Escalating Violence in Syria
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-08-17/escalating-violence-syria
Syrian security forces round up thousands of civilians and Turkey calls for an immediate end to the bloodshed. Growing concern over the crackdown in Syria.
Guests
Hisham Melhem
Washington bureau chief, Al-Arabiya News Channel
Mona Yacoubian
special adviser, Center for Conflict Analysis Prevention, U.S. Institute of Peace
Robert Malley
Middle East and North Africa program director, International Crisis Group
Arwa Damon
international correspondent for CNN based in Beirut, Lebanon.
Selcuk Unal
Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mr Selcuk Unal
Program Highlights
- "Both sides, the government as well as the opposition, saw Ramadan as almost a decisive month in terms of the qualitative pressure from the opposition against the regime. And the regime realizes that it is under tremendous regional, as well as international, pressure, " Hisham Melham said of the political situation in Syria.
- "Then there's also been the emergence of some incredibly disturbing videos, notably this one clip that shows a little girl. She's 2 1/2 years old, and she's been shot. She's lying on the pavement. Her little white T-shirt is just covered in blood. And activists were telling us, residents of that area were telling us that she'd been trying to flee with her family following a call by the Syrian security forces, telling residents to get out," Arwa Damon said.
- "The longer this confrontation continues between the regime and the opposition, two things we can talk about with certainty -- that it will be more violent, and ugly sectarianism will rear its head. We've seen this in the past," Melham said.
- "The things that we - that the U.S. and others could do most effectively is not so much sanctions, but is to try to put together the form of reassurance in terms of what the political future, the economic future, the sectarian future of Syria will be. They look at the region, as Hisham says, there's not much reason for optimism. If you look at Lebanon, if you look at Iraq, even if you look at Egypt today, those are not reasons for hoping that the future is going to be as bright as one would like it to be. " Robert Malley said.
- "I think it's very hard to see how this regime continues to rule given where we are today. That said -- and, you know, he's lost its basic support domestically and internationally. His last card is violence, and that's a card you could only use for so long. On the other hand, if you look at what's happening to the Arab Spring, if that's what you want to call it, since Egypt and Tunisia, there's not a single case where a regime has fallen," Robert Malley said.
Read the full transcript here.
Comments
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Can your guest discuss how people in Syria, Egypt etc feel about one US administration after the next supporting Assad and other dictators in that region? I keep thinking Assad, Gaddafi etc could all join together and sing the song "why did you build us up Buttercup just to take us down"
How absurd is that Secretary of State Clinton the US government demands that Assad step down? As a Senator she voted for the bloody war in Iraq...I have no respect for her...How much respect to people in that part of the world have for her?
Did you hear that Diane cuts off a caller who brings up Iraq and Israel but earlier allowed a caller to bring up Iran and its alleged role in Syria. In fact she went on herself about these alleged claims about Iran. What a hypocritical thing to do Diane. you should go back and listen to this program yourself if you cannot hear your own serious contradictions.
Diane has now allowed other callers to bring up protest in Bahrain, repeated an alleged connection between Iran and Syria...repeated these claims hersel, she allowed a caller to bring up Iran again. But when a caller brought up Israel she cut them off, shut them down, talked over that female caller. Something is going on the Diane Rehm show having to do with coverage of Israel's illegal activities. She is not covering this issue and shutting down callers when they mention this issue.
The NEW SCREENER is also shutting callers down from getting on when they bring the I/P issue and its role in the region
Something is going on on the Diane Rehm show. Not only shutting down callers who bring up Israel's destructive role in the region while allowing mention of protest in Bahrain, Iran but not Palestinian protest etc. But the Rehm show is not doing any showa about Israels' role..expanding illegal settlements and illegal housing in E Jerusalem. How these illegal and immoral activities have for decades stirred up hatred for not only Israel but the US. When will the Rehm show cover this issue again and stop cutting off callers who bring this issue up while allowing other countries to be hammered while allegedly talking about Syria etc.
Israel doesn't fire on its own citizens. There is no comparison between the way a functioning democracy handles internal dissent and totalitarian regimes like Syria or Libya.
This show was focused on the violence in Syria within the context of the Arab Spring. Iran is an established supporter of the Assad regime, and Bahrain, Egypt, and Libya are part of the same recent political phenomenon. Israel obviously has a stake in the health of the Assad regime, but Hama and Latakia are nowhere near Israel's borders. I/P and Iraq are a separate issue altogether.
I am deeply disturbed that Diane would tolerate the repeated disrespectful barbs directed at Israel from one of her guests. According to her guest, Israel is "trigger happy." Seymour Hersh "exaggerates" etc. Any positive comment about Israel appeared to be met with a negative comment from the guest. I hope that this is not a harbinger of tolerating negative comments directed at Israel. There is enough legitimate criticism that can be directed at Israel without these ad hominem attacks.
