The Prodigal Son Returns... Yada Yada Yada, Clever Segue into Syria's Assad

Look, I've been regrettably absent for just about a month so kindly excuse my weak sauce title. My wholehearted apologies to my legions of four readers but the past month or two have been somewhat busier than anticipated. However (!), I hope to be more attentive in the coming months.

Meanwhile, during my absence, the decidedly unapologetic Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (see the even weaker tie in there?) has continued to indiscriminately shell and murder his own people. Although he is truly terrible person to whom human being shouldn't even be applied, I understand his motives to a degree. After what happened to Gaddafi, it would not be completely surprising that al-Assad might think he is not only fighting for his grip on power, but also his life (this, mind you, in no way excuses his actions. He and his supporters are despicable subhuman beings). In his fear, he is retreating to the methods of his father, which were effective at the time. This, however. is not 1982. The general Arab spring (and fall and winter) has shown the people that their continued rebellion can win in the long run and the fear and despair of an earlier time has seemingly dissipated. The people are emboldened and although, especially in Syria, the revolution has not been televised, it will also not be so easily tamped out.

Less understandable, even from a purely rational viewpoint, is the stance being taken by Russia and China. Sure neither want "the western world" nosing their way into the sovereign business of either nation, especially in regards to either human rights violations (both, but China really) or election fraud/lack of actual democratic processes (Russia). Sure Syria hosts Russia's only naval base in the Mediterranean region and buys large amounts of ruskie weapons. The intervention into Libya that led to the death of Gaddafi clearly freaked both nations out. But are these reasons really enough for these two nations to force themselves to stand apart from the rest of the world and back someone who is clearly killing scores of his own people to maintain an increasingly tenuous grip on power? As the positions of the opposition harden, even in the face of near constant shelling, abduction, torture, and death, it becomes increasingly unlikely that al-Assad will ever be able to peaceably hold power again. What could Russia and China possibly get by standing on the wrong side of history and with a murderer? Yet, there are still quotes like this:

At a news conference in Moscow, Sergey V. Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said he regretted that the Friends of Syria conference in Tunisia last week had failed to foster the conditions that would encourage all Syrians to engage in political dialogue, according to an official transcript.

“It’s not realistic to demand that the government end its action against militants and keep the militants free of any obligations whatsoever,” Mr. Lavrov said. He lauded the Syrian referendum as “movement toward democracy.”

 And this:

In Beijing, the official People’s Daily newspaper said the United States had no right to criticize Chinese and Russian policy. The Obama administration, the newspaper said, “has not considered how to allow the Syrian people to put an early end to this disaster at minimal cost.”

These Russian and Chinese officials are either completely divorced from reality or are simply sipping the al-Assad regime's kool-aid* despite all the evidence to the contrary. The situation in Syria is not something developing into a political discussion; it is a burgeoning civil war that is going to get much worse before it gets any better. The tragedy here is that if two of the four BRIC nations were not being obstinate in the name of a foreign policy power play, both could actually be power players by leading a transition of power that deposed al-Assad. Further, especially for Russia, this could be in their self-interest as they would, seemingly, be looked upon more favorably by whatever government replaced al-Assad.

This will be looked upon as a tragic situation that reflects poorly on the leaders of Russia and China and makes a  21st Century mass murderer of al-Assad.

* Does the name of this delicious drink strike anyone else as weird? Like it somehow aids you in being cool while forcing you to misspell? Anyway, I do not know where that came from and I clealry I digress...