Are You Not Entertained?

The Thin Line Between Entertainment and War
(Screamer Post)

 Are you not entertained Mr.Obama?

Is this not what you wanted Mr Putin?

War does not take from one more or less than it takes from another. All those who are subjected to it's wrath are forever changed. Those who see it's face and walk away with their lives will forever bare it's wounds. It is a crime that makes no distinction between combatant and civilian. It only seeks it's pound of flesh, it's ounce of blood. Once invited... once provoked, war takes us further than we could have ever dreamed possible. Where we give an inch, war tends to take a mile. For the innocent civilians in Syria this has been a war that refuses to end. It was invited through the excesses of a few and yet claims far too many. The wounds it has left may never truly heal. 

The West has sat on the sidelines of this war. Like so many cases that came before it, we told ourselves it was acceptable for a barbaric regime to kill it's own people in any way it saw fit. Then, with the images of children being killed playing on our screens, we made a bloody line in the sand. Our leaders, in all their so called wisdom, decided to play a game of chicken with the enemy of all free peoples. We told a sadist that there was a form of torment that we would not tolerate. We expected that our entertainment with his downfall would continue, that Assad would refrain from provoking us. 

Assad showed that he was far more than capable of crossing that line. 

Bombing bread lines, using cluster munitions, utilizing chemical weapons, and firing SCUD missiles upon his own citizens; Assad showed the West where his line in the sand was. It is a thin line between his own ego and total war. It is a line that he is happy to dance around while the West remains shocked by the brazen arrogance of Syria's tyrant. All the while Putin and China try their best to drag Assad well past the point of no return. 

For three long years we have dictated to the rebels in Syria what we wanted of them. We criticized them for allowing extremists into their ranks while refusing to answer their pleas for intervention. We told them to avoid acts of barbarism that parroted Assad's own abuses while refusing to ship them weapons with which to defend themselves. We told them to avoid shooting prisoners of war while refusing to provide them supplies with which to keep the captured Shabiha alive. For three long years President Obama has used the Syrian resistance as pawns in his games with Russia. 

When was the last time we seriously attempted to bring the war to an end? When was the last time we honestly asked the Syrian people what they actually want? Why can't America and Russia back down and allow the Syrian people the right to self-determination that we all claim for ourselves? 

If we were to strip the radical mercenaries from both sides of the battle lines, if we were to send the Hezbollah thugs back home, if we were to make the Iranians leave the front lines; what would Syria have to say about it's own fate? 

If Putin was to back down from his support of a tyrant he is attempting to make into a puppet, if Obama was to honestly back away from his supposed support of the rebels; what would the civilians in Damascus want the world to hear about this war? 

(Female rebels prepared to fight alongside their male comrades)

Would we hear stories of families being forced to surrender their sons and daughters to a fight they didn't want in the first place? Or would we hear tales of entire communities sending all able-bodied men, women, and youth off to the front? Would we see families torn between loyalist dedication to Assad and open rebellion against the dictator? Or would we see the battle lines drawn strictly between communities and religious factions?

War has a way of fogging the reality that rest just beneath the surface. It creates a barrier between what is real and what we want it to be. Once the line between the two is erased we are left with a brutal realization of where we failed to act and where we overreached. Syria has not broken that barrier in the eyes of Western onlookers. It remains shrouded by the haze that war brings with it.

For the time being we are not able to see the complete picture of what is happening on the ground in Syria. Yet we find ourselves fixated by the carnage that peeks out from beneath the fog. For some it is heart wrenching. For others it is a perverted form of entertainment as they cheer one side or the other.

In the politics of the West verse East Syria is a form of perverse entertainment. Even though it threatens to force us over the thin line between entertainment and proxy war, Syria remains a chess game for politicians who act like dictators in their own right. While the people of Syria face one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time our world leaders use their suffering to gain political capital.

(Syrian Refugees Fleeing For Turkey)

When this is all over will we be able to look the victims in their eyes? Will we be able to tell ourselves that we did our part in protecting the vulnerable? Will we be able to say before the world that we took a stand against this hedonistic slaughter? Or will the world have to hang it's head and apologize in the same way we did after Rwanda... after Bosnia... after Cambodia... after the Armenia?

As for our leaders, for those who hold the power to call off the dogs of war, are you not satisfied? Have these past three years not been entertaining Washington? Moscow? London? Beijing? Tehran? Have the people of Syria not suffered enough for your selfish desires? Or have they not paid enough in blood to satisfy the divide between the West and East?







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View The World Through American Eyes

Clinton's Failure To Become Obama's Inspiration
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Close Enough To Watch The Massacre Unfold)

In 1995 the UN pretended to do what it had promised after the Holocaust. It pretended to uphold the promise of "Never Again" while the Bosnian Muslims were being slaughtered by Serbian nationalists. By putting "boots on the ground" and fighter jets in the sky above the UN pacified it's conscience. However, much like in Rwanda the year before, the UN soldiers were constantly ordered to stand down and retreat if fired upon. They were rarely armed and when they were the ammunition was considered more valuable then the Bosnian civilians they had been sent to protect. 

America watched the carnage unfold every night on the nightly news. We watched as Bosnian civilians ran through city street zig-zagging so as to avoid the snipers' bullets. With every week we watched as Serbian artillery fired upon villages and cities so as to keep the siege grinding away. Our reporters brought us stories of death camps much like that of Auschwitz being erected by Serbian militias. News came through of rape camps being used all across occupied areas of Bosnia. For us Bosnia was viewed through American eyes and lost upon callous hearts. 

