2012-02-05 (China Military News cited from nytimes.com and by NEIL MacFARQUHAR and ANTHONY SHADID) -- A United Nations Security Council effort to end the violence in Syria collapsed in acrimony with a double veto by Russia and China on Saturday, hours after the Syrian military attacked the city of Homs in what opposition leaders described as the deadliest government assault in the nearly 11-month uprising.
The veto and the mounting violence underlined the dynamics shaping what is proving to be the Arab world’s bloodiest revolt: diplomatic stalemate and failure as Syria plunges deeper into what many are already calling a civil war. Diplomats have lamented their lack of options in pressuring the Syrian government, and even some Syrian dissidents worry about what the growing confrontation will mean for a country reeling from bloodshed and hardship.
Photo taken on Feb. 4, 2012 shows the general view of the United Nations Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York. Russia and China on Saturday vetoed an Arab-European draft resolution on Syria for a second time since October 2011 backing an Arab League plan which demands a regime change in the Middle East country.
“It’s quite clear — this is a license to do more of the same and worse,” said Peter Harling, an expert on Syria at the International Crisis Group. “The regime will take it for granted that it can escalate further. We’re entering a new phase that will be far more violent still than what we’ve seen now.”
The Security Council voted 13 to 2 in favor of a resolution backing an Arab League peace plan for Syria, but passage was blocked by Russia and China, which opposed what they saw as a potential violation of Syria’s sovereignty. The support of those countries has proved crucial in bolstering the Syrian government’s confidence, despite an isolation more pronounced than any time since the Assad family seized power more than four decades ago.
After the vote, and the failure before that of the Arab League peace plan to stem the violence, predictions were grim about what is ahead in a conflict that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives. To many, two inexorable forces were at work: a government bent on crushing the uprising by force and an opposition that, if not increasing in numbers, appeared to be growing even more determined.
“What more do we need to know to act decisively in the Security Council?” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton fumed at a news conference in Munich. “To block this resolution is to bear responsibility for the horrors that are occurring on the ground in Syria.”
Responding to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, who asked, “What’s the endgame?” Mrs. Clinton replied: “The endgame in the absence of us acting together as the international community, I fear, is civil war.”
The attack in Homs, where Syrian opposition leaders said more than 200 people were killed, drew outrage from around the world and intensified pressure on the Security Council to act.
President Obama condemned what he called “the Syrian government’s unspeakable assault against the people of Homs,” saying in a statement that Mr. Assad “has no right to lead Syria, and has lost all legitimacy with his people and the international community.” He accused Syria of having “murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children.”
The French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said, “The massacre in Homs is a crime against humanity, and those responsible will have to answer for it.”
Protests broke out at Syrian Embassies around the world, including in Egypt, Germany, Greece and Kuwait, and Tunisia expelled Syria’s ambassador.
But at the United Nations, Russia, Syria’s staunch ally, had promised to veto any resolution that could open the way to foreign military intervention or insist on Mr. Assad’s removal.
The resolution on Saturday said the Security Council “fully supported” the Arab League plan, which calls for Mr. Assad to cede power to his vice president and a unity government to lead Syria to democratic elections.
In an effort to placate Russia and other skeptics, Arab and Western ambassadors had dropped specific references in the resolution to Mr. Assad’s ceding power and for calls of a voluntary arms embargo and sanctions, and added language barring outside military intervention.
Mr. Lavrov said Saturday that Moscow still had two objections: that the resolution did not place sufficient blame for the violence on the opposition, and that it unrealistically demanded that the government withdraw its military forces to their barracks.
February 5th, 2012 at 8:40 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
6 
9
February 5th, 2012 at 9:41 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
7 
10
February 5th, 2012 at 10:45 am
I agree with some parts of the vetoes but, to stand by and still not come out and condemn the violent acts by both sides is inhumane. Yes, the vetoes do clearly state whom China and Russia will stand behind and support. So should the blame for all the deaths, acts againt humanity, sexual crimes, and war crimes that come from this conflict. This almost reminds me of the Bosnian Conflict / War, where both of the same UN bodies refused to side with the actions that was needed to come to a peaceful resolution. Look at the war crimes that came from that conflict and both China and Russia vetoed against those UN resolutions as well. The blood from that war and this conflict is on China’s and Russia’s hands and faces.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
9 
5
February 5th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
6 
11
February 5th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
4 
8
February 5th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
5 
10
February 5th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
7 
12
February 6th, 2012 at 2:14 am
I believe that any regime change in Syria will have negative repercussions. The Muslim Brotherhood will very soon take power in Syria just like in Egypt. A fundamentalist Muslim Republic of Syria will emerge to confront the West and Israel.
I am not anti-democracy, but this is the reality of regime change in Syria.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
9 
0
February 6th, 2012 at 3:15 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
3 
11
February 6th, 2012 at 5:23 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
2 
11
February 6th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
jews are just sore losers.
Like or Dislike:
3 
3
February 6th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
I Second that Tienfei...
Like or Dislike:
1 
1
February 7th, 2012 at 11:00 am
Talking about hate....Man you guys are brainwashed!
Like or Dislike:
0 
1