Once again, China and Russia come to Assad's rescue...

Yesterday, China and Russia vetoed a UN resolution condemning Syria for its military crackdown against an overwhelmingly peaceful protest movement that has killed over 2,700 people, according to the UN.
The resolution, drafted by France, assisted by Britain, Germany and Portugal, demanded an end to the violence, condemning arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters,  and that those responsible for the repression be held accountable.
It also called for measures guaranteeing fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech, and of assembly, and demanded the release of all political prisoners….
The language on possible sanctions was modified three times in order to mollify potentially reticent members, and in the final draft, the term sanction is not even mentioned…Instead, the resolution merely refers to the possibility of sanctions in the future should Syria persist in defying the will of the international community.  
The vote in the Security Council was nine in favor, and two opposed.
India, South Africa, Brazil and Lebanon abstained…
China and Russia voted against it, and since both possess a right of veto as permanent members of the Council, the resolution was rejected…
Its supporters were both disappointed and outraged.
Alain Juppé, France’s Foreign minister denounced Syrian President Assad as a dictator who is massacring his people,  and pledged continued support for those in Syria demanding the respect of their fundamental rights.
France’s Ambassador to the UN condemned the veto as a rejection of the extraordinary movement in support of freedom and democracy that is the Arab Spring.
The US voiced its outrage at the resolution’s defeat.
During this season of change, the people of the Middle East can now see clearly which nations have chosen to ignore their calls for democracy and instead prop up desperate, cruel dictators, Susan E. Rice, the US ambassador declared.
The Russians justified their rejection of the resolution, considering it too confrontational. This approach is against the peaceful solution of the crisis on the basis of a Syrian national dialogue, the Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin declared.
The Chinese could not countenance the notion interference in Syria’s affairs…
In fact, both nations feared that a more robust resolution could lead to a Libya-like Western intervention in Syria, a proposition they could not possibly support.
Rice denounced this objection as a cheap ruse on the part of those nations determined not to lose their lucrative arms deals with Syria.
This is not, as some would like to pretend, a Western issue. We had countries all over the world supporting this resolution today, and we have countries throughout the region who’ve been very clear that the brutality of the Assad regime has to end and that the behavior of the regime is absolutely intolerable, she said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated that his nation would adopt its own sanctions against its neighbor.
Out of necessity our package of sanctions will come into effect, he declared.
 Furthermore, to increase the pressure on Syria, the Turks announced that they would be holding military maneuvers lasting eight days in Hatay province, which borders the Syrian state…
Hence, the Russians and Chinese once gain came to the rescue of the brutal and despicable Assad regime…
This is hardly surprising, considering how Russia handled Chechnya’s quest for independence…
As for the Chinese, no one has forgotten how the despotic regime responded to the demands for freedom and democracy on the part of its youth one June day in 1989...
The Syrian people are unlikely to forget those nations that preferred to support a brutal despot victimizing his own people, instead of those brave citizens brazen enough to march in their cities' streets demanding justice, freedom and democracy…
(the photograph above of the Syrian child protester was found here...)