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.
Pete Seeger in 2009 at the presidential inaugural celebrations. There’s a clip of Obama who is not singing ‘This land is your land. . .’ because he does not believe this land was made for you and me, just for him. Five years of broken promises, with Guantanamo still there, and no money in the pot except for wars on credit. Pete Seeger was a campaigner who probably had belief in Obama five years ago. We all had hope for something better. The two party system where money stolen from taxpayers pays for presidential candidates has to be abolished if a just society is to be built.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE4H0k8TDgw
@ A node
Locate a comment which sympathises with the victims of Western aggression.
Yep all those demonstrators in Kyiv are just agents of Western aggression and the Ukraine government are the victims.
Fred
I think you will find that if you place your savings in a bank then it is the bank which has the debt to you.
@ESLO
I wouldn’t do that, I’d rather just put it away in a drawer.
Then I’d know it was safe.
“Bundesbank calls for capital levy to avert government bankruptcies”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-eurozone-crisis-bundesbank-idUSBREA0Q0HV20140127
“Eurozone ministers impatient on Greek bailout review”
http://euobserver.com/news/122891
@John
This Land is your Land was written by Woody Guthrie.
So was this:
Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered
I’ve seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won’t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
ESLO
‘I think you will find that if you place your savings in a bank then it is the bank which has the debt to you.’
They’re talking right now about charging for the privilege of a current account. At present they have the use of your money interest-free, and use it to leverage loans of cash which they have created, at high interest, to third parties. Or lend it overnight to other banks, and pocket the interest on those loans. Doesn’t look like they feel terribly indebted, to me.
David Cameron’s trip switch.
The UK has been in debt for centuries and the present government has increased the debt, as will the one that will follow.
Somebody or something deliberately or not deliberately pressed the trip switch.
The only thing that will trip the RCD is a faulty circuit. The way this country runs the economy is faulty. If you push the trip back up it will trip again. I wish I had some customers with enough money to pay for a job instead of just endlessly pricing work and see it done by cowboys. he cowboys of the economy are the bankers.
Baronness Wheatcroft on Radio 4 this morning asking why we can’t have bankers that do a good job for their pay:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25924268
I tell you, Guano, there’s at least one thing Islam can teach the West – the faith (if not all of its adherents, naming no Saudi or Qatari names) takes a very dim view of usury.
“Methane gas released by dairy cows has caused an explosion in a cow shed in Germany.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25922514
Police are looking for a Muslim man seen leaving the area carrying a box of matches.
@ESLO 28 Jan, 2014 – 10:17 am
Yep, you’ve got the idea. More specifically:
Some of the leaders of those demonstrators in Kyiv are agents of Western aggression, and everybody else in the Ukraine is or soon will be a victim.
“Baronness Wheatcroft on Radio 4 this morning asking why we can’t have bankers that do a good job for their pay”
They’re doing a good job for themselves and their mates, which is what they’re designed to do.
If you want a banking system that does a good job for everyone else, then you’ll need a public banking system.
There’a much more talk and action on these and other issues in the US at State level. The UK is sleepwalking as per usual.
http://publicbankinginstitute.org/
Of particular interest is the Nullification campaign:
http://www.nullifynow.com/
“The bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it creates out of nothing.”
William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England in 1694, then a privately owned bank.
still a privately owned bank
Here’s an interesting backgrounder on the Ukrainian conflict:
http://www.corbettreport.com/?s=ukraine&x=0&y=0
Nullification campaign? That site is by and for rednecks against Obamacare and for unrestricted firearm ownership. They propose to use the Tenth Amendment to bypass federal legislation. You’re not serious, Mary?
The Tenth Amendment deals with powers delegated to States which are not claimed by the Federal government. It is totally irrelevant to the UK.
According to Reuters, US weapons continue to flow in to the Syrian rabble rebels.
