InContention 1: Hypocrisy

The Arab Spring has set the stage for a reframing of US internet freedom policy as a human rights and democracy issue, but Clinton’s cyberutopian rhetoric belies a history of exporting surveillance culture. Sanctions in the status quo aren’t enough to change this hypocrisy – We need to shift policy away from surveillance and towards open communications, creating more domestic and international corporate accountability. 

Morozov 9/1 (Evgeny, visiting scholar at Stanford University and the author of “The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom.” “Political Repression 2.0”, New York Times, September 1, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/opinion/political-repression-2-0.html?_r=2)
Amid the cheerleading over … of Western governments again?

The government’s focus on security joins surveillance culture with inconsistent internet freedom interventions. While export controls exist to prevent cyberterrorism, we create exceptions to subvert strategic enemies like Iran while denigrating Syrian lives as unworthy of an open Internet.
York February 1st
Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, February 1, 2011 “Why I Don’t Believe in “Net Freedom”” http://jilliancyork.com/2011/01/02/why-i-dont-believe-in-net-freedom/
The State Department’s Internet … no ally at all.

US export controls are the crucial barrier to Syrian internet use – it’s more significant than Assad’s censorship and surveillance because it denies access to public and private open source platforms that are key to social media.
Joshua Landis, Director Center for Middle East Studies & Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma, January 25th, 2010 “The US Censors Syrian Internet,”http:www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=5164
Sourceforge just became the …  of the Syrian web.

Genuine Internet freedom policy would be the most effective solidarity tactic – there’s moral obligationto act now.
Weiss June 7 (Michael Weiss, Slate, June 7, 2011, “Meet the Syrian Opposition: It's the most liberal and Western-friendly of the Arab Spring uprisings.” http://www.slate.com/id/2296323/pagenum/all/#p2)
Quite apart from a … might someday become allies.

PLAN: The USFG should substantially increase assistance to Syria by providing access to information and communication technology.

Contention 2: Why it matters

Social media in Syria is critical to overcoming fear, helps creates diasporic linkages and provides information to convince the middle class – activists need assistance to bypass the current crackdown
Susannah Vila, April 18, 2011,“Amid protest, is the Syrian online space redefining internet freedom?”http:www.movements.org/blog/entry/Syria-Damascus-internet-freedom-protest-online-activism-facebook-twitter/
"'Rami Nakhle' as he … unfolds in real time.

Syrian civil society activists view the internet as their most critical tool for survival in the world of the Assad’s regime.   Three reasons:
A. Community building.
B. Active populations.  
C. Linkages with international organizations.
Shaery-Eisenlohr 11 (Roschanack, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Gottingen, Germany. “From Subjects to Citizens? Civil Society and the Internet in Syria” Middle East Critique Vol. 20, No. 2, 127–138, Summer 2011)
Despite the limited success … knowledge of their rights.

However, the 1AC is not a cyberutopian analysis of the Arab Spring; we should acknowledge the risks of social media access, but that’s a rationale for greater technology sharing with activists over despotic regimes.
Baker 10 (Lee, Harvard Law School, Candidate for J.D., 2011. “THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ON SOFTWARE AND ONLINE SERVICES FOR AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AND HUMAN RIGHTS.” Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. Volume 23, Number 2 Spring 2010)
In any analysis of … to reflect this reality.

Our theoretical focus on the role of media in the Arab Spring transcends commentators’ dichotomy between cyber-utopianism and cyber-pessimism. The aff is a way to create visibility for other systemic struggles, instead of attaching these struggles to the motif of Arab Spring as an ontological “event”. 

BARNETT 11Clive, Pf geographies of democracy & public life @ Open U, Geoforum, 42(3), pp. 263–265.
Amongst all the excitement … structure of the world.  

The internet’s importance to the Arab spring lies in its rebound effect: New media increases international shaming of state abuses, simultaneously making government surveillance visible via social networks that reverse the panoptic gaze.
George june 11 (Erika R. Professor, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. “Tweeting to Topple Tyranny, Social Media and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Reply to AnupamChander” California Law Review Circuit Vol. 2 June 2011)
While the two future … about human rights conditions.

