by Stephen Lendman

It bears repeating what previous articles explained. Talks aren't for peace. They're for US demanded unconditional surrender. They for bowing to Washington's will.

They're about destroying Syrian sovereignty. They're for replacing it with pro-Western stooge governance. They're about denying Syrians the right to determine their future.

They're for turning Syria into replicas of Iraq and Libya. They're about continued violence, instability and insecurity.

They're for regional exploitation. They're about controlling its resources. They're for turning ordinary people into serfs. They're about isolating Iran.

Day one in Montreux was an exercise in Syria bashing. Forty counties participated. Washington had final say on choosing attendees.

Iran is a major regional player. Obama vetoed its participation. He did so unilaterally. He represents the worst of imperial lawlessness. He bears full responsibility for ravaging and destroying Syria.

Most participants have no interest in equitable conflict resolution. Their comments showed it. They took their cue from John Kerry.

Assad must go, he demands. He "will not be part of" transitional governance. "There is no way, no way possible, that a man who has led a brutal response to his own people can gain legitimacy to govern."

Fact check

Previous articles explained. Syria is Obama's war. He launched it. He bears full responsibility for mass killing, destruction and brutal atrocities.

He's a crime boss. He's a war criminal multiple times over. Kerry is his front man. He shares guilt.

Blaming Assad for US crimes doesn't wash. Demanding transitional governance excluding him has no legitimacy.

Syrians alone will decide. They want no outside interference in determining their future. International law supports them.

On January 22, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the conference. He's a US-installed stooge. He's a convenient imperial tool.

He lied calling Geneva II a "historic" chance for peaceful conflict resolution. No chance whatever exists. Not from Geneva.

Not as long as Washington demands regime change. Not as long as Ban regurgitates US diktats. Not as long as most other conference attendees do the same thing.

Bashar Jaafari is Syrian UN ambassador. Most conference participants are "anti-Syrian delegations," he said.

Their speeches were "provocative and repetitive statements based on hatred toward the Syrian government."

They were entirely one-sided. They mocked fairness. They bowed to Washington's will. They showed talks will achieve nothing.

China and Russia were exceptions. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged mutually acceptable conflict resolution.

"It is crucial to recognize that there is no military solution, and the Syrian people want to see a return of stability and order," he said.

"It is also crucial to appreciate the importance of a stable Syria to peace and security in the Middle East, including preventing the further spread of terrorism and extremism."

Minister Yi presented five principles for resolving Syria's conflict:

(1) Do it politically. Military solutions won't work. Dialogue and negotiations must replace it.

(2) Syrians alone must decide their future. No other way will work. Nothing else is legitimate. UN Charter provisions, principals and norms must be upheld. Nothing less is acceptable.

(3) An inclusive political transition must be agreed on. Syrians alone must choose it. Key is stopping violence.

(4) National reconciliation and unity must be achieved internally. Imposing it externally is unacceptable.

(5) Providing humanitarian aid is essential. Doing so for internally and externally displaced Syrians is vital.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said resolving Syrian's conflict must be "inclusive and peaceful." All parties must work together politically, he stressed.

"We hope that all external players will encourage the Syrians to reach an accord, to refrain - and to prevent the sides - from attempts to predetermine final agreements, from other steps capable of disrupting the negotiating process."

Moscow remains concerned. Western interests want Assad removed. They're mindless of how Syrians feel.

They want their will imposed. Greater regional conflict and instability are threatened.

"(T)he entire Middle Eastern region is going through the most difficult period of its history," Lavrov stressed.

"While Russia supports the Arab peoples' aspiration for a better life, sustained development and prosperity, the overdue reforms can be only efficient if implemented peacefully, non-violently, through a national dialogue."

Washington, other Western allies and regional ones want force-fed regime change. They want it through violence and instability.

They want another country entirely ravaged and destroyed.

Kerry's Montreux address included one lie after another. Wrongfully accusing Assad of US crimes doesn't wash.

Nor does demanding regime change. Kerry's notion of "a negotiated transition government formed by mutual consent" is one America imposes.

Reality is polar opposite what he said. Syrians reject his way forward. They want no part of US diktats.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem expressed their views. He delivered a powerful indictment of imperial lawlessness.

He did it forthrightly, eloquently and persuasively. He delivered it mostly to deaf ears and blind eyes.

He spoke to America, EU countries and despotic regional ones. They're responsible for mass slaughter, destruction, horrific atrocities and unspeakable human misery.

"Never have I been in a more difficult position," al-Moallem said.

"My delegation and I carry the weight of three years of hardship endured by my fellow countrymen - the blood of our martyrs, the tears of our bereaved, the anguish of families waiting for news of a loved one - kidnapped or missing, the cries of our children whose tender fingers were the targets of mortar shelling into their classrooms, the hopes of an entire generation destroyed before their very eyes, the courage of mothers and fathers who have sent all their sons to defend our country, the heartbreak of families whose homes have been destroyed and are now displaced or refugees."

