Siria (Continuación)

InternacionalONUMundoOriente Próximo

Kofi Annan, the UN special envoy to Syria, did not mince his words when the security council met yesterday. "If things do not change, the future is likely to be one of brutal repression, massacres, sectarian violence and even all-out civil war," he said.

The UN's current international impotence is devastating to behold, with Russia and China holding out against the US, Britain and France over the issue of foreign intervention in Syria. But this was the situation the world faced with Libya, as Gaddafi's forces closed on Benghazi; the crucial change came when the Arab League demanded the security council intervene.…  Seguir leyendo »

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After the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda, the world said: Never again. And there have been interventions to stop the killing — in Bosnia, Kosovo and Libya. But these have been the exception, not the norm. Even now, as horrifying violence unfolds in Syria, the U.S. and its allies find reasons to limit their response to economic sanctions accompanied by strongly worded, but ineffectual, statements of condemnation.

This, despite the fact that the stakes in Syria are higher, from a strategic standpoint, than in Libya. By the time NATO acted against Moammar Kadafi, he was an isolated despot who had given up sponsoring terrorism and building weapons of mass destruction.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

El documental que rodé durante los siete meses de la campaña por la liberación de Libia acaba de presentarse en Cannes en presencia de dos combatientes sirios salidos clandestinamente de su país.

Precisamente, durante la proyección de la cinta se producía en Hula, Siria, una de las matanzas más espantosas perpetradas desde el comienzo de esa otra guerra que, desde hace ya un año, Bachar El Assad libra contra su pueblo.

He aquí la declaración que hizo ese mismo día uno de los dos combatientes sirios con el rostro tapado por la bandera de la rebelión: “Acabo de ver la película de nuestro amigo francés sobre mis hermanos libios, sobre su guerra de liberación, sobre la ayuda que recibieron y sin la cual estarían muertos.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

The Arab Spring is generally discussed in terms of the prospects for democracy. Equally significant is the increasing appeal — most recently in Syria — of outside intervention to bring about regime change, overturning prevalent notions of international order.

The modern concept of world order arose in 1648 from the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War. In that conflict, competing dynasties sent armies across political borders to impose their conflicting religious norms. This 17th-century version of regime change killed perhaps a third of the population of Central Europe.

To prevent a repetition of this carnage, the Treaty of Westphalia separated international from domestic politics.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

Is Syria Barack Obama's Rwanda? The Stanford University scholar, Fouad Ajami, usually an astute and wise observer on matters Middle Eastern, raised this question (and false analogy) with CNN's Anderson Cooper several weeks ago.

Comparing atrocities is a profitless and cruel but still -- at times -- an important exercise, at least for some perspective. Rwanda was a comprehensive and directed genocide in which Hutus killed 10,000 Tutsis a day during three months in 1994. It wasn't a regime against rebels or a civil war; it was a systematic extermination.

No, Syria isn't Rwanda; and it's certainly not Barack Obama's primary responsibility.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

When a slow-motion massacre has unfolded over the course of 15 months, it's easy to lose the world's attention. But even the most jaded gasped in horror as news emerged of the latest carnage inflicted on the Syrian people. The images from the town of Houla defied belief.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad went on a systematic killing spree, murdering at least 108 people. Most shockingly, the killers targeted women and children. A U.N. representative said the victims included 49 children who were younger than 10. The al-Assad regime denied it carried out the atrocities, but U.N. officials said they saw clear evidence that the Syrian government was involved in the attacks.…  Seguir leyendo »

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In village after village in the Jabal al-Zawiya region of Syria, northwest of the central city of Hama, the scene was the same: burned-down houses and grieving families who described atrocities by Syrian soldiers — relatives of all ages dragged away and shot, their bodies often set on fire, making them literally part of the military’s “scorched earth” policy.

I spoke to people who are terrified of leaving their homes.

Syrian army positions dot the hills around villages in this region, and the main roads are accessible only through army checkpoints. Even in areas ostensibly under the control of the armed opposition, residents are frightened.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Syrians have been killed almost since Hafez al-Assad took power in the 1970s. Now that the bloodshed has escalated under his son Bashar, history repeats itself, and no one seems to care.