Social media’s rebound effect deters atrocities – Assad can’t hide the evidence for violence from the international community in the short-term
NidaaHassan, The Guardian, June 8, 2011“Syria: How social media is defending a town from the regime's wrath”http:www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/08/syria-hide-uprising-internet
The Syrian regime's apparent … by computer shortly afterwards.

Assad’s regime of disciplinary violence forces ordinary citizens to resort to a state of nature, turning on each other and the Alawite elite, who cling to economic status – this competition and constant fear means no value to life.

Sadiki, July 31. Larbi Sadiki, Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics, University of Exeter, July 31, 2011,
Al Jazeera, “In Syria, the government is the real rebel”
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/201173113293285318.html

There have been many … what it used to be.

New ICTs create a transnational loop of protest that accelerates the movements of Arab Spring activists.
Ritter & Trechsel May 14 (Daniel P., Alexander H. “Revolutionary Cells: On the Role of Texts, Tweets, and Status Updates in Nonviolent Revolutions” European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Paper presented at the conference on “Internet, Voting and Democracy”)
Due to the vast on- … become and international affair.

And, social media-based strategies produce new understandings of social organization, producing diverse coalitions which are less vulnerable to state cooption of traditional identity-oriented political entities.
Balleria 11, Marina, "Why Now and Whats Next: The February 20th Movement's Challenge to the State" (2011). ISP Collection. Paper 1003. http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1003
The Internet allows for … cooptation by the state.

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Contention 1: Hypocrisy

The Arab Spring has set the stage for a reframing of US internet freedom policy as a human rights and democracy issue, but Clinton’s hypocritical cyberutopian rhetoric belies a history of exporting surveillance culture. Sanctions are worse – We need to shift policy away from surveillance and towards open communications, creating more domestic and international corporate accountability. 

Mor-ah-zuv, September 1st
Morozov 9/1 (Evgeny, visiting scholar at Stanford University and the author of “The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom.” “Political Repression 2.0”, New York Times, September 1, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/opinion/political-repression-2-0.html?_r=2)
Amid the cheerleading over recent events in the
AND
would trust the pronouncements of Western governments again?

The government’s focus on security joins surveillance culture with inconsistent internet freedom interventions. While export controls exist to prevent cyberterrorism, we create exceptions to subvert strategic enemies like Iran while denigrating Syrian lives as unworthy of an open Internet.
York February 1st
Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, February 1, 2011 “Why I Don’t Believe in “Net Freedom”” http://jilliancyork.com/2011/01/02/why-i-dont-believe-in-net-freedom/
The State Department’s Internet freedom policy, to
AND
oppresses its citizens is no ally at all.

US export controls are the crucial barrier to Syrian internet use – it’s more significant than Assad’s censorship and surveillance because it denies access to public and private open source platforms that are key to social media.
Joshua Landis, Director Center for Middle East Studies & Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma, January 25th, 2010 “The US Censors Syrian Internet,”http:www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=5164
Sourceforge just became the latest US-based
AND
become the real censors of the Syrian web.

Contention 2: Why it matters

Assad’s regime of disciplinary violence forces ordinary citizens to resort to a state of nature, turning on each other and the Alawite elite, who cling to economic status – this competition and constant fear means no value to life.

Sadiki, July 31. Larbi Sadiki, Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics, University of Exeter, July 31, 2011,
Al Jazeera, “In Syria, the government is the real rebel”
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/201173113293285318.html

There have been many setbacks during the "
AND
is no longer what it used to be.

Social media in Syria is critical to overcoming fear, helps creates diasporic linkages and provides information to convince the middle class – activists need assistance to bypass the current crackdown

Susannah Vila, April 18, 2011,“Amid protest, is the Syrian online space redefining internet freedom?”http:www.movements.org/blog/entry/Syria-Damascus-internet-freedom-protest-online-activism-facebook-twitter/
"'Rami Nakhle' as he is known to
AND
savvy, activated citizens unfolds in real time.

Syrian civil society activists view the internet as their most critical tool for survival in the world of the Assad’s regime.   Three reasons:
A. Community building.
B. Active populations.  
C. Linkages with international organizations.
Shaery-Eisenlohr 11 (Roschanack, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Gottingen, Germany. “From Subjects to Citizens? Civil Society and the Internet in Syria” Middle East Critique Vol. 20, No. 2, 127–138, Summer 2011)
Despite the limited success of activists in the
AND
actions, having gained knowledge of their rights.