Bosnia wasn't considered part of Europe. And even when it was, we considered it the European Union's problem; not ours. We had sent boys into Somalia after some war lord not long before Yugoslavia imploded. We had watched American GIs being dragged through a third world country's streets by cheering crowds. Bosnia was viewed through this prism. What came out the others side was simply impalpable to American voters. We just had no stomach for another war... another police action in some foreign hell hole. 

Today Syria is viewed through American eyes. All the things we have ever heard about Syria, all the lies and distortions we have ever considered even remotely true, we place upon the shoulders' of Syria's innocent victims. We don't view Syria as a country breaking apart at the seams. We don't see the children being used as pawns only to be slaughtered at the hands of barbaric heathens. We don't see the bravery of Syrian youth who take up arms to defend their families, their homes, themselves. We just don't have a stomach for another war in the Middle East... another failed invasion of some country in which we don't believe we belong. 

Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya... America has had it's fill of losing wars. We have had far too many American boys come home in body bags. The ones who have come home from the "sandbox" have no desire to be sent back. The boys who lost their friends, their brothers, their comrades over there don't want to see the next generation of GIs sent off to die for blood lust and oil again. That is how far too many see Syria. It is through these American eyes that Syria is viewed. 

Most of this is due to rather horrible leadership in America's government. We aren't led by men who know what it means to win a war. We are led by men who seek out profit and fame at the cost of other peoples' suffering. When the polls that dictate their follies point away from what is right they never turn back toward the truth. Their ears are deaf to honest suggestion. Their eyes blind to the pain their leadership has caused both here at home and abroad. Their souls lost to greed and lust. For this reason when we are presented with a good fight, a reason to sacrifice, we as a nation turn away. 

For Obama this is a repeat of Clinton's failures. By listening to a man that sacrificed 800,000 Tutsi lives to news polls and narcissism, Obama fails to see where history will judge him. After all, America doesn't write the history books anymore. The failures that Obama is racking up when dealing with genocide won't be erased like those of American presidents who killed off the Native Americans. Syria and Myanmar won't be so easily forgotten. 

In April of 1994 the Clinton administration was questioned daily following the sudden eruption of genocide in Rwanda. Every news reporter in those White House briefings wanted to ask the same question. On their lips rested the damning words that would haunt the Clinton presidency for the rest of time. 

"Is this Genocide?"

From the start of the killings in Rwanda the Clinton administration began sending out orders to it's staff and it's contacts in the media that all read rather bluntly "Don't use the word 'genocide' when talking about Rwanda". The immediate fear the Clinton White House had about the word genocide was that the legal ramifications of such a charge could possibly drag the United States back into Africa. Somalia was far to fresh for the fragile Clinton presidency to be starting up another war in another African country (especially one most American's couldn't even point to on a map). Even worse was the fact that Clinton didn't exactly know where Rwanda was either. 

Next came Bosnia. 

It was almost as though Clinton couldn't catch a break. Everywhere the man turned the world was going up in flames. And yet this was a man who wanted to tackle social issues, not be dragged into issues abroad. So once again the Clinton administration sent out orders for their staff to avoid all conversation about the subject. Bill didn't want to discuss the massacres, he didn't want to talk about the Serbian aggression, he just simply didn't want to discuss anything that could drag his presidency back overseas. 

But the media did something that they haven't done since. Honest, aggressive, journalist took to the combat zone to bring home images of what hell was like. Children being shot in the street while their mothers' cried from behind soldiers' arms proved to be a bit too much for America and the EU to ignore. With images of snipers picking off women and children playing on televisions across the country, Clinton decided to go to war. 

Obama played the cowboy when American jets were sent over Libya to enforce a no-fly-zone. He promised a worried American public that there would be "no boots on the ground". It was in Libya that the Obama White House found some relief from Afghan follies. Yet the engagement was still unpopular amongst Americans. The fact that America has been at war in the Middle East for over a decade just couldn't be erased with one "victory" in Libya. 

With his one victory under his belt, Obama seems to have no desire to lose that ace in the hole. It is his own version of a "get out of jail" free card. The fact that he didn't even play it after the right wing cried fowl after the Benghazi attack should prove just how attached Obama is to his own ego. And yet when Democrats demand that Obama play his card with Syria... Obama slips Libya back under the table. 

Syria is a bloody mess. It has been ravaged for years by a stalemate that has proven to be one of the largest human rights catastrophes of our era. Jets strafe civilian neighborhoods over and over before dropping their deadly cargo on innocent souls. Helicopters fire rockets on civilians that try to dig their neighbors and family out of the rubble of their former homes. Shabiha mobs team up with mercenary soldiers from Hamas and Iran to commit massacres upon Assad's orders. If this isn't genocide, it is at the very least a long list of horrific war crimes. 

So why the decision to avoid intervention? Why the hesitation? Are we not committed to the freedom and liberty we claim to enjoy ourselves? 

Obama isn't up for reelection. This is his last term he will ever be able to hold as an American president. The fact that he appears weak can no longer be tied to his fear of reelection. 

It can however be tied to the fact that Russia and China have warned the West of the price they would pay for intervening in Syria's crisis. Russian arms wait on loading docks to be sent off and deployed in Syria at a moments notice. Putin constantly brings up his country's history of trading with Syria as though we should keep it in mind. And the Russian czar isn't afraid to point out that those Syrian helicopters and jets are Russian made. 

Obama on the other hand has taken his sweet time in sending weapons to the opposition in Syria. Constant promises of weapons and funds have been put forward by Obama over the past two years. He has even played around with the no-fly-zone option from time to time. Yet the same obstacle comes up every time Obama makes a move toward intervention... Putin. 

