« SYRIA PRESS REVIEW » #47

Russia’s popularity in Syria confounds the West

The Western press continues to dwell on the triumphant welcome given to the Russian delegation by the people in Damascus, but is at a loss to explain it. It fails to understand the reason for such a huge turnout or why the throng cheered Sergei Lavrov when it should have jeered him. Above all, it is outraged that anyone could prefer Russia to NATO, whose moral values it considers to be far more superior.

Several Western newspapers give prominence to internal criticism in Russia and China, the only reasonable voices in their opinion.

For its part, the Gulf press focuses on the recall of the ambassadors and observers.

• Le Monde reports that the vote of Brazil, South Africa and India at the Security Council, in favor of the "Moroccan" resolution, was organized by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton. However, the French newspaper omits to mention the arguments used by Baroness Ashton to convince these states to switch sides.

• The German press resuscitates a criminal case that could implicate the Syrian embassy in Berlin, whose diplomats are accused of having chased down some Syrian opponents exiled in Germany and subjected them to a beating at the their private residence.

• The denial addressed by Asma al-Assad to the Times of London is being used to relaunch the campaign concerning her. The first lady dismisses all sectarian arguments and recalls that her husband is not the president of the allawites, but of all Syrians. Unable to tarnish Asma’s image, NATO services are spreading the rumor that she could be held prisoner by Bashar. The allegation has not just been picked up by the tabloids, but also by reputable newspapers like today Le Figaro or the Corriere della Sera.

• Il Giornale relays President Obama’s remarks that one should not compare Libya and Syria, where no military intervention is contemplated. Russia and China were wrong to imagine that a similar operation was being prepared against Syria. Implicitly, President Obama’s statement is an acknowledgment that NATO exceeded its mandate in Libya and changed the regime in violation of its own commitments. Hence, we see no reason why we should believe his promises this time around about Syria.

• The largest Eastern Orthodox Christian community resides in Syria. While the Russian delegation was arriving in Damascus, Michael Jansen of the Irish Times was puzzling about the community’s support of the al-Assad administration. His article (p. 46) shows the photograph of a woman in a bedroom where the wall was knocked down by an unexploded shell. The woman is Sister Verona, the mother superior of the Sydnaya convent which was attacked by the "rebels." Now the same photograph was published in recent days by several newspapers, insinuating that she was the mother of Sunni family from Homs, whose house had been attacked by government forces.

• In The Herald, Ian Bell notes that the Syrian war will not take place because no one can take the risk of engulfing the region. According to him, this situation highlights the impotence of the UN. Along the same lines, Jonah Goldberg of the American Enterprise Institute calls in the Washington Times for the replacement of the UN by a Community of Democracies. Ultimately, both their arguments amount to saying that international law should be laid down by the United States alone.

• The New York Times / International Herald Tribune invited two experts to explain the double veto. Professor Pei is convinced that Beijing is solely motivated by its abhorrence of democratic transitions. China has shown its true face and will pay the consequences in terms of public relations. For his part, Nicholas Noe observed that the double veto reinforces the axis of the Resistance.

• Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston laments that Syria is not subject to the same treatment as Israel. Tel Aviv’s behavior in Gaza was criticized by the Goldstone report. Therefore, what are the supporters of the Goldstone Commission waiting for to demand an investigation into the behavior of their Syrian ally?

• Gulf newspapers unroll the diplomatic sanctions taken by the States of the Gulf Cooperation Council: recall of their ambassadors and observers in Syria, plus the expulsion of ambassadors to Syria.

• China Daily reports that "Libyan revolutionaries" attacked the Chinese embassy in Tripoli to protest against the veto.