The internet’s importance to the Arab spring lies in its rebound effect: New media increases international shaming of state abuses, simultaneously making government surveillance visible via social networks that reverse the panoptic gaze. 

George june 11 (Erika R. Professor, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. “Tweeting to Topple Tyranny, Social Media and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Reply to AnupamChander” California Law Review Circuit Vol. 2 June 2011)
While the two future scenarios for the Internet
AND
broader community that cares about human rights conditions.

Social media’s rebound effect deters atrocities – Assad can’t hide the evidence for violence from the international community in the short-term
NidaaHassan, The Guardian, June 8, 2011“Syria: How social media is defending a town from the regime's wrath”http:www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/08/syria-hide-uprising-internet
The Syrian regime's apparent hesitancy to bear down
AND
, and usually uploaded by computer shortly afterwards.

New ICTs create a transnational loop of protest that accelerates the movements of Arab Spring activists.
Ritter &Trechsel May 14 (Daniel P., Alexander H. “Revolutionary Cells: On the Role of Texts, Tweets, and Status Updates in Nonviolent Revolutions” European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Paper presented at the conference on “Internet, Voting and Democracy”)
Due to the vast on- and offline
AND
a domestic struggle had become and international affair.

PLAN: The USFG should substantially increase assistance to Syria by providing information and communication technology.

Contention 3: Solvency

The Obama administration must clearly encourage internet and communication technology to the Syrian people. Urgent need to increase Syrian access to technology.

Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, September 26, 2011, “Stop the Piecemeal: Obama Administration Should Fully Free Communications Tech Exports to Syria (& Companies Should Help)” https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/09/stop-the-piecemeal-export-approach

But the story doesn’t end there. Restrictions
AND
but doesn’t have the resources to do it. 

Genuine Internet freedom assistance would be the most effective solidarity tactic.
Weiss June 7 (Michael Weiss, Slate, June 7, 2011, “Meet the Syrian Opposition: It's the most liberal and Western-friendly of the Arab Spring uprisings.” http://www.slate.com/id/2296323/pagenum/all/#p2)
Quite apart from a moral obligation to support
AND
searching for friends who might someday become allies.

4: Framework: 

The role of the ballot is to make an ethical decision about governmental responsibility for the role of media in the Arab Spring. Syria is a real-time illustration of the dynamic of modern disciplinary power. Your decision must be primarily motivated by a concern for the integrity of global civil society. 

Policymakers have both a capacity and a duty to act as ethically as possible within the margins of the system – this framework both creates more agonistic democratic planning and is the best method to interrogate squo neo-corporatist modes of governance.
Metzger 11 (Metzger J, 2011, "Neither revolution, nor resignation: (re)democratizing contemporary planning praxis: a commentary on Allmendinger and Haughton's "Spatial planning, devolution, and new planning spaces"" Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 29(2))
The above injunctions must not be shrugged off
AND
than pseudodemocratic window dressing of dominant corporatist interests.

Our theoretical focus on the role of media in the Arab Spring transcends the dichotomy between cyber-utopianism and pessimism. The aff creates visibility for lived experience, instead of attaching systemic struggles to the motif of Arab Spring as “event”. 

BARNETT 11Clive, Pf geographies of democracy & public life @ Open U, Geoforum, 42(3), pp. 263–265.
Amongst all the excitement about the role of
AND
or inattention into the structure of the world.  

The 1AC is a call to act: even if social media access has risks, it’s still a rationale for greater technology sharing with activists over despotic regimes.
Baker 10 (Lee, Harvard Law School, Candidate for J.D., 2011. “THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF U.S. EXPORT RESTRICTIONS ON SOFTWARE AND ONLINE SERVICES FOR AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AND HUMAN RIGHTS.” Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. Volume 23, Number 2 Spring 2010)
In any analysis of the role of ICT
AND
programs must be changed to reflect this reality.

Contention 1: Hypocrisy

The Arab Spring has set the stage for a reframing of US internet freedom policy as a human rights and democracy issue, but the rhetoric belies a history of exporting surveillance culture.

