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"The [Arab League Syrian monitoring group's]<font id="role_document"
color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2"><font color="#000080"
size="3">
<font color="#000000"> report is adamant. There was no
organized, lethal repression by the Syrian government against
peaceful protesters. Instead, the report points to shady armed
gangs as responsible for hundreds of deaths among Syrian
civilians, and over one thousand among the Syrian army, using
lethal tactics such as bombing of civilian buses, bombing of
trains carrying diesel oil, bombing of police buses and
bombing of bridges and pipelines</font>. [...] <font
color="#000000"> </font></font></font><font
id="role_document" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2"><font
size="3">Once again, the official NATOGCC version of Syria is of
a popular uprising smashed by bullets and tanks. Instead, BRICS
members Russia and China, and large swathes of the developing
world see it as the Syrian government fighting heavily armed
foreign mercenaries. The report largely confirms these
suspicions."</font></font><font color="#000000"><br>
</font><font id="role_document" color="#000000" face="Arial"
size="2"><font color="#000080" size="3"><br>
</font></font>(from the ufpj-activist list, sent by Lee Siu Hin)<br>
<br>
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<strong><font color="#000080" size="5"><font color="#800000">Exposed:
The Arab agenda in Syria</font><br>
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<div><font color="#000080" size="3">By Pepe Escobar <br>
<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
title="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB04Ak01.html"
href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB04Ak01.html"
eudora="autourl">http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB04Ak01.html<br>
<br>
</a>Here's a crash course on the "democratic" machinations
of the Arab League - rather the GCC League, as real power in
this pan-Arab organization is wielded by two of the six
Persian Gulf monarchies composing the Gulf Cooperation
Council, also known as Gulf Counter-revolution Club; Qatar
and the House of Saud. <br>
<br>
Essentially, the GCC created an Arab League group to monitor
what's going on in Syria. The Syrian National Council -
based in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member
countries Turkey and France - enthusiastically supported it.
It's telling that Syria's neighbor Lebanon did not. <br>
<br>
When the over 160 monitors, after one month of enquiries,
issued their report ... surprise! The report did not follow
the official GCC line - which is that the "evil" Bashar
al-Assad government is indiscriminately, and unilaterally,
killing its own people, and so regime change is in order. <br>
<br>
The Arab League's Ministerial Committee had approved the
report, with four votes in favor (Algeria, Egypt, Sudan and
GCC member Oman) and only one against; guess who, Qatar -
which is now presiding the Arab League because the emirate
bought their (rotating) turn from the Palestinian Authority.
<br>
<br>
So the report was either ignored (by Western corporate
media) or mercilessly destroyed - by Arab media, virtually
all of it financed by either the House of Saud or Qatar. It
was not even discussed - because it was prevented by the GCC
from being translated from Arabic into English and published
in the Arab League's website. <br>
<br>
Until it was leaked. <a moz-do-not-send="true"
title="http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/Report_of_Arab_League_Observer_Mission.pdf"
href="http://www.columbia.edu/%7Ehauben/Report_of_Arab_League_Observer_Mission.pdf">
Here it is, in full</a>. <br>
<br>
The report is adamant. There was no organized, lethal
repression by the Syrian government against peaceful
protesters. Instead, the report points to shady armed gangs
as responsible for hundreds of deaths among Syrian
civilians, and over one thousand among the Syrian army,
using lethal tactics such as bombing of civilian buses,
bombing of trains carrying diesel oil, bombing of police
buses and bombing of bridges and pipelines.
<br>
<br>
Once again, the official NATOGCC version of Syria is of a
popular uprising smashed by bullets and tanks. Instead,
BRICS members Russia and China, and large swathes of the
developing world see it as the Syrian government fighting
heavily armed foreign mercenaries. The report largely
confirms these suspicions. <br>
<br>
The Syrian National Council is essentially a Muslim
Brotherhood outfit affiliated with both the House of Saud
and Qatar - with an uneasy Israel quietly supporting it in
the background. Legitimacy is not exactly its cup of green
tea. As for the Free Syrian Army, it does have its
defectors, and well-meaning opponents of the Assad regime,
but most of all is infested with these foreign mercenaries
weaponized by the GCC, especially Salafist gangs.
<br>
<br>
Still NATOGCC, blocked from applying in Syria its
one-size-fits-all model of promoting "democracy" by bombing
a country and getting rid of the proverbial evil dictator,
won't be deterred. GCC leaders House of Saud and Qatar
bluntly dismissed their own report and went straight to the
meat of the matter; impose a NATOGCC regime change via the
UN Security Council.
<br>
<br>
So the current "Arab-led drive to secure a peaceful end to
the 10-month crackdown" in Syria at the UN is no less than a
crude regime change drive. Usual suspects Washington, London
and Paris have been forced to fall over themselves to assure
the real international community this is not another mandate
for NATO bombing - a la Libya. US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton described it as "a path for a political transition
that would preserve Syria's unity and institutions".
<br>
<br>
But BRICS members Russia and China see it for what it is.
Another BRICS member - India - alongside Pakistan and South
Africa, have all raised serious objections to the
NATOGCC-peddled draft UN resolution.
<br>
<br>
There won't be another Libya-style no fly zone; after all
the Assad regime is not exactly deploying Migs against
civilians. A UN regime change resolution will be blocked -
again - by Russia and China. Even NATOGCC is in disarray, as
each block of players - Washington, Ankara, and the House of
Saud-Doha duo - has a different long-term geopolitical
agenda. Not to mention crucial Syrian neighbor and trading
partner Iraq; Baghdad is on the record against any regime
change scheme.
<br>
<br>
So here's a suggestion to the House of Saud and Qatar; since
you're so seduced by the prospect of "democracy" in Syria,
why don't you use all your American weaponry and invade in
the dead of night - like you did to Bahrain - and execute
regime change by yourselves?
<br>
<br>
<b><i>Pepe Escobar</i></b><i> is the author of</i> <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
title="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0978813820/simpleproduction/ref=nosim"
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0978813820/simpleproduction/ref=nosim">
Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into
Liquid War</a> (Nimble Books, 2007) and
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
title="http://www.amazon.com/Red-Zone-Blues-snapshot-Baghdad/dp/0978813898"
href="http://www.amazon.com/Red-Zone-Blues-snapshot-Baghdad/dp/0978813898">
Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge</a>.
His most recent is <a moz-do-not-send="true"
title="http://www.amazon.com/Obama-Does-Globalistan-Pepe-Escobar/dp/1934840831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233698286&sr=8-1"
href="http://www.amazon.com/Obama-Does-Globalistan-Pepe-Escobar/dp/1934840831/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233698286&sr=8-1">
Obama does Globalistan</a> (Nimble Books, 2009). <br>
<br>
<i>He may be reached at</i> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:pepeasia@yahoo.com">pepeasia@yahoo.com</a>.
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