12-05-2017, 10:08 PM
*** 6-Dec-17 World View -- Syria and Russia repeat Aleppo war crimes in massive destruction of Eastern Ghouta
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Syria regime walks out of UN-sponsored Geneva peace talks
****
![[Image: g171205b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171205b.jpg)
Aftermath of Syrian and Russian airstrikes in Arbin in Eastern Ghouta (NRTTV)
Whenever I write about the Syrian war "peace process," I always use
the word "farcical" to describe the peace talks. And this always
turns out to be correct, as the "peace process" always falls apart
with days or weeks, for reasons that were completely obvious at the
time that the peace talks were held.
The core problem is always the same. As I've described in story after
story, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad is a delusional psychopath, a
Shia/Alawite who will never let the war end until he's exterminated
all his Sunni enemies, which will never completely happen. As long as
Bashar al-Assad is in power, Syria's civil war, including the war
crimes, the airstrikes and barrel bombs targeting women and children
in schools, hospitals and marketplaces, and the use of Sarin gas and
industrial strength torture on civilians, will never end.
And al-Assad will always have the full cooperation of Russia and Iran
in committing these war crimes, making Russia and Iran war criminals
as well.
There have been two main series of peace conferences. The
UN-sponsored peace conferences have been held in Geneva, led by United
Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
In most of these meetings, al-Assad representatives attended, but
opposition representatives did not.
When representatives from both sides attended, the two sides didn't
actually talk to each other. Instead, de Mistura led negotiations
with the cute name "proximity talks." What this means is that the
representatives from the two sides sit in separate rooms, and then de
Mistura walks back and forth between the two rooms, carrying messages
back forth. It must be hilarious to watch.
This week's Geneva peace talks were attended by both sides, but the
opposition representatives are taking the position that there must a
transition that removes al-Assad from power. The al-Assad
representatives could not tolerate even being in just the same
building with opposition representations saying that al-Assad must go,
even in the context of proximity talks where the two sides would never
have to see or hear each other, and so the Syrian delegation walked
out of the talks on Saturday.
So, the Geneva talks are supposed to continue until December 15.
Let's watch and see if silver-tongued Staffan de Mistura can convince
Bashar al-Assad to send his delegation back to the peace conference,
before the peace conference ends in total farce. Reuters and The National (UAE) and Foreign Affairs (29-Nov)
Related Articles
****
**** Syria and Russia repeat Aleppo war crimes in massive destruction of Eastern Ghouta
****
The second series of "peace talks" have been taking place in Astana,
Kazakhstan, and were attended by Russia, Iran and Turkey. These were
pretty farcical from day one, because they weren't attended by the
actual belligerents in the war, the Bashar al-Assad regime and the
representatives of the opposition. So any agreements reached in
Astana were signed by Russia, Iran and Turkey, but not by the people
on the ground actually fighting.
The main agreement to come out of the Astana peace talks was the
implementation of "de-escalation zones" or "de-confliction zones" in
Syria. In four regions of western Syria, there would be an enforced
ceasefire, and the ceasefire would be guaranteed by Russia, Iran and
Turkey, providing whatever troops are necessary for the functioning of
the checkpoints and observation posts as well as the administration of
the security zones.
Well, needless to say, Bashar al-Assad never agreed to these
de-escalation zones, but it has always been his objective to
completely exterminate all his Sunni opposition enemies, so there was
never any hope that the de-escalation zones would succeed. However,
he did go along with them temporarily, because they freed up his army
to attack the opposition in other areas.
Last year, the al-Assad regime, backed by Russia, conducted an
extremely bloody war of extermination against the civilian residents
of Aleppo, with numerous war crimes. Al-Assad claimed that the battle
of Aleppo was "history in the making":
<QUOTE>"[The liberation of Aleppo was] history in the making
and worthy of more than the word congratulations.
History is being written in these moments. Every Syrian citizen is
taking part in the writing. It started not today, but years ago
when the crisis and the war on Syria began.