Spinelessness and cowardice are two things that Russia's dictators have never respected. And yet these are exactly what Obama has shown when dealing with Syria. Instead of standing up and fighting for what is right, Obama has knelt down and licked the boots of a KGB thug. While Syrian civilians are subjected to barbarism our leader practices appeasement.

All the while Obama has taken a page from Clinton's book. By looking at the uniformity with which the media and White House have operated when talking about Syria one can only guess the same orders went out as went out under Clinton. Only this time we aren't supposed to see the footage of Syrian children being killed. We aren't supposed to see nightly displays of what hell is like. We are supposed to view this through Russian eyes.

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Source Documents 

(note: not all sources listed)

My San Antonio 

http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Obama-leads-from-behind-Bill-Clinton-4607824.php

The Sydney Morning Herald 

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/bill-schools-barry-on-syria-20130618-2ofy6.html

Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/06/18/russia_wins_on_syria_at_g8_summit_while_stephen_harper_scores_on_tax_walkom.html

BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22960062

Alder's Ledge

http://aldersledge.blogspot.no/2012/04/is-syria-new-bosnia.html

A Line In The Sand

United States Shows Yellow Streak Over Red Line Comment
(The Darkness Visible series)

In August of 2012 President Obama said before the world in no uncertain words that the United States would not tolerate Assad's regime crossing the "red line" by using chemical weapons. In the strongest words the President could afford, Obama told Assad's regime that the use of Syria's chemical weapon stockpiles would have "serious consequences". The audience was supposed to recall Gaddafi and the US military's actions in Libya. This was Obama's moment to sound like a war hawk while seeking to be a dove.

“We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons moving around or being utilized.”

~ President Barack Obama, 20th August 2012

Well today we know that Assad crossed that "red line" after dancing upon it and the bones of the dead beneath it. This was Assad's way of telling the West that he doesn't fear them. This was Assad's way of telling Obama that unlike Gaddafi, Assad will not be removed from power by any UN or NATO action. Assad showed his teeth when Obama attempted to back him into a corner.

With the use of sarin gas Assad showed the world that his military is only getting started in a long fight to maintain power over the people of Syria. While the world watches and cheers on the rebel forces, Assad still has plenty of resources to draw upon to win this fight. He has shown with the use of chemical weapons that he will utilize whatever weapons he needs to to win this war. And once the fight has ended, Assad's al-anfal campaign will begin.

"We need to expand the evidence we have, we need to make it reviewable, we need to have it corroborated," ~ Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary 4th June, 2013

While the White House drags their heels the forces of Assad's brutal regime continue to move chemical weapons about Syria in preparation for wider use. The intent to suppress unorganized units of the rebels while pinning down battle hardened opposition has proven to be useful to Assad's military. They have been able to hold their ground while the opposition has been able to only shift the line on one point just to lose another. All the while Assad has been receiving arms and goods from Iran, Russia, and China. Allowing the regime to hold out while the rebels beg for supplies from the West. 

With every passing day the civilians trapped between the trenches are sacrificed to an ever shifting line in the sand. Obama's promise of action had shifted that line in their favor last year. Now it has been dragged back over the border as the Syrian people become refugees in their own country. For the lucky ones there is still the hope to cross the only permanent lines by fleeing the country for Turkey and Lebanon. 

“These weapons are made to be used strictly and only in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic.” ~ Jihad Makdissi, Foreign Ministry Spokesman.

Then there remains the threat that Syria issued in July of 2012 when Assad was beginning to realize that UN or NATO troops might intervene. It was at that time that Assad raised the stakes by declaring that his forces would use any and all chemical weapons against foreign soldiers and/or nations who interfered. This now (that we already know Syria has used chemicals) hints that Assad has something worse than sarin gas to use on outsiders. It also leaves one to wonder just why Assad went ahead and used sarin gas in the first place. 

So we should therefore ask ourselves, us in the United States, if we want our troops exposed to a war where the other side has already used chemicals and promises to use them again. We must ask if we wish to sacrifice our blood and treasure to end the suffering of Syrian civilians trapped between two armies (or more). And just how much will we invest to end the bloodshed? Will we accept the cost of spilling blood to supposedly end the flow of innocent blood? Just how much more suffering can we stomach? 

"Russia has been a key supporter of Assad, protecting his regime from the United Nations sanctions and providing it with weapons despite the two-year civil war in which more than 70,000 people have been killed." ~ CBS News

With the cold war supposedly dead the West finds itself face to face with a man that reminds many of Stalin reincarnated. Putin's Russia has supplied Assad with weapons that the unstable regime had previously only been able to drool over. Now the crazed president uses Russian munitions upon his own citizens, killing women and children rather intentionally. All of which has brought a weakened West to an awkward feeling of déjà vu (think Vietnam, Afghanistan, or even Korea). 

If the United States is to overcome its reputation of making false promises and hollow threats it will be facing off with Russian made weapons and Soviet trained units. This would be a war where the UN and NATO forces would not necessarily be better armed than their prey. Instead Obama would be throwing American lives into the breach without knowing what the opposite side is willing to bring to the table. 

So once again, should we be ready to join the fray? 

For over two years I have listened to the loudest and most persistant voices here at home say that "it is sad what is happening to those Syrians, but... it's not our fight.". The irony to me is that most of the time these are the same people who uphold President Bush's decision to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. When there was the promise of gain from the sacrifice of others, these were the people who were ready to "liberate" an opponent. These were the brave warriors of "freedom". These were the ones who claimed the moral high ground while we, the underclass, sacrificed our brothers and sisters for their wars. 

