Russian FM Lavrov: Libya Scenario Will Not Be Repeated

[pampango]

3. Is he saying "Assad is our friend and customer. Mummar, not so much.Libya will not be repeated."

I don't think that military intervention "Libya-style" would work even if anyone wanted to do it. It seems to me that Russia suddenly wants to follow a "non-interference in the internal affairs of others" when the "other country" belongs to one of its buddies.

When the UN adopted the Responsibility to Protect doctrine in 2005, its member countries agreed to a set of principles based on the idea that sovereignty is not a privilege, but a responsibility.

1. A state has a responsibility to protect its population from mass atrocities.
2. The international community has a responsibility to assist the state if it is unable to protect its population on its own.
3. If the state fails to protect its citizens from mass atrocities and peaceful measures have failed, the international community has the responsibility to intervene through coercive measures such as economic sanctions. Military intervention is considered the last resort.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_to_protect

Sounds like Mr. Lavrov harkens back to a day when governments all seemed to agree with the definition of sovereignty "I'll let you repress your people, if you'll let me repress mine." Unfortunately for him, the world seems to have moved on from the definition of sovereignty that gave the rights of rulers precedence of the rights of the rest of the people.