By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Russia and China joined forces in a double veto on Saturday to knock down a Western-Arab U.N. Security Council resolution backing an Arab League plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside.

The other 13 council members voted in favor of the resolution, which would have said that the council "fully supports" the Arab League plan aimed at ending 11 months of bloodshed as Syria has sought to crush an anti-Assad uprising.

Mohammed Loulichki, the U.N. ambassador of Morocco, the sole Arab member of the 15-nation council, voiced his "great regret and disappointment" that Moscow and Beijing struck down the resolution.

Dropping the usual diplomatic courtesies, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said she was "disgusted" by the Russian and Chinese veto, adding that "any further bloodshed that flows will be on their (Russia's and China's) hands."

French Ambassador Gerard Araud told the council, "It is a sad day for this council, a sad day for all Syrians, and a sad day for democracy." He said Moscow and Beijing were now "complicit in the policy of repression" of Damascus.

This is the second time that permanent members Russia and China have exercised a double veto on the Syria issue. In October, they vetoed a European-drafted resolution condemning Syria and threatening it with possible sanctions.

Diplomats said China had been expected to follow Russia's lead and the decision to veto the text came from Moscow. Russia had complained that the draft resolution was an attempt at "regime change" in Syria, Moscow's close ally and a key Russian weapons export destination.

Russia's decision to vote against the resolution came after U.S. and European officials rejected a series of Russian amendments to the draft resolution that Rice said were "unacceptable."

Prior to the vote, several Western diplomats said that if Russia vetoed the resolution, it would be a sign of what they referred to as the "re-Putinization" of Russian foreign policy - referring to expectations that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will return to the presidency after this year's elections.

The changes proposed by Russia, seen by Reuters, would have introduced language assigning blame to Syria's opposition, as well as the government, for violence in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died.

Western nations reject the idea of equal blame, saying the government is mainly responsible.

Russia had also insisted on dropping a demand that the Syrian government withdraw its security forces from cities, but U.S. and European delegations refuse to include that change.

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Vicki Allen)

I'd like to add, as a side note, that clutching the pearls over a silly nickname smacks of the same kind of idiotic bullfuckery I'd expect from a right-wing concern troll: "How dare they call Rush Limbaugh 'Jabba the Rush' or 'Fatso' or 'Limp-balls' ". It's really really just fucking dumb.

So... China and Russia veto the resolution, and instead of condemning them you use it as an opportunity to rail about past actions by the United States?

Stop using the very real suffering of the Syrian people for bullshit attempts to score brownie points and sneak past the IvP moratorium. Very many people are dying in Syria right now, to the point that it was the fucking Arab League that asked for this resolution.

And are you really buying into Russia and China's bullshit argument that they are justified in vetoing it because the Syrian opposition has been supposedly infiltrated by violent terrorists? That's absurd.

Again, facts of the ground are simple: The Syrian government is slaughtering its own people.

The International community including the Arab League wants to put a stop to it.

Russia and China decided to be dicks.

I honestly wonder why Russia and China do this so often. I wonder if some of our Russian or Chinese members could give us an idea.

Also why is it always Russia AND China at the same time? I mean you'd think they'd trade off the blocking votes to save face for certain issues.

Are you really that much of a moron?

1) Look up Russian military interests in Syria.
2) Look how the US treats Bahrain and Saudi Arabia despite both crushing any protest.
3) Russia and China are pursuing their imperialist interests, quasi-loyal regimes like Baath ones are rather useful in establishing Middle East war bases

Russia is slowly becoming a Chinese satellite.

The US can, and does, deal with shady states. But Russia and China still get an edge by being willing to deal with people we don't. Which is a good explanation for why they do so.

It doesn't matter whether we don't deal with those countries because they're somehow evil, or because they're working against us (which is morally neutral) where other countries don't, or even because we don't like their national hairstyle. It's not about Russia and China dealing with the shadiest people, or "our allies are better than their allies."

Turning it into a launchpad for the generic Litany of American Crimes is silly.

Everybody does it, so if someone asks, "why do Russia and China do it," I'd bet on that being most of the reason why.

My job only requires me to care about countries that actually matter and my interests about those who's cultures I find interesting. Russia does not fall into either of those categories.

Whats good for the geese is good for the gander, as the saying goes.

From this we can gather that the breadth of your knowledge is more or less dictated by the philosophy of a work drone and that you're wondering about questions you do not care about anyway. Excellent.

I honestly wonder why Russia and China do this so often. I wonder if some of our Russian or Chinese members could give us an idea. I sincerely don't understand it. Is it part of the overall "fuck the west because they say fuck us." I honestly don't get it. Perhaps I just don't get politics or something. Also why is it always Russia AND China at the same time? I mean you'd think they'd trade off the blocking votes to save face for certain issues.

On a side note, the US gets a bigger edge by being able and willing to overthrow existing regimes, either through direct military action on its part, or via its proxies. China just deals with whoever is in charge.

No, I'm ridiculing the stupidity, dishonesty and hypocrisy

The Arab League also called for an end to the invasion of Lebanon,as well as the Gaza Massacre,

Oh, and comparing this to what the US does is perfectly valid. How many people have died in Syria compared to the ones that died in Iraq due to a botched US invasion. If the latter was much less than the former, then you might have a point. It doesn't absolve China or Russia, but it does highlight a double standard thats being held.