G8 Talks – Cameron Differs with Vladimir Putin on Syria

7 Comments

1. 

   Marie2 on June 16, 2013 at 2:52 pm

   The Syrian rebel fighters have been clear and consistent from day one — they want weapons and Assad to go.  They’re smart enough to recognize that negotiations will not put them in power even if Assad fled to Switzerland.  Hence, they want to get weapons now while the getting is good.

2. 

   Oui on June 16, 2013 at 4:02 pm

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   Putin says West arming Syrian rebels who eat human flesh

   AMMAN/LONDON (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin, arriving in Britain ahead of an international summit set to be dominated by disagreement over the U.S. decision to send weapons to Syria’s rebels, said the West must not arm fighters who eat human flesh.

   After months of deliberations, Washington decided last week to send weapons to the rebels, declaring that Assad’s forces had crossed a “red line” by using nerve gas. The move throws the superpower’s weight behind the revolt and signals a potential turning point in global involvement in a two-year-old war that has already killed at least 93,000 people.

   It has also infuriated Russia, Cold War-era ally of Syria, which has sold arms to Assad and used its veto at the U.N. Security Council to block resolutions against him.

   Russia has dismissed the U.S. evidence that Assad’s forces used nerve gas. The White House says President Barack Obama will try to lobby Putin to drop his support for Assad during this week’s G8 summit hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron.

   After meeting Cameron in London, Putin said Russia wanted to create the conditions for a resolution of the conflict.

   “One does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their organs in front of the public and cameras. Are these the people you want to support? Are they the ones you want to supply with weapons? Then this probably has little relation to the humanitarian values preached in Europe for hundreds of years.”

   The incident Putin referred to was most likely that of a rebel commander filmed last month cutting into the torso of a dead soldier and biting into a piece of one of his organs.

   Both sides have been accused of atrocities in the conflict. The United States and other countries that aid the rebels say one of the reasons for doing so is to support mainstream opposition groups and reduce the influence of extremists.

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3. 

   Oui on June 16, 2013 at 5:22 pm

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   US urges UK and France to join in supplying arms to Syrian rebels

   (The Independent) – In years to come, historians will ask how America – after its defeat in Iraq and its humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan scheduled for  2014 – could have so blithely aligned itself with one side in a titanic Islamic struggle stretching back to the seventh century death of the Prophet Mohamed. The profound effects of this great schism, between Sunnis who believe that the father of Mohamed’s wife was the new caliph of the Muslim world and Shias who regard his son in law Ali as his rightful successor – a seventh century battle swamped in blood around the present-day Iraqi cities of Najaf and Kerbala – continue across the region to this day.

   America’s alliance now includes the wealthiest states of the Arab Gulf, the vast Sunni territories between Egypt and Morocco, as well as Turkey and the fragile British-created monarchy in Jordan. King Abdullah of Jordan – flooded, like so many neighbouring nations, by hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees – may also now find himself at the fulcrum of the Syrian battle.  Up to 3,000 American ‘advisers’ are now believed to be in Jordan, and the creation of a southern Syria ‘no-fly zone’ – opposed by Syrian-controlled anti-aircraft batteries – will turn a crisis into a ‘hot’ war.  So much for America’s ‘friends’.

   Its enemies include the Lebanese Hizballah, the Alawite Shiite regime in Damascus and, of course, Iran. And Iraq, a largely Shiite nation which America `liberated’ from Saddam Hussein’s Sunni minority in the hope of balancing the Shiite power of Iran, has – against all US predictions – itself now largely fallen under Tehran’s influence and power.  Iraqi Shiites as well as Hizballah members, have both fought alongside Assad’s forces.

   Washington’s excuse for its new Middle East adventure – that it must arm Assad’s enemies because the Damascus regime has used sarin gas against them – convinces no-one in the Middle East.  Final proof of the use of gas by either side in Syria remains almost as nebulous as President George W. Bush’s claim that Saddam’s Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

   For the real reason why America has thrown its military power behind Syria’s Sunni rebels is because those same rebels are now losing their war against Assad.

