« Late to the dance | Main | Happy Feet »

September Redux

What we can't be is without leadership at the United Nations. ... I'm spending an awful lot of time these days preparing for the high-level meetings that are going to take place in September
Dr. Condoleeza Rice - July 28, 2005 - Prior to John Boltons recess appointment to the UN.

I remember when she said it and at the time I thought it was a pretty odd thing to say. So this headline comes out and we now know what the hubbub was all about:

France, U.S. readying new U.N. resolutions critical of Syria

Well, if it’s bad enough for France to cooperate with US, well then it has to be pretty bad, doesnt it? Well it is bad and its pretty detailed on how Syrian government and military leadership ( all Baath party all the time ) set out to assassinate a foreign head of state - the prime minister of Lebanon - Hariri. This is something thats way up there in the "bad ideas" category in the eyes of the UN. Now at first your reaction might be “ Who cares if we take something to the UN Security Council, Russia will just reject it anyway?”.

Well let’s look a little bit closer:

“Rice shuttled among Paris, Moscow and London last week for discussions that included the Syria-Lebanon question six months after Syria withdrew forces from its much-smaller neighbor”.

So the good doctor has apparently closed off the Russian option. It’s also important to remember that this is Syria, not Iraq. Syria has no oil with which to bribe other countries for their complacency. There’s one other thing to consider. The UN gives a blind eye to all sorts of crime; Genocide, slavery, the theft of patent materials, you name it, but they take dim view of assassination. If there’s one thing that all governments agree on, it’s that the idea of assassinating other leaders is something that should not be tolerated.

Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages - The Baathist government of Syria is about to fall flat on its face.

It must be remembered that a small clan and a religious minority rule Syria, as well as those 'masters of disaster', the Baath party. Gosh, now where have we seen that show before, oh that’s right – next door in Iraq.

Only this time, the UN, France and the US are all on the same page. UN Sanctions aren’t the scariest thing in the world for a dictatorship to withstand, but for a landlocked country with no close friends and nothing to trade, it’s going to be hell. Add to that the natural push for Democracy that will certainly come from their neighbors and, well shall we say, a little covert shove here and there.

Let’s keep an eye out for how the people in the Syrian City of Hama react to this news. I wonder if Dr. Assad can get his ophthalmologist license renewed?

UPDATE: Landlocked? What was I thinking! Thanks Connard...

I should have remembered this from my "Indiana Jones Illustrated Maps of the world" series when he visted the Republic of Hatay.

Posted @ October 21, 2005 08:18 PM | Current Affairs

Posted by: Connard at October 21, 2005 08:35 PM

Posted by: OBloodyHell at October 22, 2005 10:17 AM

Posted by: jaed at October 22, 2005 07:52 PM