Now we are faced with a war to end the slaughtering of innocent civilians by a tyrannical dictator. For the first time in a generation we are presented with a good fight. And suddenly the West backs down with their tails between their legs. Where have the war hawks gone? Where did the moral high ground disappear to? Where is Uncle Sam's conscience now that the blood of innocence is upon our President's hands? 

Promises of this magnitude can not be backed away from just because the other side has taken the opportunity to up the ante. When we tell a dictator that we will act we must do so. Any hesitation is complacency with the crimes committed by the enemy. Any motion that even hints that we are turning away from our word is a defeat before we ever begin. Barack Obama must be forced to stand up and be a man. He must be forced to uphold his promise to the people of Syria. 

What if China and Iran back Russia and engulf the region in civil war? What if the West is being dragged into a proxy war? What if Syria is just the first domino to fall? 

There will always be reasons to stand by while innocent lives are being destroyed. We will always have fears to face when we are presented with the right thing to do. If doing what is needed was easy then France would already be mobilizing. But the reality that Syria presents to the West is that when faced with massacres and the war crimes that Assad has given us we have no other option. This is where we prove that freedom is not free. And that no matter what, we will never surrender our belief that the liberty of others is always worth the risk... the fight... the suffering... and the blood we will surely spill. 

Putin and Assad may have led us to this moment. Their desire to prove our weakness may very well be reason for the constant antagonism that Syria displays to the West. Yet in the end we have to live with the fact that a promise was made. We drew the line in the sand. And we can't let it be moved again.

Source Documents
(Note: not all sources listed)

CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587640/france-says-sarin-gas-used-in-syria/
-
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587531/putin-russia-has-not-sent-s-300-air-defense-missiles-to-syria-yet/
-
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587007/russia-to-sell-mig-jet-fighters-to-syria-jet-maker-says/

NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/middleeast/obamas-vow-on-chemical-weapons-puts-him-in-tough-spot.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
-
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/world/middleeast/obama-threatens-force-against-syria.html
-
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/world/middleeast/chemical-weapons-wont-be-used-in-rebellion-syria-says.html

Break Their Backs

Carpet Bombing and Targeting Civilians
(A look at Syria's war crimes)

"Revolution means democracy in today's world, not the enslavement of peoples to the corrupt and degrading horrors of totalitarianism." ~ Ronald Reagan

The object of war has and will forever be the total destruction of one's enemy. This is the very reason war should never be taken lightly. For no matter how measured the acts of aggression are, no matter how precise the bomb, no matter how careful the soldier aims... somebody dies. And more often than not, it isn't the other combatant. It is the civilian population in and around the battle field that bears the brunt of war. It is upon their backs that the war is waged. It is upon their backs that the battles are won or lost.

Assad has been waging a campaign of "total war" against his own citizens. The line between combatant and civilian has all but vanished in the eyes of the Syrian Army. The man with a kalashnikov is no longer the primary target. Instead it is the little boy playing amongst the rubble, the little girl hiding in the doorway of her house, and the war weary mother who has buried her husband. This is what war becomes when one's enemy no longer is so easily defined. This is how war degrades the value of life by shrouding it in hate. 

Western leaders should be quick to remember that in the war for Syria's freedom it was Assad that fired the first shot. When his people rose up to demand their rights it was the Nero of Damascus that set Syria ablaze. Every death, every martyr, every slaughtered baby rightfully belong to Assad's long list of war crimes. He started this war. It was his brutality that left the masses with no other option but to side with armed rebels. And it will be his brutal tyranny that will inevitably lead to his own downfall. 

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." 

~ JFK

Today Human Rights Watch released statements pointing out Assad's war crimes. Once again the human rights group has pointed out that Assad has been using cluster ammunition to carpet bomb the civilian areas of Syria's cities. They pointed out that Assad has moved on from rocket attacks to heavy "dumb" bombs to level neighborhoods. And in the end they mentioned the ballistic missiles that Assad has begun to use against civilian areas not even involved in direct combat between the rebels and his own forces. 



These sorts of attacks would seemingly warrant some form of UN intervention in any other country. Yet in Syria the attacks, after more than two years of armed conflict, are becoming a part of daily life... or survival of it at least. While children are forced to live without the basic assurance of their safety, lack of access to schools, and face starvation at times; the UN avoids interaction. 

"The sin of silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." 

~Abraham Lincoln

Currently the G8 are meeting to discuss a wide array of issues. Potential war with North Korea has many of the countries sidetracked from the current crisis in Syria. Yet the issue of Assad and the Syrian rebels is said to be up for conversation. But just how much will come out of a distracted and unwilling convention of Western leaders? 

At the same time it is important to note that Barack Obama promised "dire consequences" if Assad crossed the "red line" with chemical weapons. But what about the use of ballistic missiles? Should it be acceptable to allow a dictator the option of annihilating his own citizens just as long as they don't have to suffer like the Kurds did under Saddam? Should we not consider the use of cluster bombs, carpet bombing, and ballistic missiles as being a "step too far"? 

It is clear when looking at Assad's war crimes that the UN is woefully ill-equipped to deal with Syria and it's supporters (Russia, China, and Iran). When it comes to standing toe to toe with Putin and Assad it would appear that the UN has no stomach for that fight. And for that reason the civilians of Syria must have their backs broken under the weight of a tyrant who knows no limits to his cruelty. 