‘Kerry – He speak with forked tongue, Kemosabe’ as Tonto used to say in the Lone Ranger!
http://interventionswatch.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/u-s-weapons-continuing-to-flow-to-rebels-in-syria/
&-
‘Several states have introduced various resolutions and legislation in protest to federal actions.[11] Despite this, the Supreme Court has explicitly rejected the idea that the states can nullify federal law. In Cooper v. Aaron (1958), the Supreme Court of the United States held that federal law prevails over state law due to the operation of the Supremacy Clause, and that federal law “can neither be nullified openly and directly by state legislators or state executive or judicial officers nor nullified indirectly by them through evasive schemes . . .” Thus, state laws purporting to nullify federal statutes or to exempt states and their citizens from federal statutes have only symbolic impact.’
(Wikipedia – Tenth Amendment)
Nullification Beelzebub? Not me.
Mary: Sorry, sorry. Herbie’s post, not yours. Senior moment, I think.
Beelzebub
There’s nothing wrong in attempts to bypass federal legislation. That’s where the elite powerbase is and where all the illiberal legislation and federal agencies are coming from.
For example, there’s talk of using it in Utah against the NSA.
If it’s OK for Jefferson, it’s probably OK.
Atos and G4S questioned by MPs: Politics live blog
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2014/jan/28/atos-and-g4s-questioned-by-mps-politics-live-blog
Atos run BBC’s IT as well as acting as IDS’s heavies.
G4S are involved in the cruel Israeli penal system. HMP Oakwood which they operate might enter into the conversation. Their Limp Ics fiasco has probably been completely forgotten by now.
Herbie –
Nothing I can say can possibly alter your belief in the evil nature of Federal, and the angelic nature of State legislatures. Two words: “pork barrel”. The one feeds the other. And the other feeds the one.
The Tenth Amendment was long ago described as a truism which clarifies, but adds nothing of substance, to the rest of the Constitution. Whoever invokes it.
I’d hardly describe Obama as elite, btw.
I wouldn’t say that the States were angelic, but we’re not dealing in absolutes. We’re looking to push buttons of resistance, and it’s much easier to do that at local than national level.
“I’d hardly describe Obama as elite, btw.”
He’s working for elite interests. That’s all that matters.
Mary,
You really do have to question the sanity of Iain Duncan Smith!.
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/not-so-hidden-ideology-behind-the-dwp-war-on-women/
“Take Online Action Against The CRAPITA Conference: Cashing in on Poverty”
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/take-online-action-against-the-crapita-conference-cashing-in-on-poverty/
A bit of fun for the Where’s Werrity? fans here. Check page 30 of this latest pdf from Edward Snowden:
http://cryptome.org/2014/01/gchq-squeaky-dolphin.pdf
Well, it’s nice to know someone’s keeping an eye on the matter… 😉
Less impressed at the illustration on page 32, mind. GCHQ (authors of this delightfully code-named “Squeaky Dolphin” presentation) keeping tabs on human rights protesters in Bahrain via Facebook and YouTube? What’s that to do with the national security of Britain? Plenty to do with the economic interests of a select few, of course. High time they just called a spade and spade and ditched the “national security” cover story entirely.
And the rest of it. Is it me, or does this whole document scream Amateur Hour at Psyops HQ? If this is the level of sophistication of their “human behaviour profiling”, then – as a British taxpayer – I want my money back.
And “Squeaky Dolphin”? Who dreams up these codenames? (And what does their pyschiatrist say about it all?)
*Intelligence* services. Pfft.
Wonder if P Andrew’s activities in Bahrain come into the view of GCHQ’a Squeaky Dolphin project?
Mon 13 Jan 2014
Prince Andrew to visit protest-hit Bahrain
The Duke of York is set to visit he protest-hit country of Bahrain on an official visit.
Prince Andrew’s trip begins tomorrow and comes after the Government requested he to travelled to the Middle Eastern state.
The Duke of York will begin his visit to Bahrain tomorrow. The Duke of York will begin his visit to Bahrain tomorrow. Credit: Alastair Grant/PA Wire
Bahrain’s government, dominated by members of its royal family, has been accused by campaigning groups of a string of human rights abuses since 2011.
Critics claim little has changed since then and trouble has flared up consistently since those first demonstrations.
