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Gates calls for Syrian forces to move aside


WestVirginiaRebel

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WestVirginiaRebel
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Financial Times:

The Syrian people should follow Egypt’s lead and the country’s army should “empower a revolution”, Robert Gates, US secretary of defence, said as thousands marched in a southern city.

Mr Gates made his comments – some of the toughest remarks to date by a US official about the rule of Bashar al-Assad, president – on a day of further upheaval in the Middle East and beyond.

The White House signalled that it was preparing for a change in power in Yemen, where it has been allied with the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, president. Officials also said Nato had neared a deal to take over command and control of the military operation in Libya, after a dispute within the alliance.

Drawing a parallel between the unrest in Syria and the protests that unseated Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former president, Mr Gates said: “I’ve just come from Egypt, where the Egyptian army stood on the sidelines and allowed people to demonstrate and in fact empowered a revolution. The Syrians might take a lesson from that.”

His comments came as thousands of people marched on Thursday in Deraa, southern Syria, where at least 44 people are now thought to have been killed in a week of protests, and as Mr Assad announced salary increases and promised greater freedom.

“I would say that what the Syrian government is confronting is in fact the same challenge that faces so many governments across the region, and that is the unmet political and economic grievances of their people,” Reuters quoted Mr Gates as saying during a trip to Israel.

The Obama administration as a whole has been careful to avoid the language of regime change when dealing with the Middle East and it was not clear if the White House shared Mr Gates’ sentiments.
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Except for calling on the local thugs to "Step down." And as we're seeing in Egypt, sometimes revolutions aren't all they're cracked up to be...
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ErnstBlofeld

Like Assad cares what Gates has to say about how to conduct Syrian internal affars. Get ready for a very big crackdown by Syrian troops. The massacre at the mosque is a taste for what is to come.

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