I think that after the liberation of Aleppo we’ll talk about the
situation as ... before the liberation of Aleppo and after the
liberation of Aleppo."<END QUOTE>
This was totally delusional on the part of al-Assad, which is not
surprising since he's a delusional psychopath. History was made in
Aleppo by the sheer number of war crimes committed by Syria and
Russia. If the so-called "liberation of Aleppo" is remembered, it
will be for the total destruction of the city.
So the de-escalation zone agreement was supposed to end this kind of
thing, but the destruction of Aleppo is now being repeated in Eastern
Ghouta, which is one of the ceasefire de-escalation zones.
Eastern Ghouta was attacked by the al-Assad regime in 2013 with Sarin
gas. There has been almost continuous bombing since then. In the
last three weeks, the regime, backed up by Russia, has substantially
stepped up the attacks, with massive airstrikes on markets and densely
populated residential areas, killing dozens or hundreds of people.
Eastern Ghouta is part of one of the de-escalation zones that were
agreed to at the Astana talks. Opposition officials say that the
zones were meant as a charade to divert attention from the heavy daily
bombing of civilian areas. That seems to be the case.
According to the United Nations, there are about 400,000 civilians who
are under siege in Eastern Ghouta. Aleppo only had a population of
about 250,000, and so Syria and Russia have a lot more women and
children to kill, so that will be going on for several months.
After that, al-Assad can make another delusional speech about how
clever he is to have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
At any rate, between the farcical Geneva peace talks and the farcical
Astana peace talks, there is no end in sight for Syria's civil war, as
long as Bashar al-Assad is in power. Reuters and Le Point (Paris) and NRTTV (Kurdistan)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran,
Turkey, Eastern Ghouta, Aleppo, Sarin gas, de-escalation zones,
Staffan de Mistura, proximity talks, Geneva, Astana, Kazakhstan
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Syria regime walks out of UN-sponsored Geneva peace talks
- Syria and Russia repeat Aleppo war crimes in massive destruction of Eastern Ghouta
****
**** Syria regime walks out of UN-sponsored Geneva peace talks
****
Aftermath of Syrian and Russian airstrikes in Arbin in Eastern Ghouta (NRTTV)
Whenever I write about the Syrian war "peace process," I always use
the word "farcical" to describe the peace talks. And this always
turns out to be correct, as the "peace process" always falls apart
with days or weeks, for reasons that were completely obvious at the
time that the peace talks were held.
The core problem is always the same. As I've described in story after
story, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad is a delusional psychopath, a
Shia/Alawite who will never let the war end until he's exterminated
all his Sunni enemies, which will never completely happen. As long as
Bashar al-Assad is in power, Syria's civil war, including the war
crimes, the airstrikes and barrel bombs targeting women and children
in schools, hospitals and marketplaces, and the use of Sarin gas and
industrial strength torture on civilians, will never end.
And al-Assad will always have the full cooperation of Russia and Iran
in committing these war crimes, making Russia and Iran war criminals
as well.
There have been two main series of peace conferences. The
UN-sponsored peace conferences have been held in Geneva, led by United
Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
In most of these meetings, al-Assad representatives attended, but
opposition representatives did not.
When representatives from both sides attended, the two sides didn't
actually talk to each other. Instead, de Mistura led negotiations
with the cute name "proximity talks." What this means is that the
representatives from the two sides sit in separate rooms, and then de
Mistura walks back and forth between the two rooms, carrying messages
back forth. It must be hilarious to watch.
This week's Geneva peace talks were attended by both sides, but the
opposition representatives are taking the position that there must a
transition that removes al-Assad from power. The al-Assad
representatives could not tolerate even being in just the same
building with opposition representations saying that al-Assad must go,
even in the context of proximity talks where the two sides would never
have to see or hear each other, and so the Syrian delegation walked
out of the talks on Saturday.
So, the Geneva talks are supposed to continue until December 15.
