In early June, White House press secretary Jay Carney said “bloody sectarian war will be diminished if Assad removes himself from power or is no longer in power.”

“It is essential that the world community come together and unify to pressure Assad and isolate Assad and help precipitate a situation where that political transition can take place.”

Hillary Clinton accused Russia of keeping Assad in power. Putin faces heavy pressure to bow to Western demands. Will he yield or hold firm?

Moscow signed a Security Council statement condemning the Houla massacre. Unlike Washington, Western partners, and regional allies, it points fingers both ways.

Along with China and Cuba, it rejected the Human Rights Council’s (HRC) decision to condemn Syria for the Houla killings. It called doing it “imbalanced and biased.” More on that below.

Moscow also repudiates regime change. Putin believes national sovereignty is inviolable. He opposes intervention and war. He rejects Libya 2.0. He supports ending conflict and restoring peace. Succeeding is another matter.

On June 5, Putin arrived in Beijing for an official state visit. Discussions will focus on mutual economic and geopolitical interests and concerns.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said both nations oppose intervention in Syria or plans for regime change by force. They support dialogue for conflict resolution.

On June 4, Assad addressed the People’s Assembly. He minced no words for good reason. Since last year, he’s been wrongly blamed for Western-instigated violence. It continues daily.

Pro-Assad loyalists, other civilians, and security forces are targeted and killed in cold blood. Houla was the most extreme incident.

An Islamist group called Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) claimed responsibility for May Damascus bombings. Dozens were killed, many others wounded. The group also said it killed 13 civilians in Deir Ezzor province last week. They were shot at close range in the head. Their hands were tied behind their backs.

Many other incidents claimed smaller tolls. Body counts mount. Syrians are terrorized. Most blame outside forces, not their government.

Washington, key NATO partners, and regional allies bear full responsibility. Out-of-control violence won’t stop. They won’t let it. Death and destruction continues.

Fabricated reports and lies blame Assad. On June 4, he responded, saying:

“Since the early days of this crisis, we announced a number of clear political steps to enhance the development process through popular participation in order to undercut all those who tried to hide under slogans of reform and make use of the events for unpatriotic and dishonourable objectives.”

“Despite the denials of these achievements in the political sphere on the part of foreign and domestic powers….we have never stopped carrying out what we announced and what we started.”

“Laws have been passed, local administration elections have been held, and later on there was a referendum on the constitution in response to those attempts.”

“The international role in what is happening is already well-known not only for decades, but for centuries past. And I don’t think it’s going to change in the foreseeable future. Colonialism is still colonialism. It only changed in terms of methods and ways of attack.”

“The political process is moving forward, but terrorism is growing and hasn’t subsided. The laws which have been passed since the beginning of the crisis haven’t made an impact on terrorism and made it subside.”

“Terrorists are concerned neither with reform nor with dialogue. They are criminals who have set themselves a task….They will never stop unless we stop them.”

“What we are facing is a project of internal sedition aiming at the destruction of the homeland. The instrument of this sedition is terrorism.”

“We are now facing a real war waged from outside. And dealing with a war is different from dealing with an internal conflict or dealing with Syrian parties. This point should be very clear.”

“Terrorism is not related to the political process. It targets all the homeland, its institutions and its parties.”

“Today we are defending a cause and a homeland. We are not doing what we are doing because we love blood. A battle has been forced on us, and the result was the blood which has been spilled. “…..more here