In March, the international community put its faith in the peace plan that Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, struck with Mr. Assad. However, his brutal crackdown on the Syrian people — which has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands — continues. Gruesome atrocities happen as soon as United Nations inspectors turn their backs. Civilians are targeted for having dared to speak up to the inspectors or are killed indiscriminately for protesting.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo, , ,

As demand starts to build for President Obama to "do something" about the situation in Syria, let's review where the United States and its citizens stand on the general question of using military force abroad.

On this issue, Americans are divided in strange ways. There are liberal hawks and conservative doves, and vice versa.

Liberal doves oppose almost any use of U.S. power because their mind-set hardened during Vietnam: War kills children and other living things; we can't be the world's policeman; and so on. This sounds dismissive, but it's not meant to be. In fact, it's more or less where I come out.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Last Friday's savage clashes at Houla, a village in the Syrian province of Homs, have aroused international indignation against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. It is the latest grisly episode in what is quickly developing into a sectarian civil war.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, makes no bones of her wish to overthrow the Syrian regime. She issued a statement saying: "The US will work with the international community to intensify our pressure on Assad and his cronies, whose rule by murder and fear must come to an end." The UK government is to seek an urgent meeting of the UN security council.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Hay que decirlo sin tapujos: Siria es el tapón de la cloaca. Con los Al-Asad se irá por el sumidero un siglo de historia colonial en Oriente Próximo. No va a ser fácil, como se está viendo. A diferencia de lo que ocurrió con la caída del muro de Berlín, con la que el desmantelamiento del sistema poscolonial se compara, son dos, no una, las partes que ahora se tambalean: el “ellos” y el “nosotros”, según la enraizada distinción orientalista.

La partida de nacimiento del colonialismo siempre ha sido motivo de discordia. Los árabes la fechan en 1798, cuando Bonaparte desembarcó en Alejandría y afirmó: “¡Egipcios, se os dirá que vengo a destruir vuestra religión!…  Seguir leyendo »

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Tan pronto como los observadores desarmados de la ONU abandonan una ciudad siria, las fuerzas represoras del régimen de Bachar el Assad reanudan el matadero, triturando el alto el fuego falsamente aceptado por el gobierno represor pocas semanas atrás. Nueva burla a los esfuerzos del mediador de la ONU, Kofi Annan, que nuevamente ha declarado intolerable la actuación gubernamental. Pero esa actuación continúa con toda desvergüenza porque el régimen opresor se sabe firmemente respaldado por Rusia y China, y muy especialmente por la primera, la Rusia de Putin.

Este último, al ser interrogado ante las cámaras por su sistemática posición favorable al Gobierno sirio en el Consejo de Seguridad, respondió en tono airado y con inaudita desfachatez: “Nuestra posición sobre Siria está enfocada a la futura reconciliación de aquella sociedad.”…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

La oposición siria se aproxima a una encrucijada. Si la perseverancia de las Naciones Unidas y la Liga Árabe propicia al fin el inicio del “diálogo político integral” requerido de acuerdo con el plan de paz propuesto por el enviado especial, Kofi Annan, es posible que la muy fragmentada oposición siria haya de hacer frente a más escisiones en el curso de inevitables negociaciones plagadas de polémicos compromisos y soluciones a medias alcanzadas con el régimen de Bashar el Asad. A la inversa, el fracaso de Annan planteará a las coaliciones opositoras existentes un desafío de no menores proporciones consistente en demostrar un efectivo control sobre las fuerzas y procesos en marcha en suelo sirio que a su vez parecen también empezar a provocar más fragmentación y luchas entre figuras locales por hacerse con el liderazgo político y militar.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

En 1986, Michel Seurat, chercheur en sociologie, meurt entre les mains de ses ravisseurs dans la banlieue sud de Beyrouth, capitale libanaise ravagée par la guerre civile et déjà sous le contrôle des services de renseignement syriens.

Il a passé une année en captivité durant laquelle il fut confronté à la barbarie qu'il avait si bien cernée dans ses travaux sur la Syrie. En relisant ses textes aujourd'hui, après la réédition de son ouvrage L'Etat de barbarie (Seuil, 1989), on est saisi par leur actualité et leur pertinence, trois décennies après leur première publication dans la revue Esprit, en 1983.

