I’m bemused by neoconservatives who simutaneously pillory the Obama administration for the Benghazi screw-up, yet call for greater efforts to “do something” in Syria. What happened in Benghazi, and Algeria, and Mali are the direct follow-ons from the last time the U.S. ramped up its efforts in a non-strategic situation. If anything, it seems clear that Obama has learned from that lesson — as well as the Afghanistan “surge” — and determined that the utility of military intervention is more limited and the costs are even greater than he imagined in 2008. Furthermore, as the Congo comment suggests, he’s also conscious that if one really wants to apply liberal ethical criteria to the use of Amertican force, then Syria is not at the top of the queue.
If he will try to go, to leave, to exit, he will be killed by his own people. If he stays, he will be killed by his opponents. He is in a trap. It is not about Russia or anybody else. It is about his physical survival.
Egypt made al Jazeera -- and Syria's destroying it.
The networks use the very real challenges of reporting from inside Syria as an excuse to avoid stories that challenge their preferred narrative. Elsewhere, for instance, articles have raised questions about the credibility of the widely quoted Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based Syrian opposition outlet — but Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya haven’t touched the story. Newspapers around the world have also focused on the presence of terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, among the anti-regime fighters — but such a possibility is rarely, if ever, entertained on the main Arabic stations.
Both channels also suffer from a “Yasir Arafat” dichotomy — a reference to the late Palestinian leader, who had a habit of tailoring his message depending on his audience. The stations’ rhetoric differs greatly depending on the language they broadcast in. For instance, Al Jazeera English and Al Arabiya’s English-language website have broached the topic of al Qaeda fighters in Syria, even as it goes unmentioned on their vastly more influential Arabic-language counterparts. Instead, the Arabic-language channels continually host guests who refute any suggestions of the sort.
Feb. 6, 2012. A Syrian man hugs his seriously wounded brother in a house used as a hospital in Bab Amr, a southern neighborhood of Homs.
Syria is no longer sliding into war or staring at the abyss of warfare. Syria is at war. On assignment for TIME this week, photographer Alessio Romenzi risked his life documenting civilian casualties in Bab Amr, a district in the besieged city of Homs.
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