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Subscribe to RSSThe wives of U.N. diplomats have produced a video appealing to Asma Assad to stop her husband's bid to thwart the uprising in his country. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
Updated 11:51 a.m. ET: The wives of two United Nations ambassadors have produced an Internet video appealing to Syria's first lady, Asma Assad, to "stop your husband" Bashar in his bid to thwart a popular uprising that has left thousands dead.
The film, posted on YouTube, contrasts the lavish lifestyle of 36-year-old mother-of-three Asma with images of dead and injured Syrian children and asks viewers to sign a petition demanding the U.K.-born first lady speak out to "stop the bloodshed."
"Some women care for style... and some care for their people," it says, in a reference to her frequent shopping trips to Europe.
"Stand up for peace, Asma. Speak out now. For the sake of your people. Stop your husband," asks the video. "Stop being a bystander. No one cares about your image. We care about your action."
It includes a file clip of Asma, a former investment banker, telling an audience, "We should all be able to live in peace, stability and with our dignities."
The video then asks: "What happened to you, Asma?"
The video was produced by Sheila Lyall Grant, the wife of Britain's U.N. envoy and Huberta von Voss-Wittig, the wife of Germany's U.N. ambassador. Britain and Germany are both members of the U.N. Security Council.
"We strongly believe in Asma's responsibility as a woman, as a wife and as a mother. As the vocal female Arab leader that she used to be, as a champion of female equality, she can not hide behind her husband," Lyall Grant and Wittig said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Report: 'I am the real dictator,' wife of Syria's Bashar Assad says
The European Union has banned Asma Assad from traveling to the EU or shopping from European companies.
The video follows a similar online appeal from human rights group Rise 4 Humanity.
Asma and her husband were shown on Syrian state TV Wednesday packing food aid, an apparent effort to change their public image.
State television broadcast pictures on Wednesday of the Assads receiving a rapturous welcome at al-Fahya stadium in Damascus. They joined hundreds of volunteers boxing cartons full of flour, sugar, cooking oil and pasta for victims of fighting in Homs, where the president's forces are crushing an uprising.
The Assads have long worked to manage their image, but it backfired a year ago when a glamorous photo shoot and gushing profile of Asma appeared in Vogue magazine just as her husband launched his violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
The U.N. estimates Assad's forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the uprising. Syrian authorities say foreign-backed militants have killed over 2,600 soldiers and police.
The 15-nation U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to authorize an initial deployment of 30 unarmed observers to monitor a shaky truce that started on Thursday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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I don't remember any women saying don't violate international for lies and invade Iraq, not Madame Sec's Albright, Rice or Clinton all for go ahead, never mind the collateral damage, we are out for shock therapy for the Middle East kind of like Albright's father taught to Rice before the clouds started mushrooming on the horizon of our fantasy lives... Talking down the wife has a long traditon from Marie Antionette on down to today. Whatever Laura had to say to Bush e do know she campaigned for Afghan women but then an Enron executives wife also handed our our vodka stingers to freedom fighter to get rid of the feminist friendly Marxists so we could come and save them some other day, nevermind Carter started helping them to entice the Soviets to come in and help out so we could boycott the Moscow Olympics..
That really is outrageous.The wives (or had it been husbands if the Ambassadors were women),interfering in a sovereign states affairs,and posting a video to a President's wife. If the Syrian government defeats the rebels,these types of insults will not be forgotten or forgiven,that they can bet on.I suppose now the Russian and Chinese UN Ambassador's wives need to make a video appealing to Michelle Obama to "stop her husband" from threatening or attacking Iran.Hmm,actually that wouldn't be a bad idea.I'd like to see the reaction here if that happened,and they posted it all over Youtube.
Oh, yes. So outrageous, trying different avenues to attempt to stop the slaughter of civilians and getting Assad to abide by the ceasefire he's already agreed to. Just terrible. I hope they're all locked up for their insolence.
IF, and that's a big IF, the Syrian government prevails, they'll have a much bigger beef than some sappy video (mostly the courting of international support, the sanctions, monetary assistance to the rebels, etc.). But why would we care? Syria is nothing to us.
But don't let my little criticisms of your bizarre logic stop your cheerleading for a tyrant stamping out any hope of democracy and progress.
SFaccoutant . that's all i hear democracy what Fing democracy buddy people do not want your democracy Syria is the only Arab country next to Lebanon that allow Christians to practice their religion freely , and have more democracy that your Friends the dumb Saudis and Gulf states ever will have . Please do not talk democracy neither us or NATO or any country in the world have the right to tell anybody how to live in their country , and when senator crazy McCain want to send money to support the opposition in Russia what happened if the Russians decided to do the same to the opposition in our country , I wonder what you and McCain and his alike will say , democracy my foot the Fing Europeans been stealing little countries wealth for years under the name of democracy , Look whats happening in Libya now they are stealing the oil and left the Russians , Chinese , and US out , even after we spend billion dollar and to bomb that country , democracy , Its more like HYPOCRISY .
I don't care about most of what you said, since it's just wildly exaggerated accusations about opinions I don't actually have and other nonsense, but as far this:
"Please do not talk democracy neither us or NATO or any country in the world have the right to tell anybody how to live in their country"
The key is "live" in their country. When a dictator is slaughtering its people wholesale, people are having the right to "live" in their country taken away from them. At that point it's not about whether we have the right to tell others that they should have free elections and democratic institutions (although we do, and they should), it's about doing what we can to save thousands of innocent people from a sadistic and tyrannical killer.
