The process of isolating Assad continues:
“The U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee voted Tuesday to “strongly condemn” Syria’s deadly crackdown on dissent.
The U.N. resolution calls on Damascus to implement an Arab League initiative that would allow the league to send monitors to Syria. The pan-Arab group, which has suspended Syria’s membership, plans to meet on Thursday to discuss the country’s crisis.”
The vote was interesting:
“The final vote count was 122 in favor, 13 against, 41 abstentions. China and Russia abstained, along with India and South Africa. If China and Russia parlay those abstentions in the Security Council, a Syria sanctions resolution may finally see the light of day.”
We are early in the process here so the impact will be minimal. Alright, so there won’t be any impact at all. That isn’t really the point. This is just one of many resolutions to come and ultimately we may see one that has teeth.
Eventual military intervention is possible but, again, not anytime soon. However, recent comments from Canada are interesting in that they show a willingness to discuss that option in a manner that I would have expected to be reserved for later in the game:
“While any intervention in Syria would have to follow a series of United Nations sanctions, Canada’s armed forces are ready to offer assistance if necessary, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Sunday.
In an appearance on CTV’s Question Period, MacKay said there are a “cascading number of sanctions that would have to happen before there would be any type of intervention.”
But, speaking from the Halifax International Security Forum, he added that “Canada has certainly a great deal of ability to lend support in a situation, as we saw in Libya.”
MacKay said there is constant planning taking place at armed forces headquarters and, as a result, ‘certainly we’ve prepared for all inevitabilities.’”
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