A MESOP SUMMARY DEBATE : 3rd Anniversary of Syrian Uprising / A MESOP SAMPLER “Syria’s Fourth Year Of War Will Look A Lot Like Its Third,” by Max Rosenthal, Huffington Post huffingtonpost/2014/03/15/syria-war-anniversary_n_4964905.html?utm_hp_ref=tw Reuters: Syrian Forces Fully Control Stronghold Near Lebanon reuters/article/2014/03/16/us-syria-crisis-town-idUSBREA2E06P20140316 “DEBATE – Syria Three Years On,” Christian Chesnot, Naïm KOSAYYER and Joshua Landis – France 24 france24/en/20140314-the-debate-syria-three-years-on/ Joshua Landis speaks with C-Span on Third Anniversary of the Syrian Uprising c-span.org/video/?318287-4/washington-journal-syrian-conflict Syria Plans Presidential Elections in Summer Minister Says Assad Will Likely Be One of Several Candidates By Sam Dagher, March 16, 2014 online.wsj/news/articles/SB10001424052702303287804579443363020488196?mg=reno64-wsj DAMASCUS, Syria—Syria plans to conduct presidential elections this summer in all areas under government control and President Bashar al-Assad will likely be one of several candidates to run, the minister of information said. Omran al Zoubi, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, gave the first confirmation that Syria will definitely hold the vote and that it will be open to other candidates. He dismissed all concerns about the wisdom and practicality of holding elections in a country mired in a civil war over the legitimacy of Mr. Assad’s rule. “Presidential elections will occur on time in accordance with the constitution,” he said. “We will implement the Syrian constitution verbatim whether this pleases or angers certain people.” Damascus ceasefires bring respite but no end to conflict. “This is how the regime aims to destroy our community. They pressure and pressure until we turn on each other. Can you believe that now rebels are asking store owners for protection money?” said one resident. “We’ve turned into a cowboy movie.” “Our leadership is a genius to come up with the ceasefire idea in Barzeh,” one intelligence officer boasted in an overheard conversation with a taxi driver in Damascus. “We turned the rebels from fighters into bunnies in our hands.” That frustration is mixed with resignation that, after a long and costly struggle to end four decades of Assad family rule, some people just want the conflict to end. Three years after the demands for reform erupted around Damascus and demonstrators chanted “Leave, Leave Bashar”, a new refrain is heard whenever people broach the issue of ceasefires. “We want to live,” they say. mobile.reuters/article/topNews/idUSBREA2D0CX20140314?i=2&irpc=932
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 08:41:30 +0000
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