the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
said the conflict had become "calamity" that threatens global peace.
US President Barack Obama
I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody...
called for the international community to join together to end the rule of
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
. Because of the failure of international efforts to end the war "it is better for Arab countries themselves to intervene out of their humanitarian, political and military duties and do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed," al-Thani told the General Assembly.
The emir cited the precedent of an Arab intervention force sent to Leb in the 1970s in a bid to halt that country's civil war. He called the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
-backed operation in 1976 "a step that proved to be effective and useful." The Qatar leader is a fierce critic of Assad whose government has accused Qatar and Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
of arming Syrian rebels.
Al-Thani said the 18-month old Syrian conflict "has reached an unacceptable phase" with a government "that does not hesitate to use all sorts of weapons against its people." He said intervention was needed because all efforts to "get Syria out of the cycle of killing" had been in vain and the UN Security Council has "failed" to take a stand.
The conflict "is a regional calamity with global ramifications" that needs action by the Security Council, Ban said as he opened the summit. "The international community should not look the other way as violence spirals out of control," Ban told world leaders, adding that "brutal" rights abuses were being committed by Assad's forces.
He said the Security Council and countries in the region must "solidly and concretely" support peace efforts by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. "We must stop the violence and flow of arms to both sides and set in motion a Syrian-led transition as soon as possible," Ban added.
The 15-nation Security Council is deadlocked over the conflict which Syrian activists say has left more than 29,000 dead.