Narrowed agenda setting in the discussion of the Middle East is not conducive to public education. You know, if the show were to be devoted to esoteric matters, discussion could be limited to the Alowite sect of which Bashar al-Assad is leader, and which comprises only 15% of the 17 million Syrian population. Experts could be consulted to explore why this shadowy syncretic spiritualist group has been able to seize control of the Syrian government and army, and why Assad may be emmeshed in an end times cult and unable to liberalize or relinquish power.
But then how small might the interested audience be in a United States where people view mass murder like a sports championship and have no historical or cultural curiosity.
The IMF chief (LaGarde) has warned that food riots are likely anywhere incomes are low and the wealth gap is pronounced, because we have famine and price spikes on our hands. All the Middle East faces this grim prospect, and in fact so do we. Soon foreign troubles may not qualify as news because the USA specializes in biofuels, and there are droughts, and there are pestilences, and there is thinning stock at the supermarket all around the globe. Why would we focus on one obstinate trapped regime in one small nation? The American people have almost no say anyway. And in that way we are Syrians/Palestinians/Saudis/Egyptians too.
"Grady Lee Howard wrote: "
Well, look who's back. It's Grady Lee Coward. You remember calling me a racist, don't you GLC? Have you found any evidence of that to present yet? I encouraged you to scour my posts to the DRS boards, because you MUST have some evidence to make such a scurrilous charge, right?
we're all waiting for it, GLC. Let's hear it. Or are you going to run away and hide again like a little girly-man?
"MELHEM
10:46:02
And -- but the regime did try to explore the Palestinian issue during the commemoration of the division of -- partition of Palestine. They sent demonstrators. They bused them to Golan. And they created an incident in which the Israelis, who are usually trigger-happy, shot and killed a number of them. But, yeah, this is an awful regime that is not...
REHM
10:46:29
We'll get some backfire on that phrase, trigger-happy, Hisham. What's your opinion, Rob?"
And the trigger-happy Israeli Jews are mining the Jordan Border as well.
Anti-personnel mines, Cluster Bombs, Phosphorus, is there any weapon too gruesome for these people to use?
After the, very likely Jewish, assassination of the former Lebanese Minister and pressure to get the Syrians out of Lebanon, I predicted that it wouldn't be long before the Jews resumed the Rape of Lebanon.
And did they ever, wholesale slaughter of Civilians, gratuitous destruction of infrastructure, Fishing Fleets, Millions of Cluster munitions, deliberate environment damage!
If Syria never did another good deed, the years of protection they provided for the Lebanese would pay all debts.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
ecgberht on August 17, 2011 @ 2:08 pm wrote: “You remember calling me a racist, don't you GLC? Have you found any evidence of that to present yet?”
Gee, someone accused you of dishonest or immoral conduct without bothering to provide any proof (just a conclusory claim). I wonder what that feels like?
mchaun on August 17, 2011@ 9:51 pm wrote: “After the, very likely Jewish, assassination of the former Lebanese Minister . . . . If Syria never did another good deed, the years of protection they provided for the Lebanese would pay all debts.”
Tell me, do you think the Spanish should be grateful for the “good deed” Hitler did during their Civil War: “protecting” them from the “commies” and leaving Franco in charge?
At least you used the word “Jewish” in your paranoid ranting, instead of “Zionist”, allowing us to accurately call you an Anti-Semite.
You’d better re-read The Big Book of Political Evasions and Euphemisms.
"LEAH 10:47:42
Like what's happening, according to Seymour Hersh, from the very beginning after Saddam Hussein's government was toppled, Israelis started training commandos in a Kurdish area. And those commandos were the ones started this sectarian war by exploding the mosques in both sides. And they initiated the sectarian war."
Plus the Brits in Basra and our Special Forces led "Insurgents" in the rest of Iraq. All-day gun battles between the "Insurgents" and the Iraqi Military while our Military laid out in their outposts and had their Dogs licking Peanut Butter off of their Balls.
And when the Spec Ops got caught by the Iraq Cops, our Guys would set up jail breaks to spring them. The Brits even blew up an entire Jail to get their Mosque Bombers and Baby Killers out.
Obama made a big mistake leaving the Special Forces in Iraq.
Were the three "Hikers" who strayed from Iraqi "Kurdistan" into Iran, Jews?
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
mchaun on August 17, 2011@ 9:51 pm wrote: “After the, very likely Jewish, assassination of the former Lebanese Minister . . . . If Syria never did another good deed, the years of protection they provided for the Lebanese would pay all debts.”
Tell me, do you think the Spanish should be grateful for the “good deed” Hitler did during their Civil War: “protecting” them from the “commies” and leaving Franco in charge?
At least you used the word “Jewish” in your paranoid ranting, instead of “Zionist”, allowing us to accurately call you an Anti-Semite.
