Syria's Trials and Tribulations

So the score is on target for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and implausible deniability for the United Nations/Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who continues to brim with enthusiastic optimism that he has talked sense and conflict resolution to President al-Assad. Convincing him of the dire necessity to honour his obligations as President of Syria to cease murdering Syrian citizens. The optics are bad, very bad.

Although Kofi Annan appears to have problems recognizing that al-Assad's assurances are thin gruel to feast on, it seems clear enough to others involved in attempting to find a solution to the ever-more-vicious situation that his agreements are meaningless. A bid for time. No different than when the Arab League-dispatched observers were on the ground, witnessing the regime smashing the resistance of the protest.

China and Russia, both now recognizing the inevitability of an ongoing, brutal civil war, reflective of Lebanon's agony, have discovered that their influence with Syria is far less than they might have assumed of a purported ally, one whom they have groomed, and encouraged, and armed. On the other hand, in its bid for even-handedness, Moscow urged the Syrian opposition to "follow the example" of Damascus.

In that they were successful, for the Syrian opposition has indeed followed the example that Damascus demonstrated, coolly proceeding with its mission to utterly smash the opposition. Encouraging in turn the opposition to continue its mission to smash the regime. And the bloodshed and trauma continues. Not only does it continue but it has become increasingly gruesome and unforgivably inhumane.

The Arab summit scheduled for Baghdad was rather poorly attended. The indignation and furore originally manifested throughout initial meetings of Arab League have been somewhat neutered. The Arab League, it seems, is tiring of the issue. It is abundantly clear it has no influence on Syria, and its inability to make any inroads in the situation has clearly deflated its enthusiasm for intervention on any level.

A draft resolution produced for debate by Arab foreign ministers breaks no new ground, calling on the Syrian regime to "...Immediately stop all actions of violence and killing, protect Syrian civilians and guarantee the freedom of peaceful demonstrations for achieving demands of the Syrian people." It failed to impress Bashar al-Assad before, and will have no impact now.

As Syria's foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi has said, Damascus intends to reject any initiative stemming from the summit. "Syria will not co-operate with any Arab League initiative at any level."

And, this just in from Navi Pillay, UN human rights chief: hundreds of children are being incarcerated, interrogated and tortured.

"They've gone for the children - for whatever purposes - in large numbers. Hundreds detained and tortured. It's just horrendous. Children shot in the knees; held together with adults in really inhumane conditions; denied medical treatment for their injuries, either held as hostages or as sources of information."

AFP

Wait, there's more: Rebel forces have also been reported to be involved in abuses of children. The UN special representative for children in armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, said she has information that the Free Syrian Army is using child soldiers.

And this, absolutely too-precious statement from Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari: "We cannot be impartial on this matter of daily violence, killing and bloodletting."

All, it seems, is quite normally functioning in the Arab world, with the ongoing trials and tribulations of the Arab Spring.