Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Report of the Head of the League of Arab States Observer Mission to Syria

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, February 3, 2012

Report of the Head of the League of Arab States Observer Mission to Syria

Click here to access article from Voltaire Network.

This is the only report I've seen from the Arab League Observer Mission that has been so roundly criticized by Western political figures. The report seems to focus on the details and forgoes any summary statements about the violence in Syria. There also seems to be a lot of evidence that the Mission was not very well organized to handle a lot of very tense situations that one would expect.

One finding that was of special interest to me is their observations about an unknown "armed entity" or "entities" that were associated with violence against the government and citizens. This could be the mercenary forces that independent sources report as being supported and inserted into Syria from nearby countries to spread violence and chaos. See this, this, this, and this for more details.