You’d better re-read The Big Book of Political Evasions and Euphemisms.
August 17, 2011 - 10:15 pm"
Kiss it, shrudlu. How many Lebanese killed by Syrians, by Jews, by Americans?
And it's Jewish, like in Arabic.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
mchaun wrote:
"Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
Tell me, do you think the Spanish should be grateful for the “good deed” Hitler did during their Civil War: “protecting” them from the “commies” and leaving Franco in charge?"
Dear Shrudlu:
I find much intelligence in your Comments, but you might want to think a bit longer before you jump on some of these Comments.
Good Deeds-
...protecting the ____ from the Commies and leaving ____in charge?
Fill in the blanks, most of the Mid-east, much of Asia save China, Latin America and the millions of barefooted little Brown and Black and Yellow Peoples slaughtered by our Military and Proxies.
Your Pal,
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
strudel wrote:
"Gee, someone accused you of dishonest or immoral conduct without bothering to provide any proof (just a conclusory claim). I wonder what that feels like?"
If you 've got something to say, spit it out. Do you think an unfounded charge of racism is funny, strudel?
mchaun on August 17, 2011 @ 10:48 pm wrote: “Kiss it, shrudlu. How many Lebanese killed by Syrians, by Jews, by Americans? And it's Jewish, like in Arabic.”
Kiss yourself, buddy. Your original Comment, which I replied to, slandered Jews by accusing them of the assassination of “the former Lebanese Minister” (August 17, 2011@ 9:51 pm). Gee, which Minister are you referring to, and what proof do you have that a Jew (and not someone else, for example a Syrian or Iranian, or a group backed by either of them) was involved? (Oh, and death during a battle is not an “assassination” - so don’t bother bringing up any warfare between Lebanon and Israel, which is probably what you’re referencing now.)
Also, “Jewish” is an adjective describing a religion. “Arabic” describes a language. There is no such language as “Jewish”. If you want to say “Israel” use that word, or the adjective “Israelis”. Furthermore, you can hardly blame all Jews for the acts of some, anymore than all Arabs are responsible for 9/11. When discussing Syrian tyranny against its own people (the topic for this show), and the rebellion against that tyranny, we don’t speak of an “Arabic” uprising, we speak of a Syrian uprising.
Oh, and how many Lebanese have been killed over the years by the Syrian government, or its proxies? (Note: I said “government”, not all Syrians.)
mchaun wrote: “. . . but you might want to think a bit longer before you jump on some of these Comments. . . . most of the Mid-east, much of Asia save China, Latin America and the millions of barefooted little Brown and Black and Yellow Peoples slaughtered by our Military and Proxies.”
Look who’s talking!
Instead of dealing with the issue I raised (why should the Lebanese “thank” Syria for its murderous meddling in their country and politics, and helping to bring power to a violent extremist group, similar to the way Nazi German “helped” Spain) you evade and avoid by raising another topic entirely.
News flash! There is no government in the world composed of angels, whose behavior is always perfect (including ours). You want to condemn the U.S. for the Vietnam war, or the wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador (to name some obvious examples), I’ll be right there with you. But that’s no response to my question about Syria (or justification for your Anti-Semitic broadsides).
I also can’t help noticing that your concern for death and suffering in Asia doesn’t extend to the Chinese, or victims of its government (or other governments it backs - like the North Koreans). Gee, what about the Cambodians under Pol Pot? What about Laos? What about the Hmong, or Tibet? I guess they don’t count.
In short your (racistly stated) concern for “millions of barefooted little Brown and Black and Yellow Peoples” is somewhat limited to using them as “poker chips” to bash America and Israel. Forgive me if I’m less than impressed with your pretend “moral outrage”!
ecgberht on August 18, 2011 @ 9:48 am wrote: “If you 've got something to say, spit it out. Do you think an unfounded charge of racism is funny, strudel?”
I think my prior Comment was quite clear, but then I’d hardly expect someone who can’t bother to get my name correct to be able to see the point, eggie old chum.
I think unfounded charges of any kind (also known as defamation) to be anything but funny, especially since I’ve been the target of such charges myself. Of course, leave it to someone as “thin-skinned” as you to assume I thought defamation “funny”.
For some reason this came out as a duplication of that last Comments. So, I'm deleting it.
Nothing to see here!
mchaun on August 17, 2011 @ 10:39 pm wrote: “Were the three ‘Hikers’ who strayed from Iraqi ‘Kurdistan’ into Iran, Jews?”
What difference would it make if they were? You think all Jews are spies, or that Jews are incapable of making a stupid mistake (like hiking anywhere in Iraq for example)?
Or, maybe you think American Jews don’t deserve a fair trial, and can be legitimately used as political and diplomatic pawns by Iran?
Hey, maybe all the people being oppressed and killed by the Syrian government are really just Jews. Would that make it all right with you?
Classic Anti-Semitism!