I don’t believe the situation is Syria is a simple as our Western media would have us believe, ie. that its just a case of Assad cracking down on some peaceful protesters and that removing him will sort everything out. Russia and China know that didn’t work in Libya which is now on the verge of civil war and they don’t want the same thing to happen in Syria. There’s no democracy in Libya and the US aren’t looking for democracy in Syria, they’re looking for instability to topple Assad and get a US friendly regime change. As Russia pointed out when Vetoing the UN resolution on Syria, it’s up to the people of Syria to choose their own destiny and not have another dictatorship imposed on them by the West.

Syria is full of various armed terrorist groups including al-Qaeda all trying to overthrow Assad, that’s about all these different groups have in common, if they were to succeed, then what would happen? It’s not just peaceful protesters we’re talking about here, these armed terrorists are often disguised as members of the Syrian army, killing civilians and blaming it on Assad. Some of these terrorist groups are even backed by the US. A cargo plane coming from the US destined for Syrian armed gangs was just seized in Lebanon carrying US dollars, guns and passports: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225422.html

It’s amazing what you can get away with as long as you don’t have oil.

what is happening is a crime against humanity..simple. rusdia and china..those paragons of free speech and human rights are complicit in this..how exactly does syria affect internal security of ruddian fed angryzes? bashar like his father hafez is a tyrant. just look at the innocent scared children…time for rusdia and china to change the habits of a lifetime and stand with the rest of the world..tell assad he MUST go and if necessary to stop bloodshed offer him.asylum

According to The Telegraph, Lavrov said that talks were “very useful2 and added that Russia was ready to act for a r rapid solution to the crisis based on the plan put forward by the Arab League,”

I am sure he said something like that :)”useful2″ and “r rapid.” Russian accent perhaps. From the other hand, I am just wondering, why in order to resolve the conflict western countries sugest two steps:

1) Escalate the conflict (kill more people).
2) Support islamist groups (for democracy sake?).

The tactics of Russia and China in providing comfort and support to the brutal Assad regime are shameful if not altogether surprising. These two countries are engaged in serious human rights abuses against their own citizens so it is hardly surprising when they fail to join with the rest of the international community in condemning the bloodshed in Syria. They have also frustrated attempts to ensure that the repugnant regime in Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.

Russia meanwhile continues its slide into authoritarianism where elections are rigged, public gatherings and protests are forcibly broken up and minorities abused and effectively criminalised. The transition to democracy that we all hoped Russia would undergo after the collapse of communism never materialised.

To be honest, I would say the US are quite content to preserve their military resources and not waste them on a country that offers little reward…. Particularly when they can blame the impasse on China and Russia.

@Angry – human rights are universal and you cannot pick and choose who they apply to based on prejudice. You further undermine your argument by talking about ‘heterophobia’ – what nonsense. Treating LGBT people with dignity and respect does not come at the expense of heterosexuals. And us activists as you describe us will continue to highlight human rights abuses in Russia and demand that the country respects basic freedoms. And for someone who claims not to be interested in gay issues, you seemed very quick to focus on this part of my profile when I was making a broader point about the situation in Russia.

And finally, as you well know, its not just gay people who are abused by the Russian state. What about opposition activists who have their gatherings broken up by police or journalists intimidated (or worse) for daring to speak out against the rampant corruption that afflicts your country. And I again come back to my original.point – A country that has such a blatant disregard for the rights of many of its own citizens is not going to be interested in abuses taking place abroad, in this case Syria.

@Angry – The europride parade was held in Warsaw a year or two ago and passed off without serious incident. Yes there is widespread homophobia in eastern europe but the governments there are required, as a condition of EU membership,to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexuality. And “culture” is no excuse for any government to actively promote bigotry against a class of people, as is happening in Russia today.

none of the above though i do admit to having low tolerance for muppets!

You may be right Colm but all other avenues need to be pursued first and my preference is for tough sanctions.

Any intervention would have to be based on humanitarian concerns and not the discredited doctrine of “regime change”.

I had concerns about the action in Libya and the NTC are far from angels. But you’re right – The level of bloodshed in Syria may unfortunately require a humanitarian invervention backed up by some form of military action.

@Angry – yes I am concerned with gay rights issues but the abuses I have mentioned are well documented facts. So there is no “filter” attached to my views in this regard.

And I’m well aware of the fact that Ireland is far from a liberal utopia. But while we may have a restrictive abortion law, our democratic society allow people to campaign openly and publicly on a pro-choice plaform, whereas in Russia gay and human rights activists are being criminalised and driven underground. It’s the blatant disregard for basic freedoms and rights to assemble/protest that is very troubling about present day Russia.

And what we are talking about is not military action but rather UN action in the form of sanctions. The international community cannot stay silent as a violent and undemocratic regime slaughters its own citizens – including the torture and murder of children which marks the ultimate low. Yet this is how Russia and China would have it. Please address these points rarher than introducing red herrings concerning nuclear war etc.

A view that does not match your own does not equal “propaganda” Angry. It is a fact that human rights and freedoms are under increasing attack in Russia. Only today came news that an attempt to silence the gay community in St Petersburg has progressed further (after being temporarily suspended following an international outcry). Also today we learnt that a website dealing with HIV and AIDs issues has been shut down by the Health Ministry. And what about the widespread evidence of vote rigging in your parlimentary elections – is that western “propaganda” also? Putin’s Russia is a destructive infuence on the world stage and also abuses the rights of its own citizens, especially minority groups.

ultimately Adam some form of military action is probably going to be necessary most likely similar to the Libyan mission which ended on the ecpiration of its mandate despite NTC requests to the contrary. it would be far preferable if this action was inclusive with Russian and nato forces in consort as it appears that the localised powers turkey saudi are not capable or interested