Clinton rejects Syria military intervention; slams Russian resistance to U.N. action

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday laid out arguments against a military intervention in Syria despite calls for the West to take action after last week’s massacre in the town of Houla.

Speaking to Danish students, Clinton got tough questions on what might motivate the United States and other nations to take military action in Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad is battling a 14-month-old anti-government uprising.

Friday’s massacre of more than 100 civilians, many of them children, in Houla has triggered calls for the West to take more robust action in Syria, despite Russian and Chinese opposition.

However, Clinton rehearsed U.S. arguments against armed intervention for now in contrast with Libya, where Western-led air strikes last year helped bring an end to Muammar Qaddafi’s rule.

Clinton said Syria had a more diverse society with greater ethnic divisions, no unified opposition, stronger air defenses and a much more capable military than Libya’s.

Above all, she stressed there was no international support because of Russian and Chinese opposition at the U.N. Security Council, where they have twice vetoed resolutions on Syria.

“A lot of people are trying to figure out what could be an effective intervention that wouldn’t cause more death and suffering,” she said, arguing Syria’s population density increased the odds of civilian casualties in any armed action.

“We are thinking about all of this. There’s all kinds of both civilian and humanitarian and military planning going on but the factors are just not there,” she said.

Clinton said she had not given up on the possibility of persuading Russia to support stronger action against the Assad government, saying she had made the case that the chances of a full-blown civil war were higher if the world failed to act.

“The dangers we face are terrible,” she said, saying the violence between government forces and pro-Assad militias against the opposition forces would turn into something much worse.

“(That) could morph into a civil war in a country that would be riven by sectarian divides, which could then morph into a proxy war in the region because remember you have Iran deeply embedded in Syria,” she said.

“We know it could actually get much worse than it is.”

Clinton criticized Russia’s resistance to U.N. action on Syria, warning that its policy could contribute to a civil war.

The Russians “are telling me they don’t want to see a civil war. I have been telling them their policy is going to help contribute to a civil war,” she told a mainly student audience on a visit to Copenhagen.

“We have to bring the Russians on board,” said Clinton, who is in Denmark on the first leg of a Scandinavian tour.

via Clinton rejects Syria military intervention; slams Russian resistance to U.N. action.