Syrian writer and broadcaster who lives in London (THE GUARDIAN, 21/11/11):
‘Be careful what you wish for” will be scribbled on the totalitarian tombstone of the Assad regime. For eight months Bashar has squirmed to justify abominable crimes against peaceful protesters calling for long-overdue reform by obsessively rehashing that he is at war with “armed gangs”. These “bugs” were out to punish him for his “steadfast stance”, he announced to that zoo of appointees that goes by the brazen misnomer of parliament. His official media then went into overdrive as there was a lot to … Seguir leyendo
Por Tahar Ben Jelloun, escritor, miembro de la Academia Goncourt (LA VANGUARDIA, 19/11/11):
Bashar el Asad es un presidente que no lucha por su reelección. No. Lucha para no morir. No es de esas personas que reconocen sus errores y ceden el poder a un sistema democrático. El poder. Lo heredó de su padre Hafez, un dictador tranquilo que reinó durante más de tres decenios convirtiendo a Siria en un estado policial, asesinando a unas 20.000 personas en Hama (2 de febrero de 1982). Bashar y uno de sus hermanos matan cada día a ciudadanos desarmados que salen a … Seguir leyendo
By Itamar Rabinovich, who has served as Israel’s chief negotiator with Syria and as Israel’s ambassador in Washington. His books include The View from Damascus (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 19/11/11):
During the first 25 years of its existence, until Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970, the Syrian republic was a weak unstable state, an arena in which regional and international rivalries were played out. The first Assad reversed this state of affairs by turning Syria into a comparatively stable and powerful state, a player in regional and international politics.
This was part of the unwritten pact between the … Seguir leyendo
By Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. Middle East negotiator, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and author of the forthcoming book Can America Have Another Great President? (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 19/11/11):
The Arab League suspends Syrian membership; the king of Jordan calls for Bashar al-Assad’s departure; Turkey appears ready for more aggressive anti-Assad measures; defectors from the Syrian Army are attacking regime targets. And all the while the regime continues killing its people with impunity.
Now is the time for America to step up and lead a NATO military intervention to topple the … Seguir leyendo
By Alastair Crooke, the founder and director of the Conflicts Forum which works for engagement between political Islam and the West, and a regular contributor to Bitter Lemons International (THE GUARDIAN, 05/11/11):
This summer a senior Saudi official told John Hannah, Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, that from the outset of the upheaval in Syria, the king has believed that regime change would be highly beneficial to Saudi interests: “The king knows that other than the collapse of the Islamic Republic itself, nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria.”
This is today’s “great game” – … Seguir leyendo