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-01-13/prince-andrew-to-visit-protest-hit-bahrain/
He, the arms manufacturers and his cronies in the ComDem Koalition are quite revolting.
‘Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has called for Prince Andrew to speak out against the government repression taking place in Bahrain and has renewed calls for the UK government to cease all arms exports to the oppressive Bahraini regime.
The call comes as Prince Andrew heads to Bahrain to join the government in celebrating GREAT British Week at the Bahrain International Circuit. GREAT British Week will run from 15 — 22 January in conjunction with the third Bahrain International Air Show. Organisers say that the events are to mark the ’200 years of friendship between the UK and Bahrain’ and will be attended by a 250 strong British trade delegation; including Prince Andrew, representatives from the UK government and a number of major arms companies, including Rolls Royce (Aero) and BAE Systems, who will be promoting sales of its Typhoon fighter jets.
The event follows the suspension of national reconciliation talks in Bahrain and the Stop The Shipment campaign, which succeeded in stopping a huge shipment of South Korean tear gas canisters to Bahrain. Following a high profile, multimedia campaign DAPA, South Korea’s arms export licensing agency, announced that due to political instability and pressure from international rights groups they will cease all tear gas exports to the Bahraini dictatorship.’
/.
http://www.pressenza.com/2014/01/campaigners-call-uk-halt-arms-exports-bahrain-prince-andrew-joins-sales-drive/
Interesting discussion of Obama and his family’s connections to the CIA:
http://exopolitics.blogs.com/files/wayne-madsen-obama-all-in-the-company.pdf
Similar research was used to produce the book covered in this interview:
http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2014/01/10/bfp-exclusive-interview-with-andrew-kreig-the-cia-global-empire-the-u-s-presidency/
Scarlett is involved in yet more adverse publicity. Better ditch Sodastream Scarlett or is it the money from Messrs Cohen and Birnbaum and co that’s keeping you tied to them?
An ad created by Israeli company SodaStream to air during the Super Bowl has been rejected by Fox, the network carrying the big game, because it contains a dig at big soda manufacturers Coca-Cola and Pepsi, it was reported over the weekend.
/..
http://www.timesofisrael.com/scarlett-johansson-sodastream-ad-nixed-for-super-bowl/
http://sodastream.investorroom.com/directors
‘Controversy
The EU’s highest court ruled in 2010 that Sodastream was not entitled to claim a “Made in Israel” exemption from EU customs payments for products manufactured in the West Bank because Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are outside of the territorial scope of the EC-Israel Agreement.
Sodastream has been criticized for operating their manufacturing plant in the West Bank. Sodastream employs 900 West Bank Palestinians. According to Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream, their factories are “apolitical” and they provide Palestinian employees with “respectable employment opportunities and an appropriate salary and benefits”. Activists have responded that SodaStream is just exploiting local cheap labor.
The United Church of Canada launched a campaign to boycott Sodastream’s products manufactured in the West Bank on land occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War. According to church leader Gary Paterson, the objectives were to “live out God’s mission in the world” and “bring peace with justice to the Holy Land”.’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodastream
A google alert sent this
28 January 2014, 10:36
CIA front “Premier Executives” exposed by former UK ambassador
In an interview with the Voice of Russia the former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray revealed that over 127 rendition flights had taken place during Mr. Murray’s tenure as ambassador and the no less than 127 people who were renditioned to Uzbekistan by the Central Intelligence Agency were never flown out of the country and never heard from again.
Mr. Murray raised the issue with the authorities in the United Kingdom, his home country, and faced extreme backlash for doing so. He claims that most likely every person on those flights was later killed.
It was revealed to Mr. Murray by pilots operating the flights and working for the CIA that they were working for a company called Premier Executives out of the state of South Carolina in the US. Premier Executives is a private carrier used by the CIA and is a CIA front company set up to facilitate extraordinary rendition flights, which appear to be flights of no return.
Full interview to be published soon here on the Voice of Russia.
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_28/CIA-front-Premier-Executives-exposed-by-former-UK-ambassador-3673/
Terrible – even to read about it.