{"id":176507,"date":"2018-09-19T04:31:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T04:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=176507"},"modified":"2018-09-21T05:05:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T05:05:08","slug":"western-demands-on-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=176507","title":{"rendered":"Western demands on Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">by Thierry Meyssan &#8212; Voltairenet.org Sept 18, 2018<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">While on the ground, the war is ending, and only Idlib still needs to be freed from the terrorists, the Western powers are starting trouble all over again. They have just presented their demands to the UN special envoy, Staffan de Mistura. Unsurprisingly, the United States refuse the process led by Russia, for the unique reason that they didn\u2019t have anything to do with it, while the United Kingdom and France seek to impose institutions which would allow them to govern the country from the shadows.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_176508\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Staffan-de-Mistura.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-176508\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176508\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Staffan-de-Mistura.jpg\" alt=\"Nominated in 2014, before the Russian military intervention against the jihadists, Staffan de Mistura is a pro-US diplomat whose job consists of working for peace in Syria in the name of the UNO. Four years later, he continues to seek loop-holes which benefit the Western powers.\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Staffan-de-Mistura.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Staffan-de-Mistura-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-176508\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nominated in 2014, before the Russian military intervention against the jihadists, Staffan de Mistura is a pro-US diplomat whose job consists of working for peace in Syria in the name of the UNO. Four years later, he continues to seek loop-holes which benefit the Western powers.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The special envoy for the Secretary-General of the UNO for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, received a delegation of the Astana Group (Iran, Russia, Turkey) in Geneva, then, on 14 September, a delegation from the Syria Small Group (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United States, France, Jordan and the United Kingdom).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">From the Western side, ambassador James Jeffrey and Colonel Joel Rayburn led the US delegation, while the ambassador and ex-director of the Exterior Intelligence Service (DGSE 2012-16), Fran\u00e7ois S\u00e9n\u00e9maud, presided the French delegation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Each delegation handed the UN a secret document listing their demands, with a view to applying pressure to the intra-Syrian negotiations which are currently underway. <em>Russia Today<\/em> leaked the Western document\u00a0[<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nb1\">1<\/a><\/strong><\/span>], just as, two weeks ago, <em>Kommersant<\/em> had leaked the internal directives of the UNO\u00a0[<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nb2\">2<\/a><\/strong><\/span>].<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">&#8211;&gt; First remark &#8211; point 3 of the Small Group document resumes the internal directive of the UNO: \u00abThere will be no international reconstruction assistance in Syrian-government-held areas absent a credible political process that leads unalterably to constitutional reform and UN-supervised elections, to the satisfaction of potential donor countries\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Germany, which has participated in meetings of the Small Group, does not seem to have been represented at this meeting. The night before, their Minister for Foreign Affairs, Heiko Maas, had dissociated himself from this point. Just before he met with his Russian counterpart, Serge\u00ef Lavrov, he tweeted that his country was ready to participate in reconstruction \u00ab if there exists a political solution leading to free elections\u00a0[<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nb3\">3<\/a><\/strong><\/span>]\u00a0[<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nb4\">4<\/a><\/strong><\/span>]. \u00bbWhile for the Small Group and the UNO, reconstruction will not begin until the potential donor countries have attained their war objectives, for Germany, it can accompany the process of political reconciliation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">&#8211;&gt;\u00a0 Second remark \u2013 the different international interlocutors refer to resolution 2254 of 18 December 2015\u00a0[<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nb5\">5<\/a><\/strong><\/span>]. However, the Small Group extrapolates the meaning of the text. Although the resolution of the Security Council states that the composition of the Constitution is the affair only of the Syrians between themselves, the Small Group declares that it must be drawn up only by a Committee placed under the auspices and control of the UNO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">This is obviously aimed at sabotaging the decisions taken in Sochi, in other words, to destroy what has been achieved over the last few months and oppose the role of Russia in the solution to the crisis\u00a0[<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nb6\">6<\/a><\/strong><\/span>]. The United States aim to conserve their status as the indispensable power, while the United Kingdom and France intend to pursue their colonial project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">&#8211;&gt;\u00a0 Third remark &#8211; the Small Group means not only to transfer the responsibility for the composition of the Constitution from Sotchi to Geneva, it already has an idea what it should be. This would be to reproduce the model that Washington has already imposed on Iraq, and which maintains a state of permanent crisis for the greater benefit of the Western powers. The powers of the President would be exclusively formal; those of the Prime Minister would be non-existent at a regional level, and those of the army would be limited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The colonial powers maintain their power in the Near East behind an appearance of democracy. They always manage to constitute governments which do not represent their people. Since 1926 in Lebanon and since 2005 in Iraq, the institutions have been conceived above all to prevent these countries from once again becoming nation-states. Lebanon is divided into religious communities, and Iraq into distinct regions according to the predominance of a religious community. As for Isra\u00ebl, it no longer has a representative government, not because of its Constitution \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have one \u2013 but because of its electoral system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">&#8211;&gt;\u00a0 Fourth remark \u2013 while resolution 2254 specifies that elections must be held under the supervision of the UNO, the Small Group considers that the Syrian agency in charge of their organisation must work daily under the orders of the UNO, notably in matters concerning eventual complaints of fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In this way, the Western powers conserve for themselves the possibility of cancelling results which do not correspond to their wishes \u2013 it would be enough to register a complaint and declare that it is valid. The Syrian People would have the right to vote as long as they fall into the trap which has been laid for them, and even then, on the condition that they vote for the leaders who have been chosen for them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In Europe, the citizens are seeking their sovereignty, in Syria, they are fighting for their independence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/auteur29.html?lang=en\">Thierry Meyssan<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Translation<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"> <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/auteur125569.html?lang=en\">Pete Kimberley<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nh1\">1<\/a>] \u201c<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202982.html\">Statement of Principles for the Syria Small Group<\/a>\u201d, <em>Voltaire Network<\/em>, 18 September 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nh2\">2<\/a>] \u201c<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202706.html\">Parameters and Principles of UN assistance in Syria<\/a>\u201d, by Jeffrey D. Feltman, <em>Voltaire Network<\/em>, 3 September 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nh3\">3<\/a>] \u201cWenn es eine politische L\u00f6sung in #Syrien gibt, die zu freien Wahlen f\u00fchrt, sind wir bereit Verantwortung beim Wiederaufbau zu \u00fcbernehmen\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nh4\">4<\/a>] \u201c<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202976.html\">Germany stance conflicts with Feltman Directive<\/a>\u201d, Translation Anoosha Boralessa, <em>Voltaire Network<\/em>, 14 September 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nh5\">5<\/a>] \u201c<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article189694.html\">Resolution 2254 (Peace plan for Syria)<\/a>\u201d, <em>Voltaire Network<\/em>, 18 December 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">[<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html#nh6\">6<\/a>] \u201c<a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article199576.html\">Consensus between the Syrians at Sotchi<\/a>\u201d, by Thierry Meyssan, Translation Pete Kimberley, <em>Voltaire Network<\/em>, 6 February 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.voltairenet.org\/article202998.html\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Their surrogates may be close to defeat but the Western powers haven&#8217;t given up on regime change in Syria. Now they are trying to achieve this through the U.N.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Commentary","category-syria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176507"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176510,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176507\/revisions\/176510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}