The G8 Summit (Group of Eight – meeting of 8 of the world’s 11 richest countries) scheduled next week will be dominated by the argument on whether Syrian rebels should be armed, as US announced this week its plan to do the same. President Obama explained that the US has found evidence of usage of chemical weapons by Assad’s forces, and that this marks the crossing of a red line, and that they will now be forced to take an active part in the war. Russian President, Vladmir Putin, who has been supporting Assad with missiles and other weapons, has immediately attacked the decision of the US to support the opposite side. He has stated that he has been supporting Syria’s legitimate government, in accordance with international law, and that he has no desire support cannibalistic savages (reference to atrocities committed by rebels), showing that he is not going to withdraw support for Assad. This disagreeable situation is bad for the G8 summit, and we can only hope it will not impact the July peace convention in Geneva which aims at finding a diplomatic solution to the Syrian civil war.

Clockwise, from the right : Bashar al-Assad, tyrannical dictator of Syria; Vladmir Putin, President of Russia;
Barrack Obama, President of the US; and a Syrian rebel, fighting for his country.