Clinton Steps Up Calls For A Halt To Violence In Syria

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton spoke at a Friends of Syria Conference in Tunis, Tunisia on February 24 for a call of ceasefire from the Syrian government to allow humanitarian aid to safely come in and aid the citizens;link. The Syrian National Council, the group opposing Syrian president Bashar Assad's violent regime, attended and spoke at the conference and is emerging as the potential voice and basis for a new era Syria and is proposing armed opposition as necessary for the Syrian citizens. Clinton remains focused on the humanitarian matter, stating that nobody wants a prolonged conflict.

Whether or not one is for or against involvement in foreign affairs, this is a big first step into the possibility of more future peaceful negotiations. It is interesting to note how Clinton implies a fair degree of respect by stating “Their refusal to continue this slaughter will make them heroes in the eyes of not only Syrians but people of conscience everywhere”. We cannot change the past but even if the things that are what they are right now should not be, there is always the possibility of using them as a means to make the changes we believe in. This could be seen as an advantage for federal government to begin a process of healing foreign relations and gaining back American trust through a means of non-militaristic foreign aid.

A few years ago, I had something of a grudge against Clinton, having thought that she was an incompetent politician, and used fast talking methods to cover up her weaknesses. However, she has now proved to be quite capable of holding her ground and being direct and honest so reading this article and my political perspective having changed so much really gave me a lot to think about. This article is interesting in how it illuminates in a non-biased manner the successes of the Obama administration; the stance Clinton has taken seems to have solidified the reputation of the administration's ability to follow through with their promise of peaceful actions and considering President Obama ended the war in Iraq as he promised, it seems more a reality. It is interesting how this article really helps to put it into perspective by straying away from the string of violent and revolutionary events of the Arab Spring, which has now been for a little over a year now, and demonstrating an idea for the very same kind of change that we had been promised. Not to mention, this is one of the few notions of a likely and feasible means of non-militaristic aid that has been seriously proposed for the Middle East on our end since the beginning of our involvement in Middle Eastern affairs dating back to the Gulf War.