Tag: Syria

theatlantic: The Authority to ‘Declare War’: A Power Obama Does Not Have The prime minister of the United Kingdom, armed with the Royal Prerogative, does not need Parliament’s assent to lead Britain into war. The president of the United States, holder of an office designed to keep “prerogative” powers in check, assuredly does. Yet history will apparently write that, in the late summer of 2013, the prime minister sought permission and, when Parliament denied it, receded from the field — and that a president scorned to ask, and went ahead with an act of war.  This paradox shows that American intervention…

Cameron loses vote on Syria Prime Minster David Cameron said it was clear Parliament does not want action and “the government will act accordingly”.

breakingnews: Kerry: ‘Must be accountability’ for chemical weapons use in Syria NBC News: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said chemical weapons were used in Syria and that President Barack Obama will be “making an informed decision about how to respond.” In a speech delivered on Monday, Kerry said President Barack Obama believes “there must be accountability” and that the administration is consulting with members of Congress.  He spoke hours after a United Nations team investigating claims of a poison-gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital collected blood samples and interviewed survivors despite being temporarily turned back by sniper fire. UN Secretary…

After last week’s four-day-long weekend this one lasts only one day in Hungary. A pretty annoying practice really, although I have to add yesterday was the first “working Saturday” when I actually worked. On past ones I only went to work or not even that. The one day weekend turned out to be quite unpleasant though, so I don’t even mind it’s almost over already.  Unfortunately, I also had some major PC issues this past week and I wasn’t even able to use my laptop for a couple of days. Lessons learned: 1. A dysfunctional keyboard for a graphomaniac like…

Pillay says Syrian chemical weapons allegations “exceptionally grave,” investigation essential “These allegations are exceptionally grave and need to be comprehensively proved or disproved as soon as is humanly possible. Whether or not chemical weapons were in fact used, it seems that once again in Syria many civilians have been killed in flagrant contravention of international law.” /Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights/

Happy Sunday everyone, there is another major heat wave in Hungary these days, records are expected to break again. Things don’t stop moving for the summer though, I came across quite a few great reads this week. Check them out! On world affairs: US Military: No Good Military Solution to the Syrian Conflict Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey (and many others) thinks so. But is there any other solution? Our shared responsibility to protect An unlikely couple, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and President Bush’s envoy to Sudan Richard S. Williamson shared this opinion piece…

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process – C-SPAN Video Library Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Martti Ahtisaari of Finland and former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi talked about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. They discussed the topic earlier in the day with Secretary of State Kerry. Former President Carter acknowledged that conditions are far more difficult now than during his presidency. Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, also spoke about Syria. He refused to characterize either the Syrian regime or the opposition as ‘winning’ in their civil war but said that there can be no military victory but there must be a…

Happy Bastille Day to everybody reading from France! Just when I announced layoff season last week, things got going again. Which I don’t mind at all since I can’t take off time for a holiday this year anyway. Let’s see what I have found worthy of reading and sharing this week. On world affairs: Laura Dean’s Cairo Diary Please keep following Laura Dean’s Cairo Diary on Lawfare. Yes, I am recommending this for the second time, but it really is that good! How We Are Failing Syrian People Yet another piece on how the international community is failing to do…

I submitted this photo this week for http://ifuwerentafraid.tumblr.com/. Sheryl Sandberg’s LeanIn.org is asking you what would you do if you weren’t afraid? And this answer pretty much sums up my life right now. Based on the notes it got, I am not alone feeling this way. What would your answer be? Go to http://ifuwerentafraid.tumblr.com/ and submit your photo. On other news, we are after a huge heat-wave in Hungary with all-time-high temperature records breaking almost every day. I still claim I like this weather, although I admit it is less pleasant when you have work to do and errands to run. Or a…

– Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis over 1,6 million people left Syria to seek refuge in another country. – That accounts roughly for 6% of Syria’s overall population. – Most usually they flee for one of the neighbouring countries – Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt. – Having to cope with such a large number of refugees puts a heavy burden on the host countries, especially those not quite well off themselves. – The majority of Syrian refugees arrive with not much more than their clothes on, so they cannot get by without aid. – Three-quarters of the Syrian refugees…