CONTENTION ONE: THE STATUS QUO
Access to information is a key battleground in Syria – citizens and the government are locked in a struggle for greater control
Susannah Vila, April 18, 2011,
“Amid protest, is the Syrian online space redefining internet freedom?”
Assad welcomed freer …unfolds in real time.
The Syrian government is winning – they have mixed denial of access, liberalization, surveillance and counter-propaganda in unique ways to control its people.
Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 1, 2011 “The Dark Side Of The Syrian Internet”
In his book, The …the narrative of freedom.
CONTENTION TWO: HUMAN RIGHTS
And expanding internet access is critical to human rights – the new UN report declares it is under the UDHR
LA Times, June 3, 2011 – United Nations report: Internet Access is a human right, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/06/united-nations-report-internet-access-is-a-human-right.html, MCL
"Given that the Internet has … and affordable to all.
Institutionalizing a human rights protectionism mechanism sends signals globally in favor of human rights protection
Burke-White 4 – Lecturer in Public and International Affairs and Senior Special Assistant to the Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University (William W., Spring, “U.S. FOREIGN POLICY AND HUMAN RIGHTS: Human Rights and National Security: The Strategic Correlation”, 17 Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 249, Lexis Law)
A foreign policy which …human capital necessary for aggressive war. n122
The impact to strengthened human rights outweighs everything—the lack leads to war, has killed more than all 20th century wars combined, and leads to genocide and environmental destruction
Shattuck 94, former US Assistant Secretary of State
John, 9-12-1994, Federal News Service, nexis
On the disintegration side, we … ecological nightmares of Eastern Europe.
CONTENTION THREE: CYBERFEMINISM
Providing access to the internet produces cyberfeminist strategies that empower women and break down patriarchy.
Stoerger 6 (Sharon, Professor at the School of Library and Informational Science at Indiana University, “Voices in Cyberspace: Women in the Middle East North African (MENA) Region,” http://www.web-miner.com/menavoice.htm)
There are several approaches to cyberfeminism. …appropriation of access to these tools.
Patriarchy makes oppression and extinction inevitable.
Warren & Cady 94 (Karen and Duane, Feminism and Peace: Seeing Connections, Hypatia, Vol. 9, No. 2, Spring, p4-20)
Operationalized, the evidence of …national and global contexts.
Providing internet in Syria would allow for gender transgressions that have productive offline effects.
Wheeler 6 (Deborah L., Professor at the US Naval Academy, “Empowering Publics,” Oxford Internet Institute, Research Report No. 11, July)
One form of Internet-enabled political … and men to develop their public voice.
Cyberfeminism is a vital tool for the destruction of patriarchy.
Stoerger 6 (Sharon, Professor at the School of Library and Informational Science at Indiana University, “Voices in Cyberspace: Women in the Middle East North African (MENA) Region,” http://www.web-miner.com/menavoice.htm)
According to Sadie Plant, … in a post-patriarchal future.( n10)
CONTENTION FOUR: SOLVENCY
The Assad regime’s legitimacy is waning, – technological assistance via laptops and cell phones should be provided to the Syrian Opposition and provides a unique opportunity for the Obama administration
(**Also includes warrants for elections, judicial/constitutional reform, etc)
Ziadeh 2011 June 8, - Radwan Ziadeh is a former Reagan-Fascell fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. (Democracies must support ‘the most liberal and Western-friendly’ of Arab Spring uprisings, Democracy Digest, http://www.demdigest.net/blog/2011/06/ democracies-must-support-the-most-liberal-and-western-friendly-of-arab-spring-uprisings MCL)
The democratic West has provided … might someday become allies.
Current US foreign policy for Syria is unsuccessful – sanctions fail to alter decision making
CNN, 2011 – (May 19, Obama to al-Assad: Embrace democracy or 'get out of the way’, http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-19/world/syria.unrest_1_syrian-state-television-syrian-people-al-assad?_s=PM:WORLD, MCL)
Army vehicles retreat from Daraa on …and the completion of comprehensive reform."
Current concessions by the Syrian government fail – opposition boycott proves
Hadid July 10, 2011 – Diaa, Mideast correspondent for the Associated Press (Syrian VP calls for transition to democracy, AP, July 10, 2011, MCL)
Syria's vice president on Sunday …until a deadly crackdown on protesters ends.
Syria is failing now – thousands of deaths is the price
Hannah 11 (John Hannah 11, “Obama and Syria: Courting Disaster”, Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 2:49 PM, http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/11/obama_and_syria_courting_disaster)
As many others have lamented, the …a green light to continue their killing spree a bit longer.
