Will the UN get involved in Syria?

..Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall-Grant said that the council statement, while important, was not enough.

"Over the next two days, the Security Council will be meeting again to discuss in more detail what steps need to be taken," he told reporters.

As I've said many times before, there isn't "anything" the UN can do.

Their attempts at talking has no influence or "power" behind it. They're a 98 lb weakling trying to "talk" Asaad into a peace.

It's not going to happen by UN actions.

It has to happen by the international community cooperating to demand a sanction/embargo against Syria.

That's about how much influence the UN has in today's world.

The reason I'm not ready to talk about "charter change," is because it doesn't change what makes them powerless today.

Syria is almost next door to Europe, but they're not doing anything either. Why should the US get involved in an intractable war that will cost US lives and treasure? Our economy is also hurting.

There's a world of difference between being a member of the UN vs what the community of nations can do to stop people like the leader of Syria. The UN can't involve the military of all the countries who are members. Individual members must "volunteer" to get involved. None seem forthcoming.

UN monitors arrive to gruesome scene of massacre
Updated June 09, 2012 13:49:40/ABC news

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Video: WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: UN monitors enter Syrian village of Qubair
Map: Syrian Arab Republic

UN monitors have arrived at the gruesome scene of a massacre in the Syrian village Qubair, where militia loyal to the government are said to have slaughtered at least 78 people on Wednesday.

The UN observers are trying to verify the details of the massacre, but were yesterday stopped from entering the village and were fired upon by small arms and turned back by both security forces and residents of the area.

Activists say government forces removed many of the bodies while the UN observers were being hindered from reaching the site.

The opposition has blamed the killings on militia loyal to president Bashar al-Assad, while the government has accused terrorists of the attacks.

Activists say army tanks shelled Kubeir before storming in with plainclothes gunmen, killing more than half of the village's 150 residents and burning many of their bodies.

The BBC's Paul Danahar, who is travelling with the main UN convoy, has described a hellish scene at the village.

He says houses in the area have been burnt out and body parts lie on the ground.

Danahar says he is sickened by what he has seen and the stench of burning flesh in the village is still strong.

"There is a big pile of congealed blood, there is a tablecloth that still has pieces of someone's brain attached to the side of it," he said.

"We can see that some of the houses have been burnt out - one of them looks to have an RPG hole blown out the side of it.

"There is no-one alive from this village to tell us what happened at the moment. We've been led up here by some nearby villagers, they say it was Shahiba - militia from another village that have come and done this.

Danahar says the village has been torched and it looks like there was some evidence of the massacre has been cleared away. ....<cont>

Gun battles rage in streets of Damascus
Last Modified: 08 Jun 2012 20:11/Al Jazeera

Syrian army and opposition fighters clash in capital's Mezze neighbourhood, as monitors reach al-Qubeyr massacre site.


Amateur video released by the Syrian opposition purports to show explosions in the Khaldiyeh area of Homs [AP]

Fierce gunfights between security forces and rebels have broken out on the streets of a neighbourhood in the Syrian capital, Damascus, residents said, as government troops battled to take back the rebel bastion of Khaldiyeh in the central city of Homs.

Residents of Damascus' Mezze district said they were hiding in their homes on Friday as gunfire crackled outside.

"The gunfire is so loud; I think some bullets could have hit the house. I'm afraid to go outside to see what is happening," one resident said.

Activists and Syrian state television said a car bomb exploded in the Qadsiya suburb of Damascus, killing at least two members of the security forces.

Syrian TV blamed the bomb on "terrorists," using the term it frequently uses to describe rebels fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

In the early stages of the 15-month-old uprising, Damascus remained firmly under government control as Assad's forces tried to crush opposition in other parts of the country.

But in recent months shooting and bombings have erupted in several neighbourhoods. ...<cont>

Suicides Eclipse War Deaths for U.S. Troops

There have been 154 suicides among active-duty troops this year, a rate of nearly one death a day that is on pace to set a record annual high since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The need to publicize the atrocities in Syria is necessary for the world community to act,

but I'm afraid nobody is willing to be the first to commit their military in this conflict.

Amid rising violence, U.N. suspends Syria mission
June 16, 2012/ 6:21 am/ LA TIMES


BEIRUT -- The United Nations said Saturday it was suspending its observer mission in Syria because of escalating violence in the country, signaling a major setback in a U.N.-brokered effort to end violence in the strife-torn nation.

"U.N. observers will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations until further notice," Gen. Robert Mood, head of the observer mission, said in a statement.

Increasing violence "is limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects," Mood said.

The suspension will be reviewed "on a daily basis," the Norwegian general said. "Operations will resume when we see the situation is fit for us to carry out our mandated activities." The observers will remain in place and are not being pulled out of Syria, the U.N. said.

The unarmed mission, begun six weeks ago, has had several close calls, including a number of incidents in which observer vehicles were shot at. At least two roadside bombs have also exploded near observer vehicles, the U.N. said. The U.N. has reported no injuries to its staffers.

In statements to the press on Friday, the general bemoaned what he called “a lack of willingness” by both sides in the conflict “to seek a peaceful transition.” The general added: “Instead there is a push toward advancing military positions.”

The escalating violence, Mood suggested Friday, could be imperiling the U.N. mission, which now includes almost 300 unarmed observers. The observers are part of the six-point peace plan crafted by U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan. Both sides have widely violated the plan, which calls for a cease-fire and pullback of government forces from populated areas, among other points.

U.N. officials must decide soon what to do with the observer mission, which involves monitors from more than 60 U.N. nations, the general said. Its current mandate expires July 20.

The observers’ job, Mood said, is becoming “increasingly risky.” Participating nations must weigh whether the risk level is getting too high, said Mood, who acknowledged “frustration” among the monitors about the continuing violence.

“We would like to see — last week, yesterday, not tomorrow or next week — a different situation, where those who have their fingers on the trigger, whoever they are, make the decision to take their fingers off the triggers and give the Syrian people a chance to move forward,” Mood told reporters in Damascus on Friday. ...<cont>