"My delegation and I also carry the hope of a nation for the years to come - the right of every child to safely go to school again, the right of women to leave their homes without fear of being kidnapped, killed or raped; the dream of our youth to fulfill their vast potential; the return of security so that every man can leave his family safe in the knowledge that he will return."

Al-Moallem called it "regrettable" that Montreux participants include "representatives of countries that have the blood of Syrians on their hands."

They "exported terrorism." They deny Syrians the right to live in peace. They want their own will imposed.

They "shamelessly lecture us in democracy." They tolerate none at home. They prioritize destroying Syrian sovereignty. Their weapon of choice is state terrorism.

Syria remains wracked by violence. How can Saudi, Turkish and Western terrorist states "deliver on the aspirations of the Syrian people?"

Their proxies commit horrific atrocities. "(T)he wombs of pregnant women are butchered and their fetuses killed."

"Women are raped dead or alive...Men are slaughtered in front of their children in the name of the revolution."

"Worse still, this is done whilst the children of these foreign perpetrators sing and dance."

"(H)ow can so-called revolutionaries cannibalize a man's heart and claim to promote freedom, democracy and a better life?"

How can the worst of Wahhabi extremism be called good for Syria? How can what the vast majority of Syrians oppose?

"Under the pretext of the 'Great Syrian Revolution,' civilians, clergymen, women and children are killed, victims are indiscriminately blown up in streets and buildings regardless of their political views or ideologies."

"Books and libraries are burned. Graves are dug up and artifacts stolen. Children are killed in their schools and students in their universities."

"Women are extorted in the name of jihad al-nikah and other forms. Mosques are shelled whilst worshipers kneel at prayer."

"Heads are severed and hung in the streets. People are burned aliveIt's happening across Syria. One death squad atrocity follows another.

Assad is wrongfully blamed. Willful deception about what's happening can't be tolerated. "(W)eb of deceit" must be stopped.

Foreign terrorists invaded Syria. They're US proxies. They doing Washington's bidding. They came to mass murder.

They're "human monsters fully soaked in abhorrent Wahhabi ideology." They're responsible for Syrian bloodshed. They brought "misery and destruction."

It threatens the entire region. Terrorism respects no borders. It's "loyal only unto itself."

Killers from "83" nations were imported. They're murdering Syrian civilians. Syria's so-called "Great Revolution" is a Western sponsored foreign invasion.

Al-Moallem affirmed that "Syria, the sovereign and independent state, will continue to do whatever it takes to defend herself with whatever means it deems necessary, without paying the least bit of attention to any uproar, denunciations, statements or positions expressed by others."

"These have been and always will be Syria’s sovereign decisions." Syrians remain "steadfast," he stressed.

They endure against long odds. They've done it despite endless violence and destruction. They've withstood punishing sanctions.

They "starve the population." They cause "sickness and death."

"At the same time, factories were looted and burned." Food and pharmaceutical industries were "crippl(ed)."

"Hospitals and healthcare centers were destroyed. Our railroads and electricity lines were sabotaged, and even our places of worship - Christian and Muslim."

"When all this failed, America threatened to strike Syria." Big Lies tried justifying doing so.

Syria was falsely accused of using chemical weapons. Irrefutable evidence shows terrorists bear full responsibility.

Saudi Arabia supplied toxic agents. US operatives trained proxy killers in their use. At the same time, they preach democracy, human rights and freedom.

They do so while slaughtering Syrians. They do it while ravaging and destroying the country.

They do it while committing horrific atrocities. They do it while denying their own people what they demand for Syrians.

Their concerns ring hollow. They represent the worst of unconscionable ruthlessness. Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya mass murder and destruction represent what they stand for.

So-called "Friends of Syria" are their worst enemies. They deplore what they claim to stand for. They have Syrian blood on their hands.

They "liv(e) in five star hotels" while committing mass murder. They sold their souls to the highest bidder.

They're self-serving. They're traitors. They're criminals. They're responsible for three years of terrorism.

Al-Moallem thanked Russia and China. He did so for "respecting Syrian sovereignty and independence."

"Russia has been a true champion on the international stage strongly defending, not only with words but also with deeds, the founding principles of the United Nations..."

China, BRICS countries, Iran and Iraq have done so, he said. So have Latin American countries and others worldwide.

Western nations and rogue regional allies wage terrorism while claiming to fight it. They bear full responsibility for Syrian suffering.

Al-Moallem asked conference participants if this is the Syria they want. Do they support the loss of "thousands of martyrs and our once cherished safety and national security...?"

Do they endorse the worst of imported terrorism? Did they come to Montreux for this purpose? Have they no sense of decency? Are rule of law principles unimportant?

Is conflict without end OK? Is Syrian misery? Do self-serving interests trump all others?

Is greater regional conflict OK? What about risking its global spread? What about threats too grave to ignore?

Syria remains in the eye of the storm. It bears repeating. Obama bears full responsibility. Western and regional allies share it.

Geneva is an exercise in futility. Chances of success are zero. What follows remains to be seen.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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