Arab League suspension of Syria brings military intervention closer

Chris Marsden reports on Arab League to suspend Syria and exposes the hypocrisy of some of the despots who voted in favour. Full text at link.

The vote by the Arab League to suspend Syria brings a step closer the possibility of external military intervention into what is already a de facto civil war. A meeting in Cairo Saturday told Syria it will be suspended from the Arab League and face sanctions if it does not end its crackdown on anti-government protesters. A total of 18 countries agreed to the suspension, beginning Wednesday. Only Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against, with Iraq abstaining.

Tens of thousands protested the decision in Syria in the squares of Damascus, Aleppo, Raqqa, Lattakia, Tartous, Hasaka and Sweida, and there were attacks made on the Saudi Arabian, Qatari and Turkish consular facilities.

For the most part, popular support for the Ba’athist regime of Bashir Assad in Damascus and other cities, despite its repressive character, is animated by fear of the alternative—the installation of a sectarian Sunni Islamist regime that will persecute Alawites, Christians and other minorities, and the growing danger of foreign military intervention.

The headline reason for the suspension of Syria from the Arab League—a death toll in the conflict rising above 3,500—has no credibility. Not only are many of the despotic regimes that signed on to the resolution currently carrying out the brutal suppression of their own people, including host Egypt, but they are also directly involved in arming and organising the opposition movement.