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6/4/2014 Assad Engineers His Re-election - NYTimes.

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THE OPINION PAGES | EDITORIAL
Assad Engineers His Re-election
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD JUNE 4, 2014
Syrians dutifully went to the polls this week to vote for a president in what
was anything but an exercise in free and fair democracy. The winner was
predetermined and voting took place only in government-controlled areas,
meaning that thousands of Syrians in rebel-held areas were unable to cast
ballots. The result no surprise here was a third seven-year term for
President Bashar al-Assad.
No one can pretend this election is consistent with a credible
democratic process. Mr. Assads two competitors on the ballot were little
known and widely understood to be pawns in his farcical game. As for the
international election observers selected by Syria to validate the process,
the fact that they came from North Korea, Iran and Russia, three of the
worlds most undemocratic countries, speaks for itself.
The most significant, and depressing, thing about the election was its
ratification of a cruel truth: Mr. Assad, whom world leaders long ago said
should be gone, remains in power and is unlikely to leave anytime soon.
The three-year-old civil war continues to rage, with its mounting toll of
more than 160,000 people killed and millions displaced in Syria and
neighboring countries. Undeterred by any sense of moral compass, Mr.
Assad is flattening cities, blocking food aid from rebel-held areas and,
according to Physicians for Human Rights, systematically attacking
doctors and health care facilities, an especially heinous action that violates
the norms of war and can constitute a crime against humanity under
international law.
6/4/2014 Assad Engineers His Re-election - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/opinion/assad-engineers-his-re-election.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click& 2/2
Meanwhile, Mr. Assads allies Iran, which has provided extra
troops and advice, and Russia, which has provided arms continue to
block any meaningful United Nations Security Council action that would
force him to give safe passage to humanitarian deliveries or face judgment
at the International Criminal Court.
There has been hopeful speculation that Mr. Assad will use his re-
election to fulfill his pledges to end the war and rebuild his shattered
country. History suggests he is more likely to double down and spill even
more blood in his ruthless campaign to obliterate his opponents.
A version of this editorial appears in print on June 5, 2014, in The International New York Times.
2014 The New York Times Company

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