Russia Again Digs Its Heels in against a UN Syria Resolution

Moscow has again rejected the draft UN Security Council resolution that attempts to bring Bashar al-Assad’s regime under some sort of control to stop the massacre of his own people.

Rejection - despite the fact that the new draft resolution does not speak of demanding that al-Assad quit his post a  president, or that Russia stop supplying arms to al-Assad’s regime, or that new sanctions be imposed. The only positive item in the new draft resolution is support for the Arab League’s effort to facilitate a transition, led by the Syrian people themselves, from the present regime to a more democratic government. It is not clear if Moscow rejects the condemnation of the continuing violence against the Syrian people, which is mentioned in the new draft resolution.

The US Department of State announced Friday that Secretary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov continue to talk while their teams at the UN in New York work on details. Clinton and Lavrov will meet this weekend in Germany during a conference this weekend. The German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, has asked for everyone involved to understand that hesitation is “no longer tolerable for those who are being subjected to this violence.”

Meanwhile, in Syria protest marches continue to mark the 30^th anniversary of the Hama massacre in which 40,000 Syrians were killed as they tried to revolt against Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez, when he was president.

Syrian military are now regularly firing on protesters, killing an estimated 16 of them on Friday, among them 2 children killed when a bomb exploded and one youngster shot during a military assault on a village.  But, the marchers are standing their ground, and Friday they waved posters saying, “Hafez (the father) is dead. The town of Hama is not dead. Bashar will die. Syria will not die.” 

Another poster set said, “The politics of collective punishment will not bear fruit this time.”

The spokesman for the protest movement in the Damascus region said that there were massive demonstrations in the capital Friday, including an assembly of 1,500 people. The spokesman said these protesters were fired upon repeatedly by the military, which also encircled all mosques in order to prevent those at Friday prayers from joining demonstrations.

Friday’s demonstrators also chanted in support of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which is composed of regular troops who have defected from the al-Assad forces and are now leading the military thrust of the civilian protest. The FSA confronted regular troops Friday, killing 14, while 5 FSA military were killed in another skirmish, according to the regime’s news agency.       

FSA sources say that the regular army is close to collapse because soldiers do not want to continue firing on civilians. Even though very well-equipped, the regime’s military no longer has the will to fight, according to the sources and desertions are increasing. This was confirmed by Syrian military now being sheltered in Turkey.

Human Rights Watch has stated that government forces are turning more and more to torture, even of children as young as 13, using “electric shock, brutal beating and cigarette burns as tools.”

But, dear readers, we wait…wait for Russia to decide if its position in the Middle East is so important that it can continue to support the murderous al-Assad regime…wait for Russia to realize that al-Assad is finished and, with or without Russia and a UN Security Council resolution, the people of Syria are determined this time to topple their tormenter, al-Assad.