Reality of Syrian opposition, Assad’s leaked interview and Return of Kofi Annan

Last year, Patrick Cockburn had revealed how both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch did not have concrete evidence to justify that Gadaffi was involved in causing war crimes and inhuman massacres in Libya.

This year, once again, Cockburn takes another polemic ideology and debates if ‘the preponderance of youtube videos, tweets, blogs and texts from Syrian opposition are actually true?’

In an interesting analysis in The Independent, he states :

‘YouTube pictures may have played a positive role in the uprisings of the Arab Spring, but the international media is largely mute about how easy it is to manipulate them. Pictured from the right angle, a small demonstration can be made to look like a gathering of tens of thousands. Shootings in one street in one town can be used to manufacture “evidence” of shooting in a dozen towns. Demonstrations need not be genuine events luckily captured on mobile phone cameras by concerned citizens; frequently the only reason for the protest is to provide material for YouTube. Television companies are not going to reject or underline the stage management of film that is free, dramatic, up to date – and which they could not match with regular correspondents and film crews even if they spent a lot of money.’

He further adds,

‘In the print press, bloggers get an equally easy ride, even though there is no proof that they know anything about what is going on. Hence the ease with which a male American student in Scotland was able to pretend to be a persecuted lesbian in Damascus. Since the Iraq war, even the most intensely partisan bloggers have been presented as sources of objective information. Tarnished though they may now be, they still have a certain cachet and credibility.’

Also, there’s another interesting incident that has currently taken place.

Bashar’s leaked interview

The hacker group Anonymous attacked the mail server of Syrian Ministry and 100s of emails have been leaked in this process. One of them reveals how Bashar actually planned before the much hyped interview with Barbara Walters. Eventually, the interview just showed him as an incompetent, hairy brained and boorish dictator, often dumb when asked questions regarding his own country.

Here goes the attached manuscript of the leaked PDF of Bashar’s Interview.

‘Its Annan, Koffi Annan’

Indeed, the situation is mushrooming with paroxysm of sarcasm and stupidity. Anyways, what is important right now is the much awaited ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting at Tunisia today morning and also what Kofi Annan does, after being requested to be the joint special envoy on Syria.

Well, it depends because he could not stop the invasion of Iraq by US inspite of being the UN Secretary General at that time. The Ghanaian native, winner of Nobel Peace prize in 2001 and acknowledged for his reforms in the Rwandan genocide, perhaps can turn tables in Syria.

‘We want a home’ complains a Tunisian against France and Italy

‘When we were fighting the war, they treated us as heroes. Today, when we want a home, they throw us away,’ complains a Tunisian.

He is not alone in this grievance which has culminated into an abominable turmoil for migrants. They have been flocking towards France because Tunisia was a French colony.Some of them even have families in Italy and France.

But today, they have no where to go. The conflicts in their own country have devastated the chances of proper life and those countries where they thought they would get support are wearing an insensitive cloak around them.

In the past few months, tens of thousands of migrants, mainly Tunisians have been absconding from their respective nations, seeking asylum and security in the European Union.

This move has been severely criticized by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Both of them, in a recent political discussion at Rome have demanded strict changes against the free passport travel regime which is functional in 22 European countries, including Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.

The Immigration emergency and the Tunisian influx is definitely a problem for the European countries but my simple question is, ‘what next?’

The entire movement which now seems like a ruckus was inevitable. What is the entire aim behind investing millions, both by the Obama administration and the coalition forces if you can not take care of the migrants?

No story of political warfare has ever ended by just supplying arms and air strikes. 

At the same time, I do agree that its a great sense of humility that these countries, first France and now Italy have started to play a pivotal role in Libya. But then, let us be very honest. Oil refineries and burgeoning oil prices can make any leading developed country cautious of its move, nevertheless, how much drenched are they in recession and its doomsday.

My concern, as it was in the case of Egypt, is in the case of both Libya and Syria. Even after Egypt won their independence, the Tahrir Square still witnessed protests for change in the government. What lacked in that protest was presence of ‘clear cut’ strategies.

I hardly see the doubt of ‘what next’ getting solved. The Hamas Massacre can be repeated, in no time.

Once again, no fight serves any purpose if it is just a ‘copy cat’ tactics. Gadaffi is not Mubarak or Ben Ali. We all know it, by now. Its high time when the resolutions should be set, seriously.

Credit: Photo from Getty Images

A letter to Gadaffi from US, UK and France, Gadaffi’s daughter answers back

Last week, Colonel Gaddafi had written a letter to President Obama, calling him his ‘son’ and asking him to stop bombing in Libya.

Well, I wonder why the letter was written to Obama and not Sarkozy, who has been playing a far more responsible role in the coalition air strikes.

In response, President Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy have written this opinion piece, politely asking Colonel Gadaffi to step down.

Few say, that this opinion piece is a propaganda to answer the international world that ‘these three countries’ still have unity. While, others believe, that its high time, when these three countries should speak, in unison.

Its unfortunate, how on one hand, out of the 28 countries that are present in NATO, only UK, Canada, Denmark, Belgium and Norway have been supporting the air strikes.

And suddenly, everyone is criticising NATO. As if, its the easiest task to do. The same happened when NATO targetted a rebel tank recently, by mistake.

No one is sitting down, trying to contemplate that the NATO pilots are exhausted, there is a need of precision fighters and ground attack aircrafts.

And as usual, the blame game continues.

But unfortunately, the political debate does not end within known territories.

What seems like an obvious show of power and rule, Colonel Gadaffi took a complete tour of Tripoli, in his open top car, wearing a black outfit. It seemed as if, he was openly showing the population that he is not afraid. And, he will never be.

Gadaffi’s daughter, Ayesha al-Gadaffi has reacted, quite ferociously, against this plea.

Standing infront a crowd cheering Colonel Gadaffi, in her home compound at Bal Al-Aziziyah, Ayesha demanded the western forces to ‘leave our skies’.

She narrated how in 1911, Italy had killed her grand father.

Now, in 2011, the Western Countries want to kill her father. She spoke for the children who are being targeted, the innocent civilains who are being butchered.

Interestingly, I have never read Ayesha, speaking anything for the death of rebels or the hundreds of innocent civilians who are hospitalised in Misrata and Tripoli.

To add further challenge, the rebels are now afraid of assembling in the protests. Mainly because, there are several pro-Gadaffi supporters, in the disguise of rebels, waiting to arrest the real ones.

What happens in Libya continues to be a matter of debate, uneasy wait and yes, a lot of manslaughter, for the time being.

Credits: AP Photos