Huge anti-Assad regime protest in Hama, Syria
Does it not strike anyone as strange that the UN, so famously hyperactive when it comes to Israel and its self-defensive actions, has been so silent in the face of Syrian atrocities against its own civilians? The Daily Telegraph reports:
At least 27 people were killed, scores wounded and 150 detained across the country in attacks after prayers marking the start of Ramadan on Monday that continued into Tuesday, observers said.
Hopes the United Nations could agree a resolution condemning the crackdown, which has left 3,000 people missing and 12,000 imprisoned since March, were dashed by ongoing disagreements in New York.
About half of the deaths were in Hama, the rebellious western city of 800,000, which President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have been shelling with tanks and artillery since the weekend.
A doctor there told reporters that medical facilities were overwhelmed, with patients being treated in hallways and mortuaries overflowing. More than 140 were reported killed in an offensive on Sunday.
However the UN, aided and abetted by that famous civil-rights supporting country, Russia, is having great trouble deciding whether and how to condemn Syria even though other countries have taken at least some diplomatic action.
Italy became the first EU state to recall its ambassador, protesting against the “unacceptable repression” and urging other European nations to do the same.
The EU added Syria’s defence minister, Ali Habib, and several security officials, to a list of Assad associates targeted by sanctions including asset freezes and travel bans.
At the UN, new talks on a resolution proposed in June by Britain, Portugal, Germany and France, were thrown into confusion after conflicting statements from Russia, its long-standing main opponent.
Pleas from US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton don’t seem to have made much of a dent in the other holdouts either.
Russian and China, two of the five permanent UN Security Council members with veto powers, had threatened to block past attempts to pass a resolution on Syria.
Brazil, India and South Africa had also spoken out against a resolution or statement.
But diplomats said all countries expressed concern about the intensifying crackdown and there was now wider acceptance that the Security Council must act.
US ambassador Susan Rice said an “alarming” briefing on events in Syria had been given by UN assistant secretary general Oscar Fernandez-Taranco.
“There was pretty widespread expression of concern, or expression of condemnation,” she told reporters after the meeting.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked the holdouts to reconsider.
“We call on those members of the United Nations Security Council who have opposed any Security Council action that would call on Assad to stop the killing to reconsider their positions,” she said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the UK, mealy mouthed as ever, demands action Syria but ruled out military force. I’m sure that will scare Assad for sure. What kind of action does William Hague expect will oust Assad if not military force?
The Lebanese independent newspaper NOW Lebanon has a very good overview of the convoluted negotiations going on at the UN.
In a refreshingly candid opinion piece, NOW Lebanon also expresses its disgust and cynicism at the UN for its silence. But they reserve their greatest criticism for the Arab league in a refreshingly candid view of the Arab leadership:
As the Syrian people die in the hundreds, the world condemns but does nothing.
…
But if we are to criticize the toothless pleas for reform from the mainly European- and US-centric international community, where was the condemnation from the Arab nations or even the Arab League, the body that was established in 1945 to “draw closer the relations between member States and co-ordinate collaboration between them, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries”?
…
The Arab League should recognize that in August 2011, the main factor of “balance and stability” is recognition of the profound change that is sweeping the region, change that is not driven by religious fundamentalism or a US-Zionist conspiracy but an awakening of a deep desire for freedom, dignity and reform.
Its silence is our shame.
That last sentence should be written in giant letters and hung over the UN doorway.
Anne's Opinions 
the UN is just pathetic. I think its time that all decent & civilized countries up & leave it . It certainly would be interesting to see how many states would rescind their membership. I’m sure Israel would be too scared to be the first but perhaps one of the ‘enlightened” European nations would be brave enough to do so. (same for the UN human rights watch)
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