Syria awoke to more bloodshed yesterday morning with at least 60 people killed across the country according to Al-Arabiya news. That same evening over 150 - 200 people were killed in the province of Hama. Read more on the Telegraph.
Within one week there have been two major defections to the opposition. Manaf Tlaf a Syrian general to the army and close friend to Assad fled Syria via Turkey. The Syrian ambassador to Iraq Nawaf al-Fares defected making him the highest profile defection yet. He urged the Syrian military to turn their guns on the Assad government in a speech delivered to Al Jazeera, he also accused the regime of being "the killer of the people".
The leaking of 2 million emails by Wikileaks has caused embarrassment for all players surrounding Syria. Wikileaks apparently cooperated with the hacker group Anonymous to produce the emails and information titled "SYRIA FILES". The files show how Western companies like Finmeccanica a high tech defence conglomerate that is partially owned by the Italian government have enjoyed supplying the Syrian regime with covert communications systems for the past 4 years.
Libya is not Syria or so we are told. However the two situations do look similar in regard to Western corporations and companies doing business with the Assad regime for years in the past.
Earlier this year Libya's ex Prime Minister who defected during the overthrowing of Gaddafi was found dead in the Danube, Austria. Before his death he was being questioned by the new Libyan government and journalists about corruption in the oil industry.
Some argue his death was no accident and if it was an accident it was of convenience. Mr Ghanem would have known the intricate details of contracts, deals and 'payola' to individuals. Perhaps he had knowledge of what was brokered at the 'deal in the desert' where the UK's Tony Blair had met Gaddafi to sign a number of confidential deals. Austria has since ruled out foul play regarding Mr Ghanem's early morning swim in the Danube. Although he did not die from drowning, he died from heart failure.
Earlier this year in April Finmeccanica's chief executive Giuseppe Orsi was being probed for allegations of corruption, paying bribes and money laundering which involved the sale of helicopters to India. Mr Orsi's predecessor was already being investigated for a separate case of corruption. Mr Orsi is also having to fend off allegations that he gave Berlusconi's government 10 million Euros in exchange for political support.
Is it any coincidence that both Berlusconi and Blair wish to get back into the political swim of things, perhaps to exert their political influence. Both men enjoyed a close relationship. Tony Blair had visited Berlusconi in Sardinia where he stayed at his villa.
If the Syrian uprising is to be resolved with either Western or even Russian military precision, it should be done on the basis that just as the Syrian people are confronted by monsters. We too in the West have our fair share of monsters, and we deserve justice just as much as Syria. Those who walked us blindly into having a relationship with the Assad's or Gaddafi's, who used our reputation for their own means, that lowered our professional moral standards so preventing us from intervening, when previously we would have been able to do so, must play no part in Syria's, Libya's and our future.
UPDATE
Orsi held on corruption charges - BBC News
Berlusconi trial postponed - The Guardian
Within one week there have been two major defections to the opposition. Manaf Tlaf a Syrian general to the army and close friend to Assad fled Syria via Turkey. The Syrian ambassador to Iraq Nawaf al-Fares defected making him the highest profile defection yet. He urged the Syrian military to turn their guns on the Assad government in a speech delivered to Al Jazeera, he also accused the regime of being "the killer of the people".
The leaking of 2 million emails by Wikileaks has caused embarrassment for all players surrounding Syria. Wikileaks apparently cooperated with the hacker group Anonymous to produce the emails and information titled "SYRIA FILES". The files show how Western companies like Finmeccanica a high tech defence conglomerate that is partially owned by the Italian government have enjoyed supplying the Syrian regime with covert communications systems for the past 4 years.
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| Tony Blair standing eagerly behind Mr Ghanem |
Libya is not Syria or so we are told. However the two situations do look similar in regard to Western corporations and companies doing business with the Assad regime for years in the past.
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| Libya's former PM Mr Ghanem |
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| Last man standing |
Some argue his death was no accident and if it was an accident it was of convenience. Mr Ghanem would have known the intricate details of contracts, deals and 'payola' to individuals. Perhaps he had knowledge of what was brokered at the 'deal in the desert' where the UK's Tony Blair had met Gaddafi to sign a number of confidential deals. Austria has since ruled out foul play regarding Mr Ghanem's early morning swim in the Danube. Although he did not die from drowning, he died from heart failure.
Earlier this year in April Finmeccanica's chief executive Giuseppe Orsi was being probed for allegations of corruption, paying bribes and money laundering which involved the sale of helicopters to India. Mr Orsi's predecessor was already being investigated for a separate case of corruption. Mr Orsi is also having to fend off allegations that he gave Berlusconi's government 10 million Euros in exchange for political support.
Is it any coincidence that both Berlusconi and Blair wish to get back into the political swim of things, perhaps to exert their political influence. Both men enjoyed a close relationship. Tony Blair had visited Berlusconi in Sardinia where he stayed at his villa.
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| Tony, Cherie and Berlusconi on Sardinia |
UPDATE
Orsi held on corruption charges - BBC News
Berlusconi trial postponed - The Guardian
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