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4. 

   Marie2 on June 16, 2013 at 7:13 pm

   Wonder how many surveillance operations have been set up for these talks — London G20 was like a nest of vipers:

   Foreign politicians and officials who took part in two G20 summit meetings in London in 2009 had their computers monitored and their phone calls intercepted on the instructions of their British government hosts, according to documents seen by the Guardian. Some delegates were tricked into using internet cafes which had been set up by British intelligence agencies to read their email traffic.

5. 

   Oui on June 17, 2013 at 5:09 am

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   Don’t feel sorry for the Obama administration as the loss of life in Syria has topped 100,000.  The lack of decisiveness while permitting an agressive stance in support of foreign rebels has back-fired. The quagmire has worsened and Obama has performed an about-face in the last week after John Kerry had worked the Middle-East for a comprehensive deal on Syria and a renewed start for peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

   Obama has opted for the Qatar-Saudi Arabia axis of Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists who have interfered in the North African countries, similar how Europe and the USA used to have influence with tyrant regimes. How times have changed and letting world affairs catch up with historical faults in US policy.

   Obama aides split on arming rebels

   BEIRUT, Lebanon (Daily Star) June 12, 2013 – President Barack Obama’s top national security advisers are meeting to air their reservations about arming Syria’s rebels, with officials saying the growing alarm over the Assad regime’s rapid military advance is unlikely to translate into any rash U.S. action toward deeper involvement in the conflict.

   The administration’s caution persists despite its nearly two-year-old demand that President Bashar Assad step down, vows to help the besieged Syrian rebels on the ground and threats to respond forcefully to any chemical weapons use. U.S. officials hoped this week to revamp their strategy for halting the violence and motivating the government and the opposition to hold peace talks. But they don’t know what to do to redefine a war that now includes Hezbollah and Iranian fighters backing Assad’s armed forces, and al-Qaida-linked extremists beefing up the rebellion.

   Despite increased support in Congress and the administration for lethal aid, officials said those closest to the president are still split on whether to begin providing Syria’s armed opposition with weapons or to consider more drastic steps such as using U.S. airpower to ground Assad’s gunships and jets. The officials spoke ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s meeting at the White House on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the private talks.

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6. 

   Oui on June 17, 2013 at 5:16 pm

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   Body language says it all … icy as in the times of the Cold War. Apparently Obama has lend his ear to his new advisor Susan Rice. John Kerry is nowhere to be seen or heard.

   Differences between Obama and Putin has hardened during G8 talks

   (BBC News) – The US and Russian presidents have acknowledged at the G8 meeting in Northern Ireland that they have a different stance on Syria, but agreed to push for a summit in Geneva. After face-to-face talks, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin said they shared a common desire to end the violence.

   Mr Putin and Mr Obama met for about two hours on the sidelines of the summit. Correspondents say that both leaders looked tense as they addressed journalists afterwards, with the Russian president regularly looking at the floor.

    « click for story

   Mr Putin said: “Our positions do not fully coincide, but we are united by the common intention to end the violence, to stop the number of victims increasing in Syria, to resolve the problems by peaceful means, including the Geneva talks.”

   Mr Obama said the two leaders had instructed their teams to press ahead with trying to organise the peace conference in Switzerland.

   G8 summit: Cameron has misjudged by putting Syria on the agenda

   (The Guardian) – For Cameron to put Syria on the agenda was a sure-fire own goal. Russia’s Vladimir Putin even did him the courtesy of passing through Downing Street yesterday to tell him so. Russia might be at blame for supporting Assad, an old and disreputable ally, in his time of need. But to Putin, Britain and America were supporting a bunch of rebellious – even cannibalistic – fanatics. As for America, Barack Obama has enough trouble with his tub-thumping arms suppliers back home without having Cameron screeching on about war.

   The master of opportunistic diplomacy, Henry Kissinger, said that the art of summitry was to avoid setting entrenched positions against each another and thus exaggerating them. Far better to find any area of agreement, however small, and build up from there. No one in Cameron’s staff seems to understand this. His best bet today is to get Syria off the table and get down to something useful.

