Russia and China veto resolution on Syria at UN, hmmm....double veto again Options

[Mid-Night_Sun]

Russia and China veto resolution on Syria at UN
4 February 2012 Last updated at 12:31 ET


An Arab and Western-backed resolution condemning the violent crackdown in Syria has been vetoed at the UN Security Council by Russia and China.

The two permanent members of the council rejected the draft resolution despite strong condemnation by US President Barack Obama of the violence.

The vote came hours after activists accused Syrian security forces of killing at least 55 people at Homs.

Mr Obama described the attack there as an "unspeakable assault".

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticised the draft resolution for singling out the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and not containing measures against armed opposition groups.

But proposed Russian amendments to the text were described as "unacceptable" by the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice.

Mr Lavrov is due to have talks with Mr Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, along with the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Mikhail Fradkov.

In another development, Tunisia moved to sever relations with the Assad government.

Russia is Syria's main ally on the council, and has said it will veto any resolution calling on Mr Assad to stand down.

The draft resolution, supported by all 13 other members of the Security Council, adopted an Arab League call for a "Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system".

Mohammed Loulichki, Morocco's ambassador to the UN and the sole Arab member of the current council, voiced "great regret and disappointment" that Moscow and Beijing had struck it down.

French Ambassador Gerard Araud said: "It is a sad day for this council, a sad day for all Syrians, and a sad day for democracy."

Early accounts of the casualties in Homs talked of as many as 200 deaths, but one of the main activist groups later revised its confirmed toll down to 55.

The Local Coordinating Committees said it had documented 39 deaths in the Khalidiya district of Homs, eight in other districts of the city and eight in the surrounding region.

Photos from the city on Saturday showed a mass funeral under way in Khalidiya.

Homs appears to have come under a "pretty relentless" bombardment, which targeted areas outside government control, the BBC's Paul Woods reports from just outside the city, where he is travelling with fighters from the Free Syria Army.

He says the fighters are trying to get in via back roads with blood supplies for the casualties.
Embassies attacked

Homs was one of the first cities to join anti-Assad protests, and became one of the focal points of dissent after government forces fired on crowds in April last year. Many army defectors have sought refuge in the city.

Reports said a hospital had been destroyed in Khalidiya, and residents said more than 30 houses had been wrecked in the barrage.

"We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads," Khalidiya resident Waleed told Reuters news agency.

Video footage emerged on the internet showing several bodies covered in blood with a voiceover saying the bombardment was still going on.

State media dismissed the Homs casualty reports as a "hysterical campaign of incitement" by armed gangs designed to influence the UN.

"The civilians shown by satellite television stations are citizens who were kidnapped and killed by armed gunmen," said a report on Sana news agency.

International media outlets are restricted in Syria, making it difficult to verify the claims of either side.

Meanwhile, activists have attacked Syrian embassies around the world

Fresh protests began outside the Syrian embassy in London on Saturday afternoon after six arrests at a demonstration there overnight
Around 50 mainly Syrian protesters broke into their country's embassy in Athens early on Saturday, smashing windows and
About 20 protesters forced their way into the Syrian embassy in Berlin late on Friday and damaged offices, police said. German TV showed a Syrian resistance flag hanging from one of the windows and graffiti sprayed on the outside of the building
In Cairo, protesters stormed the embassy building, smashing furniture and setting fire to parts of the building

Syria has been gripped by nationwide protests against Mr Assad's regime for almost a year.

The UN stopped estimating the death toll after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm numbers.

The Syrian government says at least 2,000 members of its security forces have been killed fighting "armed gangs and terrorists".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-16890107


this is the SECOND time, as im aware, that China and Russia DOUBLE VETOED the Syria thing.....the US must be pisssssssed.....







they are going to act outside of the UN now. or kick Russia and China out LMAO.....this is happening far too often. i bet it really gets on the US/Europeans nerves.

This post has been edited by Mid-Night_Sun: Feb 4 2012, 11:48 AM

[Hugham]

And Sunni leaders are also pissed too, probably bigger than the US.

They want to establish Sunni hegemony, unity and pure land in Middle East.

Their target is not just the "rebellious and traitorous" Libya, Egypt and Syria, but also "the big price" Iran as well.


What China and Russia did in Syria is the right thing.

There are millions of Iraqi Christians refugees and other minor religions in Syria, who are scaring being heavily prosecuted by the Sunni.

Their only protection is the current (in the Sunni eyes "the rebellious and traitorous") president of Syria.

In my opinion, it just a matter of time before the Syria fall, by seeing the huge number of Sunni majority there.


After Syria fall, "the big price" Iran is next.

This post has been edited by Hugham: Feb 4 2012, 01:38 PM

[Mid-Night_Sun]

everyone except those two was in favour. other countries are quite upset. id say, since it was a given the Russians were going to veto, China should have abstained. but i have a feeling Russia was expecting China's backing in this.

