A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

With the increasing possibility of some kind of intervention in Syria looming, a University of Chicago panel tried to unpack how liberal thought and Western power politics often are used to mask the unsavory aspects of what many usually call “humanitarian intervention.” The speakers mentioned the Arab Spring, the war in Libya and went into detail on how military intervention is employed in the name of human rights.

Thursday was the first operative day of the cease-fire in Syria. On that day, more than a dozen people were reported killed in fighting, and Syrian forces had not pulled back their tanks from the major cities, as per the agreement. So it’s the kind of cease-fire where 12 people die.

This is pretty much what I expected when violence from Syria moved across the border to Turkey. I mentioned that Turkey was a NATO member. And now the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is hints at NATO member obligations.

I think it would be a mistake to look at the tenuous success from the first day of a cease-fire in Syria and pronounce the cease-fire solved. In fact, the government isn’t honoring the cease-fire. It included a provision to have the regime pull back their security forces from the major cities. They have not done so. Tanks still set outside the major urban centers.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

Dayen’s news roundup from April 8, 2012, including stories about Iran’s nuclear program, economic recovery, John Derbyshire, Syria, Span, Aghanistan, Greece, ICE, Georgia, RIP Mike Wallace, immigration law and more.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

Like many times in the past, the claims of the Syrian government that they ended the fighting in advance of a cease-fire have been proven wrong. The opposition Local Coordinating Committees report that civilians have been targeted in recent days, including ones displaced from their homes. Idlib province has been shelled, with small villages and [...]