   France gambles on Syrian rebels as arms decision nears  

   • Russia promises to veto no-fly zone in Syria
7. 

   Oui on June 18, 2013 at 1:48 pm

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   The G8 communique on Syria

   The joint communique signed by all the G8 leaders said:

   “We are determined to work together to stop the bloodshed and loss of life in Syria and to support the Syrian people to establish peace and stability through political means. We are gravely concerned at the appalling human tragedy that the UN estimates has cost the lives of over 93,000 people and led to 4.2 million internally displaced persons and 1.6 million refugees.

   “We acknowledge the vital humanitarian role played by neighbouring countries hosting Syrian refugees, above all Lebanon and Jordan, in dealing with the significant economic and security pressures they are facing as a result of the conflict and refugee influx.

   “Given the extraordinary humanitarian need as reflected in the latest UN appeal for $5.2 billion in 2013, we are resolved to make exceptional contributions commensurate with the scale of the problem.

   “At this meeting G8 Leaders confirmed additional contributions of almost $1.5 billion to meet humanitarian needs in Syria and its neighbours. We recognise that further contributions will be needed given the scale of the challenge. We urge other countries and organisations to make similar commitments.

   “We call for aid agencies to be given immediate access to provide humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need, in accordance with humanitarian principles and international law, particularly in the worst affected areas such as Qusayr.

   “We remain committed to achieving a political solution to the crisis based on a vision for a united, inclusive and democratic Syria. We strongly endorse the decision to hold as soon as possible the Geneva Conference on Syria to implement fully the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012, which sets out a number of key steps beginning with agreement on a transitional governing body with full executive powers, formed by mutual consent.

   “As the Geneva Communiqué says, the public services must be preserved or restored. This includes the military forces and security services. However all governmental institutions and state offices must perform according to professional and human rights standards, operating under a top leadership that inspires public confidence, under the control of the transitional governing body.

   “Both sides at the Conference must engage seriously and constructively. They should be fully representative of the Syrian people and committed to the implementation of the Geneva Communiqué and to the achievement of stability and reconciliation. We will engage actively with the parties in order to achieve successful outcomes.

   “We condemn any use of chemical weapons in Syria and call on all parties to the conflict to allow access to the UN investigating team mandated by the UN Secretary-General, and drawing on the expertise of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and World Health Organisation (WHO), in order to conduct an objective investigation into reports of use of chemical weapons.

   “The UN team should make their report and deliver it to the UN Security Council for their assessment.

   “We are determined that those who may be found responsible for the use of chemical weapons will be held accountable.

   “We emphasise the need for the secure and safe storage of all chemical weapons in Syria, pending their destruction under international verification.

   “We also condemn in the strongest possible terms all human rights violations and abuses in Syria, committed by anyone, including indiscriminate attacks on civilians. We call on all sides to respect international humanitarian and human rights laws, noting the particular responsibility of the Syrian authorities in this regard.”

   Vladimir Putin tells Cameron at G8: ‘Syrian rebels are the same as those who killed Lee Rigby’

   ENNISKILLIN, Northern Ireland (Belfast Telegraph) – Arming the Syrian rebels could deliver weapons into the hands of the sort of people who killed Drummer Lee Rigby, Vladimir Putin warned. The Russian president drew a direct parallel with the “violent assassination” of the soldier in Woolwich as he set out his hostility to Western efforts to aid the opposition to Bashar Assad’s regime.

   Mr Putin spoke out at a press conference marking the close of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland which produced a joint position from world leaders that could pave the way for a peace conference to find a way out of the deadly struggle for control of the Middle Eastern country.

   Resistance from Russia meant the final statement made no reference to Assad’s future. But Mr Putin insisted that he had not been isolated in the talks with the other seven leaders – claiming that some agreed with him that there was not yet proof the regime had used chemical weapons.

   Yesterday: David Cameron tells Russia at G8 summit: Join the club or face isolation on Syria