Syria Gives a Little Ground
Needless to say, the PlameGateBlameGame and the Scalito/Alito/Alioto shennanigans are fun to toss around, but the world doesn’t stop turning, and there’s the vexing problem of what is to be done about Syria and Iran facing us. That’s why I’m glad to see this report that perhaps Damascus is feeling some of the heat over the Hariri investigation and taking appropriate action. Whether Assad will really let his own brother take the fall remains to be seen, but this is a hopeful sign, at least (boy, talk about famous last words!)…
I’m not a big supporter of the current U.N., and I certainly don’t want to be boxed into a position where I have to defend Kofi Annan, Oil for Food, wasteful spending, etc. However, I think it’s worth noting that the Security Council vote yesterday was 15-0, and the ally leading this effort along with the U.S. was France (!).
Agreed – in this case, the UN, and France, did the right thing, and even critics such as myself should acknowledge it…
To paraphrase HLM, no one ever lost money underestimating the ethics of the UN. According to today’s Wall Street Journal editorial “in order to obtain a unanimous result the U.S. dropped the explicit threat of economic sanctions against Syria, bowing to pressure from China and a veiled veto threat by Russia, which even now sells weapons to Syria and acts as its international patron….
The US has also made its task more difficult by sending Syria an unmistakable message that regime change is not on the U.S. agenda. ….They are likely to respond, as they usually do, with token gestures, perhaps by handing over another former Saddam crony now abetting the Iraq insurgency from Damascus….”
Fred, I missed that bit…sorry to hear we compromised so much…