Hillary Clinton Has Been Busy

In the past couple of days, the US and several of its NATO allies have been engaging in intensive diplomacy in an attempt to get the required votes to pass another UN resolution condemning the continued violent crackdown in Syria. According to State Department sources, Clinton has been in talks with Russian and Chinese officials*--Russia and China representing the most significant barriers to the resolution's passage, as the holdouts among permanent security council members. The results of these talks remain to be seen--although Presidents Dmitri Medvedev and Hu Jintao issued a statement reiterating their stance against foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs. The statement indicated that the "international community can provide constructive help to prevent deterioration of the situation" but stopped short of saying what sort of action that might entail.

And all of this over a resolution that doesn't have any sanctions or restrictions in it. Just words.

Nicolai Sarkozy and Angela Merkel held talks in Berlin to talk strategy, and in a press conference afterward, Sarkozy said they have agreed to "tighten sanctions" on Syria. What those more stringent sanctions might be is anyone's guess. A US government source indicated that the US officials are considering pursuing war crimes charges against Syria as a means to increase pressure. But what would that change? You think Bashar al-Assad will call off the dogs just because of being labeled a "war criminal?" 'Fraid not.

*In a fascinating inconsistency, the al-Jazeera English article says no call with Chinese officials has occurred, while the Arabic one says it has.

Sources for this post:
al-Jazeera Arabic article with super-flattering Clinton picture (not)
al-Jazeera Arabic rundown of ongoing diplomatic posturing
al-Jazeera Arabic rundown of Friday's protests (possible graphic photo about halfway down)
al-Jazeera English article on some of this