Source Documents 
(Note that not all sources are listed)

Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/04/10/syria-aerial-attacks-strike-civilians
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2013/04/10/death-skies

The New York Times
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/filmmakers-capture-chaos-after-air-strikes-in-syria/

Frontline (PBS)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BHUKBaFetJY

Behold Us Caesar...

...Those Who Are About To Die
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Herero Victims During German's Genocidal Campaign in Namibia 1904-1907)

Genocide is a heartless act that knows no bounds. When it begins it is often hard to define and often hidden from view. But once it is underway, once the dead start to pileup, genocide is almost impossible to mistake. We know it because we have all at one time participated in it in one role or the other. We have seen it. We have felt it. We are the reason it still exist. 

Without the cooperation of good and decent people genocide has no ability to rack-up the horrific numbers it achieved in the 20th century. Without complacency of the virtuous portion of the population it is powerless. And yet in the last century it has killed more people than the number of those who died in combat in both world wars. A feat that would be unimaginable had it not been for the lack of resistance to it from the civilized world. 

The deads' voices still linger to this day. Their faces peer back at us from faded images and grainy video reels. Like ghost, they wait to be acknowledged. They wait for justice to be served. And yet to this day we as a world community seem unwilling to give them the peace they so desperately desire. 

The pain of the holocaust still shows up from time to time. The Armenians' agony still rips its way through modern flesh as the heart of a people breaks every April. The sorrow of the Herero still lingers in modern Namibian society as the people of a forgotten genocide still try to cope with what was done to them. All of these murders were committed by men and women who are all gone or near dead today. And yet the wounds still remain open. 

(Jewish Boys In Ghetto During The Holocaust)

These wounds refuse to heal for a reason. They will never nor can never be closed till the world learns to deal with genocide when it is happening and as it is happening. It would be a crime against our tragic past to forget the sorrows our ancestors lived through only to have to witness those same events over and over again. 

Today there are more genocides occurring at one time than we have ever seen in modern history. From ethnic cleansing, deportations, to campaigns of total extermination... genocide is on the rise. And it will only continue to spread as long as the morality within our societies remains numb to its presence around us. 

In Syria we have watched for over two years as a minority sect of Islam has sought to subjugate the majority through political tyranny and genocidal military action. Even as the world community rallied around the consensus that Assad needed to step down from power we ignored the massacres he had committed in the name his faith and lust for power. It was a step too far for us to recognize the intentions of the beast. The UN and its supporters seemed to believe it was the right of a regime to kill its own people as long as the blood stayed within its borders. 

Sudan continues to grind down it's undesirables through a ruthless and never ending genocide. Starvation, massacres on grand scales, and aerial bombardment are all hallmarks of the Sudanese government in Darfur. And despite the dire situation in which Darfur civilians are forced to live the West remains silent. Taking only small steps to "persuade" the Sudan toward a "desirable" outcome, the UN refuses to bare its teeth with the homicidal leaders in Sudan's government.

Somalia, a regular offender of human rights and perpetual state sponsor of genocide, has continued to operate outside the realms of international law. Its government uses tribal hatred to help control a population it can not bring under its boot. Groups who find themselves on the wrong side of even a minor issue are up for grabs. And yet the living memory of "Black Hawk Down" keeps outsiders on the fence when it comes to dealing with ethnic cleansing and the genocidal tendencies of the Somalian warlords. 

Christian communities throughout the Arab world affected by the "Arab Spring" continue to feel the pain of being a religious minority in countries turning toward fundamentalist Islam. In Libya the world ignored the hints of ethnic cleansing of Coptic Christians and black Africans as Gaddafi fell from power. In the typical rush to be first to back a popular movement, the Western world failed to insure the safety of minority groups across Libya as Islamist leaning rebels took control. This was repeated in Egypt and Syria as the Arab Spring fever spread unchecked. And as one government collapsed the power vacuum it created proved detrimental to Coptic Christians and other minority religions. Yet the UN and West all together failed to recognize the potential for genocide and continued to blindly support a "democratic" movement that has failed to produce a representative government since it first began. 

Then there is Bahrain. While the Arab Spring seemed more profitable for the West in other countries it never panned out in Bahrain. Instead the continued oppression and bloodshed remains under a cloak of darkness as the world tries desperately to ignore the tragedy all together. And yet it was in Bahrain where we first heard the genocidal government refer to its people as "cockroaches". This phrase should have send chills up the backs of those who remember Rwanda. But nothing ever happened. Instead the West closed its eyes to the suffering of the oppressed and turned their attention to Egypt... the payday of the Arab Spring. In doing this they have let the politicide of the Bahrain go unchecked and unabated. 

(Roma Being Deported By Nazi SS, World War Two)

Burma. A country that just recently opened up to the outside world... or at least cracked the door a little. It was a fleeting moment in time when we all thought that Myanmar was actually moving toward democracy. That brief moment where Aung San Suu Kyi was first paraded as the symbol of hope and freedom for a religiously and militarily oppressed country. Where the hell did that go?

During the summer of 2012 the old junta reared its head in the Arakan as the Nasaka and military helped perpetrate genocide against the Rohingya people. In response to religious propaganda and political pressure from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party the pogroms began. Whipped into a frenzy with the excuse of a single crime, the Rakhine majority descended upon the Rohingya minority. And every since the story has remained the same. A radical group of monks or politicians spreads hate filled propaganda and soon after the Buddhist majority is up in arms and ready to kill. Yet the UN and Western world seems to be unable or unwilling to recognize the simple progression genocide takes (both in Burma and everywhere else it takes root). 