Let's watch and see if silver-tongued Staffan de Mistura can convince
Bashar al-Assad to send his delegation back to the peace conference,
before the peace conference ends in total farce. Reuters and The National (UAE) and Foreign Affairs (29-Nov)
Related Articles
- Farcical Syria peace process 'proximity talks' to begin this week in Geneva (25-Jan-2016)
- Syria's 'peace conference' proceeds as total farce (29-Jan-2014)
- Russia, Iran and Turkey announce yet another farcical new Syria peace plan (09-May-2017)
****
**** Syria and Russia repeat Aleppo war crimes in massive destruction of Eastern Ghouta
****
The second series of "peace talks" have been taking place in Astana,
Kazakhstan, and were attended by Russia, Iran and Turkey. These were
pretty farcical from day one, because they weren't attended by the
actual belligerents in the war, the Bashar al-Assad regime and the
representatives of the opposition. So any agreements reached in
Astana were signed by Russia, Iran and Turkey, but not by the people
on the ground actually fighting.
The main agreement to come out of the Astana peace talks was the
implementation of "de-escalation zones" or "de-confliction zones" in
Syria. In four regions of western Syria, there would be an enforced
ceasefire, and the ceasefire would be guaranteed by Russia, Iran and
Turkey, providing whatever troops are necessary for the functioning of
the checkpoints and observation posts as well as the administration of
the security zones.
Well, needless to say, Bashar al-Assad never agreed to these
de-escalation zones, but it has always been his objective to
completely exterminate all his Sunni opposition enemies, so there was
never any hope that the de-escalation zones would succeed. However,
he did go along with them temporarily, because they freed up his army
to attack the opposition in other areas.
Last year, the al-Assad regime, backed by Russia, conducted an
extremely bloody war of extermination against the civilian residents
of Aleppo, with numerous war crimes. Al-Assad claimed that the battle
of Aleppo was "history in the making":
<QUOTE>"[The liberation of Aleppo was] history in the making
and worthy of more than the word congratulations.
History is being written in these moments. Every Syrian citizen is
taking part in the writing. It started not today, but years ago
when the crisis and the war on Syria began.
I think that after the liberation of Aleppo we’ll talk about the
situation as ... before the liberation of Aleppo and after the
liberation of Aleppo."<END QUOTE>
This was totally delusional on the part of al-Assad, which is not
surprising since he's a delusional psychopath. History was made in
Aleppo by the sheer number of war crimes committed by Syria and
Russia. If the so-called "liberation of Aleppo" is remembered, it
will be for the total destruction of the city.
So the de-escalation zone agreement was supposed to end this kind of
thing, but the destruction of Aleppo is now being repeated in Eastern
Ghouta, which is one of the ceasefire de-escalation zones.
Eastern Ghouta was attacked by the al-Assad regime in 2013 with Sarin
gas. There has been almost continuous bombing since then. In the
last three weeks, the regime, backed up by Russia, has substantially
stepped up the attacks, with massive airstrikes on markets and densely
populated residential areas, killing dozens or hundreds of people.
Eastern Ghouta is part of one of the de-escalation zones that were
agreed to at the Astana talks. Opposition officials say that the
zones were meant as a charade to divert attention from the heavy daily
bombing of civilian areas. That seems to be the case.
According to the United Nations, there are about 400,000 civilians who
are under siege in Eastern Ghouta. Aleppo only had a population of
about 250,000, and so Syria and Russia have a lot more women and
children to kill, so that will be going on for several months.
After that, al-Assad can make another delusional speech about how
clever he is to have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
At any rate, between the farcical Geneva peace talks and the farcical
Astana peace talks, there is no end in sight for Syria's civil war, as
long as Bashar al-Assad is in power. Reuters and Le Point (Paris) and NRTTV (Kurdistan)
Related Articles
- Syria's war resumes in full, as 'de-escalation' agreements unravel (06-Oct-2017)
- Russia uses the 'Grozny Model' to pursue mass slaughter in Aleppo Syria (02-Aug-2016)
- Syria's al-Assad goes for the kill, turning Aleppo and civilians to bloody rubble (24-Sep-2016)
- U.N. team finds 'large scale' use of sarin gas in Syria (17-Sep-2013)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran,
Turkey, Eastern Ghouta, Aleppo, Sarin gas, de-escalation zones,
Staffan de Mistura, proximity talks, Geneva, Astana, Kazakhstan
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