Recent State Dept support for digital activism is failing in the squo:

First - US-made censorship and surveillance technology is still getting to repressive regimes regardless of sanctions that choke activists instead.

Second - the US ignores the arrests and abuse of critical bloggers in official allied Arab countries, silencing independent voices and preventing the international community from bearing witness to atrocities.

York 11-3   director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. She writes a regular column for Al Jazeera focusing on free expression and Internet freedom. She also writes for and is on the Board of Directors of Global Voices Online. Jillian C, Al Jazeera, http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/20111030102051411130.html

While the United States … is just lip service.

While ICT export controls purport to defend national security, we create exceptions to subvert strategic enemies like Iran while denigrating Syrian lives as unworthy of an open Internet.

York February 1st

Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, February 1, 2011 “Why I Don’t Believe in “Net Freedom”” http://jilliancyork.com/2011/01/02/why-i-dont-believe-in-net-freedom/

The State Department’s Internet … no ally at all.

Contention 2: Media Wars

Social media in Syria is not only a set of digital tools for activists, but the battlefield of the uprisings: The regime is using the internet to censor, monitor, and release propaganda, and activists need assistance to bypass the noise and convince the middle class.

Susannah Vila, April 18, 2011,“Amid protest, is the Syrian online space redefining internet freedom?”http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/Syria-Damascus-internet-freedom-protest-online-activism-facebook-twitter/

"'Rami Nakhle' as he … unfolds in real time.

Syrian civil society activists view the internet for survival in the world of the Assad’s regime. Three reasons:

A. Community building.

B. Active populations. 

C. Linkages with international organizations.

Shaery-Eisenlohr 11 (Roschanack, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Gottingen, Germany. “From Subjects to Citizens? Civil Society and the Internet in Syria” Middle East Critique Vol. 20, No. 2, 127–138, Summer 2011)

Despite the limited success … knowledge of their rights.

The internet’s importance to the Arab spring lies in its rebound effect: New media increases international shaming of state violence against protestors, simultaneously making government surveillance visible via social networks that reverse the panoptic gaze.

George june 11 (Erika R. Professor, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. “Tweeting to Topple Tyranny, Social Media and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Reply to AnupamChander” California Law Review Circuit Vol. 2 June 2011)

While the two future scenarios … about human rights conditions.

ICTs create a transnational loop of protest that accelerates the movements of regional activists.

Ritter &Trechsel May 14 (Daniel P., Alexander H. “Revolutionary Cells: On the Role of Texts, Tweets, and Status Updates in Nonviolent Revolutions” European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Paper presented at the conference on “Internet, Voting and Democracy”)

Due to the vast on- and offline … become and international affair

Contention 3: The Consequences

First, Syria is headed towards civil war as western powers are washing their hands of preventing it

Al-Arabiya News 11/27 (WALID CHOUCAIR “The West doesn’t mind a civil war” Sunday, 27 November 2011. http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/11/27/179424.html)

If these leaks by …that prevents civil war.

We have a human rights imperative to unconditionally support peaceful protestors in Syria – Assad’s repression has reached a genocidal level.

SUPPORT SYRIAN FREEDOM 11 (“We Demand an End to Assad’s Regime. We Demand Protection for Syrian People. We Demand Accountability” http://supportsyrianfreedom.wordpress.com/we-demand/)

The inhumanity of dictator … have been seriously negotiated.

We demand that the United States federal government substantially increase the provision of information and communication technology to Syrians.

Contention 3: Solvency

The Obama administration must clearly encourage internet and communication technology to the Syrian people. Urgent need to increase Syrian access to technology.

Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, September 26, 2011, “Stop the Piecemeal: Obama Administration Should Fully Free Communications Tech Exports to Syria (& Companies Should Help)” https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/09/stop-the-piecemeal-export-approach

But the story doesn’t … the resources to do it.

Our demand is the Syrian demand: activists are prohibited from using key digital tools while Assad gets surveillance tech through middlemen.

York 11/23 (Jillian C., Director of International Freedom of Expression @ EFF. “When sanctions make things worse” Al-Jazeera November 23, 2011. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/2011112374536108597.html)

These regulations, in practice, … as their utter ineffectiveness.

Contention 4: Role of the Ballot

The role of the ballot is to make an ethical decision about individual and state responsibility for the role of media in the Arab Spring.

