"A week of UN-brokered peace talks between Syria's opposition and government has failed to achieve any tangible results, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Friday. "I regret to tell you that we have not reached tangible results during this week," he told reporters after the closed-door negotiations wrapped up in Geneva. Muallem blamed a "lack of maturity and seriousness" on the part of the rival delegation, which he claimed had sought to "implode" the peace negotiations. "They acted as if we had wanted to come here for one hour and hand over everything to them. It's indicative of the illusions that they are living under," he said. Muallem spoke after UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said he aimed to bring the two sides back to the table for a new round of talks from February 10. " pl
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Why? Why "bring the two sides back" Why? The result will be the same, so why do it again? The various rebel factions are fighting each other. They will be doing the same thing in the future. Perhaps the goal is to persist in this futility in the hope that eventually a pretext can be found that will persuade the american people that air attacks in Syria are a good idea. In similar fashion there is now "log rolling" for the notion that Syria is failing to cooperate in the removal of chemical agents and precursor chemicals from its territory.
BTW, does anyone here believe that it would be a good idea to extradite the Knox woman to Italy?
pl
I would like some comments from US lawyers who read this blog:
What is Ms Knox's status in the US now? Is she a convicted felon?. Does she lose any civil rights? Can she obtain a passport?
Posted by: r whitman | 01 February 2014 at 12:50 PM
Colonel
Seems that Foggy Bottom can be a chameleon where Iran is concerned:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/31/iran-mohammad-khazaee-philadelphia_n_4703018.html?utm_hp_ref=uk&ir=UK
The representative of Iran at the UN missions needs a visa whenever he has to travel within the US since he is confined by the American authorities within a 25-mile radius of Columbus Circle. His request to attend an eventin Philly at the invitation of theWorld Affairs Council is up in the air.
Posted by: The beaver | 01 February 2014 at 03:44 PM
Beaver
Like a lot of people in government most State Department folk have few ideas that are authentically theirs. they are just weather vanes. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 01 February 2014 at 04:17 PM
Colonel
With your permission, just a link to show the news about Reuters' collaboration work:
http://www.emptywheel.net/2014/01/30/reuters-allows-anonymous-diplomats-to-blame-syria-for-delays-mostly-us-fault/
Posted by: The beaver | 01 February 2014 at 08:27 PM
All seriousness aside, how cool would it if Amanda Knox and Justin Bieber became an item? Even better - a threesome with Miley Cyrus. That would be some kind of Super Bowl halftime!
Posted by: euclidcreek | 02 February 2014 at 12:44 AM