The pogroms of the Rohingya people illustrate the very reason the wounds of past genocides never seem ready to heal. The very reason for their existence in the first place is still with us. The very act that put these wounds in place has not yet been removed from us. So for what reason should they heal?

It is in the shared history of our cultures that we are able to relate to those still suffering this affliction. Once, no matter how long ago, we too where put through these same flames. The faces of our past now look back at us, if not from faded images, but rather from living flesh and blood. So how is it that we still find it possible to look away? 

If we do not deal with genocide here, today, we will deal with it again in the very near future. It does not go away simply because we detest it so. Instead it seems rather persistent in showing its ugly face throughout the pages of history. As if it too seeks some form of rationalization... an end.

When the victims of the circus in Rome were dragged out before Caesar their faces portrayed the imagined words of Shakespeare. In their eyes said what their lips could not, "Behold us Caesar, those who are about to die." 

Today the Western world is our Caesar. We hold the power to save lives or damn them. Our wealth, our power... all of this puts us in a place of responsibility. And yet as the innocent victims of genocide are paraded before us we seem unwilling to spare them this fate. Even in situations where their plight could be diminished or ended, we do nothing as they perish. 

Their voices are crying out. Their screams just need help to be heard. And in this world where genocide is treated like the ancients' circus, they look to us for help.

Raining Fire

Cluster Bombs And Syria
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Cluster Bombs Don't Just Kill Militants)

Over the past six months there have been 119 locations where cluster bombs have been verified to have been used against the civilian population within Syria. 156 known cluster munitions have been verified to have struck and/or have been targeted against civilians. This means that in those 119 locations, Syria's government has used multiple cluster munitions on the same location. And with each and every attack there has been children like the one above either killed, wounded, and physically and emotionally scarred by the heartless brutality of these indiscriminate attacks. 

Human Rights watch has identified two such attacks in just the past two weeks. Between the two cluster bombs dropped there were 11 civilians killed (of which were two women and five children) and 27 others wounded. It is important to note that these were just the results of two cluster bombs. 

As of March 5th the world was given evidence of new cluster bombs entering the conflict. These Soviet made weapons were not known to have been used prior to this attack. A fact that points to the continued support of the Assad regime by the Russian government. It also points to the fact that Assad is expanding his ruthless campaign of slaughtering civilians while he pretends to be looking for a "peaceful resolution". 

(Russian Made, Assad Approved)

The ShOAB 0.5 is a weapon that is not only old but has been proven to be both deadly upon impact and a prolonged killer upon the battle field. Not only does it spread out over a large area when dropped but many of the little grenade like bombs are left unexploded. This means that they can detonate at any time and kill those trying to save wounded or clear out the initial fatalities. It also means that they pose the same risk as landmines once the battle is over or the war has ended. 

In the past Assad has used cluster bombs ahead of military or Shabiha militias to clear the way for his troops. Now Assad appears to be carpet bombing areas simply to drive the death toll upward. At times it doesn't even seem that the Syrian army needs to have any indication that rebels are in the area for them to justify the use of weapons like cluster munitions. All that is apparently needed is for the military to believe that the local citizens at one time supported the rebel cause. 

For the children of Syria this "death from above" method has left them seeking more creative ways to hide. In the past they had been able to hide in their homes from the government militias and military forces. By simply staying indoors when the shelling began or the gunfire grew louder they could at least pray for protection. Yet cluster munitions void that strategy. With cluster munitions, if the neighbor is suspected of a crime... so are you.

I have said over the past two years that I believe Assad will only get more violent as the war goes on. Cluster munitions are just one way he is proving me to be correct in my assumptions of him. If these weapons are not stopped and Assad is not given limits to his madness... what kind of new hell will he unleash next?

More Mass Executions

Less Hope For An End To The War
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Bodies Dragged Out Of Kuwait River In Aleppo)

Syria was the original source for The Darkness Visible series. The horrific massacres that marked the outbreak of "civil war" in Syria inspired a seemingly endless focus on the tragedy. At times I have been unable to think of anything else but Syria and how easily it could be ended. Knowing what was happening due to Assad's insanity was making me question my own. Today Syria calls out to the world once more.

When Houla broke last May the world couldn't help but stare with their mouths hung open. Among the 108 dead were 49 children and babies. Many of the children had had their throats slit and or shot at point-blank range. This was the worse atrocity in the civil war up to that point. 

The UN has finally accepted the fact that the Shabiha (an Alawite death squad) had been the murderers in Houla. This was a claim that human rights organizations had backed from the start. It was obvious that Assad was paying this minority sect of Islam, Assad's own sect, to commit bouts of ethnic cleansing across Syria. The Houla massacre was just one of the many atrocities that became the hallmarks of Assad's genocidal campaign. 

This latest massacre is just one more grotesque display of Assad's dedication to the destruction of Syria. It is obvious by the trademarks of this massacre that the Shabiha were most likely responsible for the slaughter. Key points, such as hands being bound and signs of torture, point to the brutal mob and the support of the Syrian army. 

"With every day, with every week, with every month, the chances of him surviving are becoming less and less," Russian Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedev.

As for the Russians and Chinese, their support for Syrian president Bashar Assad remains in tact. Instead of focusing on the innocent civilians the Russians continue to focus on their desire to keep Assad in power. This dedication is born out of a desire to keep rather lucrative arms sales up and running and their control of the region alongside Iran. For the Chinese their allegiance is born out of both arms sales and the promise of cheap oil and the backing of their exploitation of Africa. 