If things turn out that Christians are being persecuted, then I'll be the first to condemn that too. Wrongdoing is wrongdoing no matter who's doing it. And right now the wrongdoing is with Assad keeping tanks and artillery in cities and having his soldiers fire on refugee camps.
But hey, you feel free to defend that kind of tyranny. I'm going to keep on defending democracy, no matter what you say.
Yes SF accountant opinions just like wives everybody have one or if you on the other side opinions just like husbands , But i like to know what refugee camp you talking about , what we do if Mexico allowed Al Qaeda to attack us then run back into Mexico ,The Turks are helping in training, arming and sheltering these thugs , just like Pakistan doing to Taliban , freshen my memory buddy , What are doing in Pakistan and our drones doing their , aren't we attacking them in Pakistan , short memory , you can keep defending democracy like you want , but some of you got selective democracy that they support and i think you one of them buddy . These thugs are murdering people and showing it on videos , Assad just as brutal as any pres. when it comes to defending his people , you might not like it , NATO might not like , but i remember couple of months ago NATO killed over fifty thousands civilians trying to protect them , they no better than Qaddafi , sorry , but they are worth because they go to different countries and keep on killing .,
The refugee camp in Turkey. I believe a few Syrians were killed in the attack and several Turks injured. It was reported on this site as has been mentioned in several other articles. You DO read these articles before posting on them, right?
I don't care about your mumbling about Pakistan. This isn't about Pakistan. Off-topic.
I don't care about Al Qaeda operating in Mexico, because they're NOT operating in Mexico. That would be a bizarre scenario, and you slinging it out without any context does nothing to prove your point or effect mine.
But here's your main problem here: Assad is not as brutal in "defending" his people as anyone else. He is ASSAULTING his people directly. That's how this started, and he's continued to do so. He has employed heavy weapons and artillery again civilians, and prevented aid agencies from helping his people. All he is defending is his own corrupt power structure, and it's absurd the lengths you will go to forgive and excuse his brutality.
Additional problem: misinformation. NATO didn't kill 50,000 civvies recently. If they did it would be plastered all over the news, and you would have paraded that as the main part of your argument rather than tacking it on at the end without a source or details. Not that anything NATO does excuses Assad's murderous campaign.
Ever hear the term "Mob Wife?"
Asma Assad may not be able to stop her husband, but she most certainly can influence him, especially
if she has read Jane Austen and assuming she has since she is UK born. Anyway, in 1 of the 6
masterpieces a man was thwarted by his own family and ended up in Jamacia or some remote place
which is not out of the realm of possiblity for Assad who has thwarted a popular uprising and made
him unpopular with the UN
Good Lawd! TrustVerify - Really? With the long winded diatribe? Really you think anyone cares or even bothers to read this ridiculous speech? Seriously, if you cant fit it in 149 characters, please just shut the F up.
HEY lennox . I bet you listen to Rush Limbaugh all the time , because he can not stand for the somebody to tell him the truth , TrustVerify Trying tell people like you the real story behind whats happening in Syria and lots of other countries , But no you do not want to listen , you just want to send our troops and money to protect the Al fighters in Syria and everywhere else to help the Saudis and Qataris with their Wahhabi Muslims Ideas take control of that part of the world , trust me if you have any idea about these people you might even go and Help Assad defeat these thugs .
You only need to read Trusty's diatribe once; he repeats the exact same post with minor modifications. It's quite handy to know what a few of the more unhinged radicals around here are blaming the United States for in spite of all evidence (or rather, lack of).
So each new post doesn't actually contain any new or useful information, if you couldn't tell by his assertion that a UN diplomatic plea for Assad to stop the violence is an act of warmongering by the United States. He just slips it into every topic on Syria and makes minor adjustments so it doesn't look like he posted in the wrong article.
well you know buddy when i went to school the teacher repeated everyday the same thing for some people to understand and they still did not , so i think trusty's trying to do the same , because the more i read the more i feel that lots of the people on this site haven't any clue of whats really going on in Syria , thanks Trusty's.
You're correct, in that it seems a lot of people have no clue what's going on in Syria. You're really not helping with that.
It would be nice if you and Trusty would stop imposing your assumptions and misinformation over reality, or at least provide some kind of evidence.
Muslims don't listen to women......
I don't know why these wives bother, the lady is probably as crazy as her husband.
She is the true president and dictator. She runs Syria... And she wants all opposition killed or dead...
Good luck Syria... you need it.
If she could she would have, and she might have. Seeing how things have been going, I bet she's got more sense than what's been going on.
He's the hard headed all-go no-quit I-own-the-land egomaniac. Assad is the leader, not her.
I bet she wishes she never had married that dumb-ass, and had never left England. The way I look at it she's a hostage! She must have thought he was a different man than he has turned out to be. She was bamboozled.
Look, she is having a bad hair day, everyday, for a while now.
Eye have seen Ms. Athsma Assads work before,it is actually her who wears the pants in that relationship of her and Bashar Assad.Before heading to Syria, Asma Assad was democrat Secretary of state of the state of Missouri from 2006-2010,she was the most corrupt,and most sinister,and most cold, politician of her time.
State of Missouri? she's British. Can you back that up with a link?
ok what about the army if i was in their army i sure a hell wouldent drop bombs on my own people