Democracy in Syria

"I’d say (to Israel) that they will not see (the end) of these 25 years. God willing, there will be no such thing as a Zionist regime in 25 years. Until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists."
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

"The gravest and most important threat to the world today is for terrorist organizations to become terrorist states."
"[I extend an invitation] to the whole world and especially the countries in my region to form a joint comprehensive plan of action to create a united front against extremism and violence."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

 
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the UN    Photo Credit: Screenshot

"[The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps – Quds Force (IRGC-QF), led by Qassem Suleimani is responsible for] sensitive covert operations abroad, including terrorist attacks, assassinations and kidnappings, and is believed to sponsor attacks against Coalition Forces in Iraq."
US Treasury Department 

"[Iranians should pursue a wider, inclusive peace, and] work cooperatively with countries beyond their borders, [rather than continue to] deploy violent proxies to advance its interests. These efforts may appear to give Iran leverage in disputes with neighbors, but they fuel sectarian conflict that endangers the entire region, and isolates Iran from the promise of trade and commerce."
"[In Syria a] managed transition [of leadership is required to enable the country to rebuild. Assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repression and killing." 
"We must recognize that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the prewar status quo."
U.S. President Barack Obama

"We believe it's a huge mistake to refuse to co-operate with the Syrian authorities, with the government forces, those who are bravely fighting terror face-to-face."
Russian President Vladimir Putin

Pious Russia. Vladimir Putin, the defender of the righteous and the valiant. Who might otherwise experience difficulty recognizing the Syrian regime as a brave front battling terrorists? The regime, on the one hand, is attempting to stem an insurrection, and in the process it is most unfortunate that its civilian population is being decimated by their own government forces. On the other hand, the regime could give practical lessons in butchery to the 'terrorist' forces it is matched against.

Ah, yes, the Islamic Republic of Iran preaching passionately against extremism and violence; so acutely precious. Iran, however, is that leopard unwilling and unable to change its hide. The Iranian Revolution has slowly turned the tide in the Middle East toward inexorable Islamist fundamentalism where violence is but another tool employed by jihad to terrorize Muslims into complete obedience and non-Muslim toward fear of defying submission to Islam, and it is not about to alter its tactics.

The U.S. Justice Department has designated the IRGC-QF and its commander a terrorist force in light of activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and support for terrorism, including providing material support to the Taliban and other terrorist groups.  No matter, doubters, Iranian forces, along with Hezbollah, the remnants of the Syrian army and now Russian forces are resolved to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bring democracy to Syria.

The United Nations General Assembly was a lively place of grand gestures, noble declarations of human rights and their violations by the morally unscrupulous, none of whom were named, though they delivered impassioned speeches in support of the rights they themselves glibly violate. A handshake, and a wineglass shared in a toast to all of that, with one principal grim the other hosting his rictus grin.

Both agreed that it is time to end the conflict of four years' duration with its toll of a quarter-million dead and eleven million fleeing in fear for their lives. Of course, the leader of the country where this has taken place is blameless; his military obviously had no orders from him to bomb civilians with chemical weapons let alone continue to bomb them with shrapnel-laden barrel bombs. This is the man whose regime Russia insists must be preserved to aid in the battle against Islamic State.

A terrorist jihadi group with impressive atrocity skills representing an irresistible celebrity draw to countless jihadi wannabees from all over the globe, which nonetheless, even given its penchant for rape, slavery, group slaughter and gruesome public relations videos has not massacred near the number of innocent civilians as has the regime of Bashar al-Assad, president of broken Syria.

U.S. President Barack Obama, it appears, is also broken. His UN address while deploring the vast amounts of blood spilled in Syria and the flood of refugees streaming out of the country, stated nonetheless that he is not averse to working with Russia and Iran in a plan to conclude Syria's civil war. A "managed transition" resulting in the removal of Assad is what he envisions, delusional in the face of Vladimir Putin's resolve otherwise.

Russia has allied itself, understandably enough, with viciously hypocritical regimes whose sinister malice matches its own. When a country like Iran whose human rights abusing record is well known, and which has renown for its support of Islamist terror, speaks of bringing peace and stability to the region while threatening the destruction of the only non-Muslim country in the region, even while mouthing its determination to defeat Sunni terrorism, leaving only Shiite terrorism intact, the galling level of hypocrisy is gagging.

Realpolitik, however, has persuaded President Obama that his country has nothing to gain if its president actually exerts himself to uphold the principles of morality. So, even while speaking to the Assembly of his distaste for the violence that has shredded the dignity of Muslims who have become living targets of a sinister regime, his practical sense informs him that one must not break all the eggs of possibilities in cooking an omelette of ingenuous accord.