(Civilians Shot Execution Style And Dumped In The River)

"... the tragedy does not have an end." Lakhdar Brahimi while speaking to the UN.

Around 70 young men were pulled from the Kuwait River near Aleppo. The people in the area who had missing relatives came to identify the dead as best as they could. However with the victims having been bound and shot in the head or face, identification was difficult. The fact that all of the victims were male was impossible to miss. And the fact that the youngest victim was 12 years of age was even more difficult to overlook. 

This was a war crime at best. And given that the victims will most likely all be Sunni and not Shia (or Alawite) this is possibly a case of genocide. After all, Assad's goal and the goal of his family since they took power has been to sustain control over the majority of Syria's Sunni Muslims. This goal has required countless infringements upon even the most basic of human rights in the past. It now requires that Assad kill any and all those who oppose his heartless rule. 

The question that arises from this struggle between the two basic sects of Islam is that of whether the outside world can label this as genocide. Is it possible for two competing views of the same faith to engage in genocide against one another? Or will we now need to rewrite the definition of genocide to better fit the internal struggle Islam faces today and has faced for hundreds of years? 

It is the humble opinion of Alder's Ledge that genocide occurs when any group (especially a modern state) engages in acts that are meant to destroy or diminish a given targeted community. The targeted community is most often defined by a given faith, ethnicity, creed, or distinguishable social class such as those given in the caste system of India. The term genocide thus becomes imperative when the attacks are shown to be targeted at either driving the targeted community out of an area, decrease their presence in the area, or ultimately annihilate the community all together.

Assad's actions show that he is operating off a "burnt earth" policy. Reprisals committed against the civilian population, though common in war, in the case of Assad are blatantly targeted at his religious competitors. More importantly there remains the fact that Assad has gone out of his way to raise his own religious group up in social standings while deliberately crushing outsiders and targeting those from directly opposing religious groups. 

For these reasons Alder's Ledge believes that this latest massacre is just one more display of a brutal genocide being carried out by a dictator we have often referred to as the "Nero of Damascus". And as we have stated time and time again it is the duty of the civilized world to step in and put an end to this crisis immediately. We can not wait till the tragedy plays itself out while we talk about polite policy as it relates to "national sovereignty". The wanton murder of one's own citizens must not be treated any differently than it would be if Assad's actions crossed the border over into Turkey or Israel. It is time that Assad be stopped and the cease fire be enforced with more than blue hat smurfs that run away the moment they are shot at. 

How many more need to die?

Source Documents Used  (note not all sources are listed) 

The Australian

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/civilians-shot-in-aleppo-massacre/story-fnb1brze-1226565396059

The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/29/syrian-rebels-bodies-aleppo-canal

The Telegraph 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9838299/Aleppo-massacre-as-more-bodies-are-lifted-from-the-river-families-bury-their-dead.html

The Independent 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bodies-of-at-least-65-young-men-are-pulled-from-river-in-syria-following-mass-execution-8471362.html

France 24

http://www.france24.com/en/20130129-syrias-aleppo-horrific-new-massacre

French Government Website

http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/syria-295/events-5888/article/syria-massacre-in-aleppo-30-01-13

Al Jazeera English (video)

Generational Scars

The Lion And His Pride
(A return to Syria)

April 14th, 2012. Students At Aleppo University gather to make the universal S.O.S.

January 16th, 2013. Students gather for exams just before Assad's jets bomb the University.

The Medz Yeghern, the Great Crime, was a holocaust the world has never officially recognized. When dealing with their own "question" of what to do with a large population of "undesirables" the Turks came to a ghastly conclusion. On April 24th, 1915 the Young Turks launched what would become known as the Armenian Genocide. This massive crime would lead to the deaths of somewhere around 1.5 million Armenian victims. And by the time of its completion the Armenian community would be left struggling to survive. 

Upon the launch of their massacres the Young Turks realized that one of the first targets of their attacks had to be the intellectuals and community leaders of the Armenian society. Attacking these individuals would leave the community at large helpless and make it difficult for Armenians to organize any form of resistance. So on April 14th of 1915 the Young Turks set out across the Ottoman Empire to round up and deport and kill all Armenian intellectuals. 

The Syrian regime under Assad has overlooked the usual step of targeting intellectuals up until yesterday. Though there have been round ups of protesters and attempts to kill off those who organize the "opposition forces", Assad had in the past exercised restraint when dealing with the countries academia. So in comparison to the two years of conflict prior yesterdays attack stands out only due to its intended target.

It is said far to often in the developed world that the children are our future. It is said that we should view our children as our greatest resource as a nation or society. More poignantly it is remarked that the youth of our nation is our treasure.

In this war to maintain power Assad has spent an untold amount of treasure to secure his own future. His barbarism has stripped Syria of most if not all of its resources as the Syrian people go hungry, grow cold in the winter, and die as disease can no longer be prevented. In this war to crush the hearts of his own people, Assad now targets his nation's youth alongside Syria's children.

It wasn't long ago that the world watched as the Shabiha (ghosts) slaughtered the children of Homs. It wasn't long ago that we watched as Assad bombed bakeries as the starving waited for a little bread. Now we watch as Assad attempts to stifle discontent amongst those seeking a better life through education. Now we watch as Assad squanders the only resource Syria has left... the only hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Obama and the West told Assad recently that there was only one weapon he could not use. They told Assad that there was just one line in the sand that they would not allow him to cross. Without the use of chemical or biological weapons Assad is free to kill the students of Syria. Without the use of tactical nuclear strikes Assad is free to slay the children of his nation. And as long as we don't have to watch it, Assad is allowed to continue to feed upon Syria's innocents like a lion trying to regain control of his pride.

