Russia & China grow backbones

The West has failed once again failed in its plan to impose new UN sanctions on Syria as a prelude to NATO bombing.

Incredibly, Russia and China both grew backbones and vetoed the latest Western move. Nine nations favored the Western excuse to start yet another war. Four abstained, including India, South Africa, Brazil, and Lebanon.

Susan Rice, the militant U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called Russia’s and China’s move to prevent a new war an "outrage."

Russia wanted the UN measure (written by France) to condemn both the Syrian government and the Western-backed terrorists that are spreading death and mayhem. The West rejected that, but watered down the language on sanctions three times to try to avoid the vetoes. However Vitaly Churkin, Russia's U.N. ambassador, said Russia couldn't consider the resolution without taking into account the Security Council's murderous attack on Libya.

Meanwhile the West has succeeded in destroying Syria’s tourism industry, one of the main earners of hard currency, and separately imposed a ban on imports of Syrian oil.

Syria retaliated by imposed import tariffs on European goods, but this angered the Syrian merchant class, so Syria’s government rescinded that measure today (4 Oct 2011), a mere 12 days after it was imposed. 

BOUNDLESS HYPOCRISY

The West continues its support for the Bahrain monarchy’s savage crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. On 29 Sep 2011 a military court sentenced 26 medical doctors and nurses to jail for up to 15 years for giving medical care to civilians wounded by government forces.  One of the doctors. Ms. Fatima Haji, said she was forced into making false confessions and threatened with rape.

Bahraini Princess Sheikha Noora al-Khalifa personally used cables to beat prisoners, and applied electric shocks to them.

The 26 victims worked at the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama, where they frantically tried to save the lives of men, woman and children wounded by government forces, who removed wounded patients from their beds and took them to prisons, where many died.

The monarchy also sentenced one protester to death, and gave more than 30 other protesters sentences of three years or more. Hundreds of other activists remain in jail pending their sentencing.

The USA has radically increased its arms shipments to Bahrain, in order to help the monarchy crush dissent. In 2009, US military exports to Bahrain totaled only $88 million. In 2010 the USA sent $760,000 worth of rifles, shotguns and assault weapons to the monarchy.  Last week the USA announced a new $200 million arms sale to Bahrain.

Meanwhile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged countries still selling weapons to Syria’s government to “get on the right side of history.”

Bahrain is the smallest country in the Middle East, but its democracy protests have been the largest, proportionately, of any country in the region. It is ruled by a non-elected monarchy. The prime minister is the king’s uncle