[Lens]

Kinda funny how India votes with the USA now in the old days India was with China/USSR.

[elleX0]

If you think about it, it is logical for Russia and China to vote this way because
(1) any riots in Russia (Chechnya) or China (Tibet, Xinjiang) could get a resolution from the UN for a regime change. So by voting for the resolution, they will have given acceptance to the precedence for their own downfall. The resolution is actually acting against the sovereignty of the ruling power (Assad). That is why it is so difficult to get a consensus that will also ensure it is not a double edged sword against their own policies.

This post has been edited by elleX0: Feb 4 2012, 03:37 PM

[Boron]

call for a "Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system"

The Arab League must not understand what is hypocrisy, since most of their governments are hardly "democratic, plural political system" according to the west. This kind of language has no place in a UN resolution that wants to represent different types of systems in the world.

[Mid-Night_Sun]

the first vote India and others abstained. which US took to be a slap in the face. this was the second try. Russians had a list of things they didnt like and wanted concessions.

amendments even included language barring any outside military interference. which is why i think most countries thought it was ok. i thought it was too. what Russia STILL didnt like was language that could be interpreted as a call for change in leadership. Russia and China both think the UN is not a place that you can call for sovereign leaders to step down. regardless of what they are doing. also Russia was not happy with the part where only Assad got punished. meanwhile the forces he fights are still painted as 'victims' and given weapons and aid.

oh and yeah, Russia is accused of selling arms to Assad.

to be fair, Russia said again and again it was not ok and if US forced a vote it would lead to a 'scandal'. Russian concerns were not all addressed. what is a little surprising is China's veto.

This post has been edited by Mid-Night_Sun: Feb 4 2012, 11:14 PM

[InitialDJay]

this remind me a lot of mortal kombat: deadly alliance.

anyway, obviously china has political interest in vetoing this. imo, china avoids setting a precedence on domestic issue. if china/russia could really avoid conflicting interest, they could really make a formidable force in the global stage.

[Mid-Night_Sun]

i believe Russian ambassador is going to Syria for a meeting in the coming days. hes probably fuming that they did that attack on Hom right before the vote LMAO. quite a coincidence if you ask me. Syria's official stance is they did NOT do it. id keep that side open until i see solid proof because the timing is just atrocious.

Russia might be able to do something behind closed doors without the UN. that would help repair the image damage from the veto.

[Boron]

The image damage is only due to western media not daring to explain Russian and China's actual argument.

There's no win when you have a powerful, hostile, manipulative force like the West.

this remind me a lot of mortal kombat: deadly alliance.

anyway, obviously china has political interest in vetoing this. imo, china avoids setting a precedence on domestic issue. if china/russia could really avoid conflicting interest, they could really make a formidable force in the global stage.

considering the number of times NATO has twisted UN resolutions to start wars it desires, I would say the whole world has a SECURITY INTEREST in vetoing this.

This post has been edited by Boron: Feb 5 2012, 12:37 AM

[Hugham]

GlobalResearch has ton of articles about Syria:

SYRIA: NATO'S NEXT WAR?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?con...s&newsId=55

This post has been edited by Hugham: Feb 5 2012, 12:47 AM

[robot_devil]

Go China. Put that vetoe power to use. Its not like Sam is willing to hold back vis-a-vis Israel.

[robot_devil]

Its also good to see India thinking and looking out for her own interest. Unlike 'bout 2005 where it threw its weight behind GWB against Iran just for a pat on the head.

[robot_devil]

The British are incensed. Incensed!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16895264

[InitialDJay]

The image damage is only due to western media not daring to explain Russian and China's actual argument.

There's no win when you have a powerful, hostile, manipulative force like the West.


considering the number of times NATO has twisted UN resolutions to start wars it desires, I would say the whole world has a SECURITY INTEREST in vetoing this.

yeah yeah, but you have to remember. this resolution was draft by the arab league. i have no clue why arab league side with the west, but it's very important to understand why only russia/china veto this. the UN security panel is very fragment now.

[Mid-Night_Sun]

heres what the representatives had to say after the vote
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/201...stakeout-2.html

id say watch them all, but if you must only watch one, id say watch the Russian one. western media quotes what the western leaders said all the time.

This post has been edited by Mid-Night_Sun: Feb 6 2012, 12:42 PM

[Hugham]

yeah yeah, but you have to remember. this resolution was draft by the arab league. i have no clue why arab league side with the west, but it's very important to understand why only russia/china veto this. the UN security panel is very fragment now.

Sunni hegemony and pure-land dream in Middle East.

That is not a secret that the "Syrian rebels" are members of Sunni's Al Qaeda.

Suicide bombings and sharpshooting on Syria streets, but of course these attacks are labeled as human right violations by the official Syrian government.

I just want to say, the non-Sunni minority in Syria should worry.

And Iran is the next big price target by the Sunni.