Going In Circles

"The U.S. and other Western powers will not find any flexibility on the part of the Syrian regime, and its allies, namely Russia.  The proof is in the Assad regime's continuous acts of violence against the Syrian people, even while the diplomatic wheels have been turning.  The wheels clearly are going in circles without moving forward."  Hayat Alvi, U.S. Naval War College

Not moving forward, basically, because diplomatic and political polarization has taken its usual toll on perceptions, interpretations and final outcomes.  There is Syria, supported by Iran and by their proxy militia in Lebanon.  And there is Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Turkey along with Jordan, insisting that the Syrian regime has made itself illegitimate.  Cheering on the latter is NATO and the UN, and rooting for the former are China and Russia.

Should the conflict that has descended into a brutal civil war with both the rebels and the regime exercising their tribal penchants for brutality begin to encompass the region, then Iraq can be expected to side with Iran, and with Egypt newly conflicted between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military, a tug of war may result with the Middle East's largest population divided in loyalties to the region.

Kofi Annan has continued to press for his peace plan, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.  The U.S. Secretary of State and her Russian counterpart keep speaking rings of opposite declarations and impressions around one another.  Even while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov crows that the language has been freed from regime change to a proposed national unity government, Hillary Clinton grimly repeats that President Bashar al-Assad must go.

Government forces continue to press into cities where the populace continue to rage against its continued rule.  Bombing of civilian areas continues apace, and reportedly, corpses are littering the streets in the outskirts of Damascus.  Warplanes have left large plumes of black smoke hovering over the ruined areas where civilians continue to be struck.

Geneva discussions between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council brought Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar to the table along with the head of the Arab League and the EU's foreign policy chief.  Iran and Saudi Arabia were disinvited, their presence too incendiary; each ferrying arms to the regime and the rebels respectively. 

China and Russia have signed on a transitional government with an agreement calling for Syrians to be free to demonstrate in peace, for the release of political detainees, and an !!immediate!! halt to violence.  President Bashar al-Assad will flash that infamous, obliging smile and agree to everything and anything, then proceed to do as he has, all along.

And the rebels?  Flat out refusal.  Back to the table?