Our theoretical focus transcends commentators’ dichotomy between cyber-utopianism and pessimism, as well as fantasies about the Arab Spring as an ontological revolution. The aff is not about YouTube “solving Assad”, but creating visibility for lived Syrian experience.

BARNETT 11Clive, Pf geographies of democracy & public life @ Open U, Geoforum, 42(3), pp. 263–265.

Amongst all the excitement …structure of the world. 

We must refuse to accept that governments need to save Syria and individually affirm Syrians’ right to protest and expression. The 1AC is a form of boycott, isolation and sabotage of the Assad government, demonstrating internet trafficking solidarity through researching web sites attempting to expose what’s happening in Syria.

Freedland 8-30   Jonathan, award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/30/politicians-oust-foreign-tyrants-alternatives

Enter Carne Ross, a … and we surely must.

Policymakers have failed to act ethically as possible within the margins of the system – our demand upon them creates more agonistic democratic planning and is the best method to interrogate squo neo-corporatist modes of governance.

Metzger 11 (Metzger J, 2011, "Neither revolution, nor resignation: (re)democratizing contemporary planning praxis: a commentary on Allmendinger and Haughton's "Spatial planning, devolution, and new planning spaces"" Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 29(2))

The above injunctions … of dominant corporatist interests.

Contention 1: Hypocrisy

The Arab Spring has set the stage for a reframing of US internet freedom policy as a human rights and democracy issue, but the rhetoric belies a history of exporting surveillance culture.

Export controls on ICT sales are failing in the squo. US-made censorship and surveillance technology is still getting to repressive regimes, mooting the effectiveness of recent State Dept support for digital activism.

Calingaert 12/5 (Daniel. “Hacking the Revolution” Foreign Policy, December 5, 2011. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/12/05/hacking_the_revolution)

Western technologies to restrict … abusers of human rights.

This is the epitome of hypocrisy: While ICT export controls purport to defend national security, we create exceptions to subvert strategic enemies like Iran while denigrating Syrian lives as unworthy of an open Internet.

York 11

Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, February 1, 2011 “Why I Don’t Believe in “Net Freedom”” http://jilliancyork.com/2011/01/02/why-i-dont-believe-in-net-freedom/

The State Department’s Internet … is no ally at all.

Syrian activists want export reform in particular – they’re prohibited from using key digital tools while Assad gets surveillance tech through middlemen.

York 11/23 (Jillian C., Director of International Freedom of Expression @ EFF. “When sanctions make things worse” Al-Jazeera November 23, 2011. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/2011112374536108597.html)

These regulations, in practice, …as their utter ineffectiveness.

BlueCoat proves squo export controls do more harm than good – they’re impossible to enforce against Assad and weaken citizen human rights.

York 11/23 (Jillian C., Director of International Freedom of Expression @ EFF. “When sanctions make things worse” Al-Jazeera November 23, 2011. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/2011112374536108597.html)

Given the frequency … than weaken - human rights.

Contention 2: Why it matters

Social media in Syria is not only a set of digital tools for activists, but the battlefield of the uprisings: The regime is using the internet to censor, monitor, and release propaganda, and activists need assistance to bypass the noise and convince the middle class.

Susannah Vila, April 18, 2011,“Amid protest, is the Syrian online space redefining internet freedom?”http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/Syria-Damascus-internet-freedom-protest-online-activism-facebook-twitter/

"'Rami Nakhle' as he … unfolds in real time.

Syrian civil society activists need the internet for survival under Assad, to enhance community building, create more active populations and linkages with international organizations.

Shaery-Eisenlohr 11 (Roschanack, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Gottingen, Germany. “From Subjects to Citizens? Civil Society and the Internet in Syria” Middle East Critique Vol. 20, No. 2, 127–138, Summer 2011)

Despite the limited success …knowledge of their rights.

Less Violence: Social media’s rebound effect empirically deters atrocities and encourages protestors – Assad can’t hide the evidence for violence from the international community in the short-term

Rudaw 12/20 (“Social Media and Syria’s Revolution” By NAMO ABDULLA on 20/12/2011. http://www.rudaw.net/english/feed/news/syria/4244.txt)

As the government continues … until they achieve freedom.”

