Peaceful Syria?

sorry, it's been a while.

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For 21 Months Syria has been in uprising, it has been fighting against itself and rebels and loyalists have gone head to head. UN says over 60,000 people have been killed - just imagine how many people have been hurt. And yet still the world isn't properly doing anything against it.

Assad has stepped up and has addressed the nation, still refusing to step down and to negotiate with those he calls 'rebels and terrorists', and is putting the blame on countries who have 'betrayed Syria'.
Many different countries have called for, and have backed, the idea of Assad stepping down, yet he is still refusing. Yet no real action has been taken by the international community, which AJE attributes to the fear of the Rebels unleashing sectarian revenge killings.

For an event which started happening in the Arab spring it is one which has been going on for the longest without any real decisive action happening on either side. It is apparent that Assad is most definitely a dictator who is refusing to relinquish any power, but it is also apparent that the international community is scared of interfering in case further events veer onto a course they cannot control, a course which will veer away from a pro-western community.

Yet Assad is also calling for peace within his country, how he is going to achieve this remains to be seen, however. In all likelihood his way will be one of aggression, fear, intimidation and military actions. So what is it going to take for the international community to step in?

This whole situation reminds me of an Eddie Izzard sketch where he talks about what he calls 'mass murdering fuckheads' (pardon the English). Where he comments on the fact that international communities tend not to interfere when dictators murder their own people, but only start acting when these nations start on their neighbours. 

So it will be an interesting one to watch as this continues to escalate into a greater and greater issue where more people keep killing each other. Me, personally, I don't think peace will come soon.

Are Peace and True Democracy ever likely goals?

Within the whole western world we strive to have true democracy and peace all over the world. We believe that our system is a truthful one and that we have already reached true democracy... But have we really?

Is the Western world truly one of peace? We are constantly up in another part of the world trying to sort out either their issues or to use the countries that we are in for our own goals. I say 'we' in the loose meaning of the word as it is the Western World collectively that does this, not just one country.

Moreover, the Western world is one that prides itself on its democracy but is it truly democracy when the system used in some countries is one solely of a majority? And when countries do use systems such as proportional representation people are always keen to step in when someone that leans to far to the left or right gets a decent amount of votes.
 - don't get me wrong, I'm not an extremist and would not want another Hitler in power anywhere - but this is merely a point I am trying to make. More of a philosophical point than something completely concrete.



The reason that I am bringing these issues to the forefront now is due to the new peace talks that are happening in Palestine at the moment. Israel is complaining because they do not wish to cooperate with Hamas as Hamas is seen as a terrorist organisation. Which I frankly find extaordinarly ironic.
Have they looked at past presidents? And even the current one was a part of the IDF.
For instance look at Menachem Begin - Head of the Irgun who prided the Irgun and the Stern Gang (or Lehi) on their 'Splendid Act of Conquest' (see Spectacle.org) after killing hundreds of people in Deir Yassin.

Regardless of this I do hope that the new government (with Abbas as the interim prime minister until the elections) will be able to bring some peace into the region or at the very least help to start rebuild the devastated West Bank and Gaza areas.