Mideast Media Sampler 12/29/11: Observing War Crimes Requires A Man With Experience and NY Times Does What It Does Best

From DG:

1) The ironic headline

A New York Times headline read Violence flares despite despite Arab League Observers.

Human rights advocates have questioned whether the team has the qualifications or enough independence from the government to help end a conflict that many fear is veering toward civil war as growing numbers of armed men join the opposition. Already, more than 5,000 people have been killed since the popular uprising began gathering momentum — and harsh government retaliation — in March, according to United Nations estimates.

The doubts about the observer mission seemed to grow Wednesday after comments by its leader, Lt. Gen. Muhammed al-Dabi, a former head of military intelligence in Sudan. Speaking about a visit on Tuesday to Homs that was interrupted by gunfire — and a city that has seen some of the worst violence in the nine-month conflict — General Dabi told Reuters, “Some places looked a bit of a mess, but there was nothing frightening.”

But there's more to General Dabi. The Washington Times reports Sudanese general linked to genocide monitoring Syrian violence.