Dans le contexte de la révolution syrienne actuelle, deux questions développées par Michel Seurat semblent particulièrement intéressantes à revisiter.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

The two suicide car bombs in Damascus on 10 May were an alarming development. Before last December suicide bombs were unheard of in Syria. Now there have been 10 such attacks, becoming increasingly deadly – 55 died in the latest atrocity; and on 11 May another attack was thwarted in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, where a suicide bomber in a carwash killed five on 5 May.

Damascus and Aleppo are home to Syria's business and professional classes, who have not, in general, participated in the uprising, tending to remain loyal to the Assad regime. The suicide bombs have targeted government buildings, the security services and the ruling Ba'ath party's headquarters.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

The longer the struggle for power in Syria drags on, the greater the danger for its minorities and, equally ominously, for those in neighboring states. This is the human dimension of the stalemated Syrian violence that is often obscured by overarching geostrategic considerations.

In world capitals, attention is focused on the political and ideological stakes pitting Iran, Syria and their influential Hezbollah ally in Lebanon against a loose coalition of Turkey, Gulf Arab petro-monarchies — notably Qatar and Saudi Arabia — Europe, the United States and, by extension, its Israeli ally.

Played out amid the turmoil unleashed last year by the Arab Spring, the stakes in the battle for Syria are momentous for the United States and for Russia, which backs Syria’s government.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

Syria yearns for freedom from the brutality of the Assad regime. For four decades, thousands upon thousands paid the price for their opposition to Bashar Assad and his father, Hafez Assad. We have been intimidated, arrested, tortured and killed. Since the uprising began in 2011, opposition forces put the death toll at more than 10,000, with many more imprisoned. And all because we want a free, fair Syria.

I am 81; I have dedicated my life to advancing democracy, constitutional principles and an independent judiciary in my country. I have been arrested on many occasions for having resisted the dynastic family rule of the Assads.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

La opinión generalizada la semana pasada sobre si Siria cumpliría el plan de cese el fuego del ex Secretario General de las Naciones Unidas Kofi Annan era la de que dependía de Rusia. Estábamos volviendo a la política de la Guerra Fría, en la que Occidente era reacio a recurrir a la fuerza y Rusia estaba dispuesta a seguir armando y apoyando a su satélite. Así, pues, Rusia tenía la mejor baza: la de elegir la presión que estaba dispuesta a ejercer sobre el Presidente de Siria, Bashar Al Asad, para que cumpliera el plan.

Si esa opinión fuese correcta, no cabe duda de que el Irán tendría una baza igualmente importante.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

Le 17 avril 2012 marque le 66e anniversaire de l'indépendance syrienne. De l'État souverain à un pays libre, un grand pas reste à franchir. Enhardi par le "printemps arabe", toute une société s'est mise en marche depuis un an pour réclamer la justice et la dignité, mais n'a obtenu pour réponse des autorités que des arrestations et des tortures, des balles et des bombes.

Le décompte scrupuleusement tenu par l'ONU frôle à ce jour les 10 000 morts, dont 800 enfants et 500 prisonniers achevés par leurs bourreaux. Selon les ONG, le nombre des disparus s'évalue en dizaines de milliers, les réfugiés à l'étranger dépassent les 200 000, les personnes déplacées à l'intérieur des frontières approchent le million.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, ,  

Hace poco he estado en Estambul. El día que llegué, acababan de enterrar a la última otomana. Su Alteza Imperial Fatma Neslisah Sultan había nacido en un palacio real junto al Bósforo cuando su abuelo todavía gobernaba, en teoría, los restos de un vasto reino intercontinental. Al día siguiente de mi marcha, las tropas del presidente sirio, Bachar el Asad, mataron a varias personas en territorio turco. Sus disparos cruzaron una frontera que no había existido hasta la desaparición del imperio otomano.

A primera vista, estos dos acontecimientos parecen guardar poca relación: el primero, una mera curiosidad histórica, el segundo, uno de los problemas políticos y humanitarios más acuciantes de estos momentos.…  Seguir leyendo »