Faster transition: ICTs create a transnational loop of protest that accelerates the movements of Arab Spring activists.

Ritter &Trechsel May 14 (Daniel P., Alexander H. “Revolutionary Cells: On the Role of Texts, Tweets, and Status Updates in Nonviolent Revolutions” European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Paper presented at the conference on “Internet, Voting and Democracy”)

Due to the vast on- …become and international affair.

Activist Safety: social media helps Syrian protestors identify and avoid pro-regime informers

Kamb 11 (Mackenzie. “Informers identify activists; social media identifies informers” Communication and International Relations AUTUMN 2011, VOL. 6, ISSUE 2. Univ. of Washington. http://www.com.washington.edu/commIR/vol6/issue2/featureKamb.html)

As addressed by Flamand … stones toward the man.

Future Human Rights: Social media has become a living history of Syrian rights abuse—Encouraging ICT corporations to assist and not diminish human rights will both save lives now and preserve legal accountability for human rights in the future.

Thijm 12/13 (Yvette Alberdingk, Executive director of WITNESS. “Technology Companies: The New Human Rights Players” Huffington Post, Posted: 12/10/11. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yvette-alberdingk-thijm/human-rights-social-media_b_1140717.html?view=print&comm_ref=false)

Over the 20 years in … alone will save lives.

Contention 3: The Consequences

First, Syria is headed towards civil war as western powers are washing their hands of preventing it

Al-Arabiya News 11/27 (WALID CHOUCAIR “The West doesn’t mind a civil war” Sunday, 27 November 2011. http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/11/27/179424.html)

If these leaks by … that prevents civil war.

And, Assad has the potential to use chemical and bioweapons against citizens if this happens

Huffington Post 11/23 (Alan Elsner, Author, 'Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America’s Prisons'. “As Assad Regime Disintegrates, What Will Happen to Its Huge Chemical Weapons Stockpile?” Posted: 11/23/11. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-elsner/syria-civil-war_b_1107502.html)

As Syria teeters ever … thousands of civilian casualties.

We have a human rights imperative to unconditionally support peaceful protestors in Syria – Assad’s repression has reached a genocidal level.

SUPPORT SYRIAN FREEDOM 11 (“We Demand an End to Assad’s Regime. We Demand Protection for Syrian People. We Demand Accountability” http://supportsyrianfreedom.wordpress.com/we-demand/)

The inhumanity of dictator …h have been seriously negotiated.

Plan: The Department of Commerce should substantially increase the provision of information and communication technology to Syrians.

Contention 3: Solvency

The Obama administration must facilitate the transfer of internet and communication technology to the Syrian people, to make up for years of overbroad export restrictions.

Jillian York, Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, September 26, 2011, “Stop the Piecemeal: Obama Administration Should Fully Free Communications Tech Exports to Syria (& Companies Should Help)” https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/09/stop-the-piecemeal-export-approach

But the story doesn’t … the resources to do it.

Communication, collaboration, and access assistance is the best of limited options for action from the US, and will help maintain protestors’ nonviolence.

Serwer 12/22 (Daniel, professorial lecturer at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Scholar at the Middle East Institute. “5 Ways the U.S. Can Help in Syria” The Atlantic DEC 22 2011, 8:19 AM ET. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/12/5-ways-the-us-can-help-in-syria/250390/)

The White House yesterday … return and train others.

Policymakers have both a capacity and a duty to act as ethically as possible within the margins of the system – this framework both creates more agonistic democratic planning and challenges squo neo-corporatist modes of governance.

Metzger 11 (Metzger J, 2011, "Neither revolution, nor resignation: (re)democratizing contemporary planning praxis: a commentary on Allmendinger and Haughton's "Spatial planning, devolution, and new planning spaces"" Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 29(2))

The above injunctions must … of dominant corporatist interests.

Our theoretical focus on the role of media in the Arab Spring transcends commentators’ dichotomy between cyber-utopianism and pessimism. The aff is not about twitter-revolutions “solving Assad”, but creating visibility for lived Syrian experience.

BARNETT 11Clive, Pf geographies of democracy & public life @ Open U, Geoforum, 42(3), pp. 263–265.

Amongst all the excitement … may or may  not play.