Syria will one day be free. Syria will one day be able to hold its head up high without the yolk of Assad's regime around its neck. The only question now is who will lead it? Who will take the Nero of Damascus's place if the educated minds are simply killed off? Who will lead the masses if the youth, a portion of the population driven by more than religion and politics, are driven out of the country? Has Syria not had enough of old world dreams and selfish mens' desires for personal gain?

The free world has turned their backs on yet another opportunity to liberate and instead are now helping the extremist gain ground upon fertile soil. Just as they did with Egypt, the world has turned their backs and allowed Syria to descend into darkness. And in the end the neglect of the West will not be forgot when the next regime gains power. The sin of silence has already been committed and if history is any indication the reward is far from sweet.

When the Turks finished their genocide the world turned away almost immediately. Armenia, the Assyrians, and the Pontic Greeks were all left to fend for themselves as the Great Powers cut up the maps of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Three distinct cultures were left to struggle as the new century seemed to pass them by. The sin of silence has left each culture scarred to this day. Armenians around the world still fight for recognition of their ancestor's suffering. And yet the reward for their struggle remains out of reach.

Just as the Young Turks' handiwork lives on almost a hundred years after they have gone, Assad's sins will live for generations to come. Even if the educated, the intellectuals, and community leaders are marched off to firing squads; Assad's sins will never vanish. No matter how many children Assad's regime devours, the next generation will bear these scars. No matter how many mothers and fathers vanish into Assad's black prisons and torture chambers, the Syrians yet to be born will carry on their legacy. Just as the Armenians, Syrians will have to reconcile this travesty for what seems like an eternity.

Watching The World Burn

Damascus's Nero Promises Chemical Attacks
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Syrian Baby Killed In Syrian Air Strikes)

Today Assad made it clear to the UN and US that his military had "chemical weapons that could be used within two hours". Bashar al-Assad said in no uncertain terms that his air force had "dozens of 500lb bombs" ready to be deployed at a moments notice. Expanding on the subject Assad assured the West that these bombs were already or were currently being armed with sarin nerve gas. Assad stated that air bases across the country were already armed with these chemical weapons and the planes simply had to be sent up to start spreading his toxic payloads. 

This message out of Syria's regime appears to be a delayed response to President Barack Obama's warning that the use of chemical weapons would have "consequences". In many ways this response can also be looked at as Assad's way of thumbing his nose at the West. After all, much like Saddam Hussein, Assad views this war as a war of annihilation and that if he survives it he will have won. And after nearly two years of a war his regime launched it is obvious that Assad still controls Syria. After all, he controls the military, the sky, and the flow of food and fuel. 

(Man Holds His Wounded Son)

Before this war began the Syrian people had been led to believe that the war planes Assad had purchased by the dozen were meant to defend against Israeli aggression. Assad had made it appear as though he was planning to either stand up to Israel or even go on the offense. Yet the military build up continued as Assad's stance with Israel remained stagnant. Nobody would have guessed that these planes were meant to put down the threat Assad saw within Syria itself. 

Before this war began the Syrian people had little interest in the difference between the majority Sunni Muslims and the ruling minority Alawi Shia Muslims. Yet it appears now that this split between the two groups was always on the mind of Assad. His father had risen out of the Syrian version of an air force. He had taken control by appearing as a military hero. Assad on the other hand didn't have this image to hide behind. He appears to have known all along that the religious differences would eventually trump the old image his father had created. 

Now it is painfully obvious that the Alawi and their handful of loyalist are fighting a war of religious greed. This is a war the ruling class must win. It is a struggle to maintain the dominance of the version of Islam that Assad holds dear.

We know from the history of war in the region that once religion mixes with political power the use of unconventional warfare suddenly becomes acceptable. When Saddam needed to subjugate the Kurdish peoples of northern Iraq the use of chemical weapons was justified by drawing upon the Koran. When the Iraq-Iran war became a stalemate the Iranians decided it would be acceptable to force men onto the front lines or face death... and the deaths of their families. 

Assad is no different from those who came before him. The tide of war has turned against Assad in recent months. Rebels are finding ways to turn the big guns back on Damascus. No matter how many of his own citizens he kills, Assad can't seem to turn back his foes. Where ever Assad goes the rebels rise up to meet him. In this aspect Assad is fighting a guerrilla war in his own homeland.

(Lucky Syrian Baby Brought to Field Hospital)

So how long do we have before Assad decides to launch his final push back against the Free Syrian Army? 

Nobody can say for sure when the attack will come. Assad has already used organized and systematical torture, starvation and deprivation, shutting off the grid, cluster bombs, fire bombs, indiscriminate artillery shelling, blitz attacks followed by Shabiha mobs, aerial bombardment, summary executions, attacking refugee camps, and the butchering of children. So chemical weapons are just the next step in a failed attempt on Assad's part to keep control of Syria's government. 

More importantly, and the more direct question here, is how many more need to die before the West decides to intervene?

Obama's White House offered a seemingly endless flow of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people trapped by this war. Today the news has finally admitted that their "bighearted" President's gesture was just that. Over a million Syrians have no access to this food and water. Instead the humanitarian aid goes to waste as the Syrian people remains hungry and homeless. 

If we add those million lives to the already 60 to 100 thousand civilian casualties in Syria will the West finally consider the "red line" to have been crossed? 

Children who come out looking for food and fuel for their families are often kidnapped by Syrian military and killed or used as slaves and gang rapes. Those who are returned are often dead or close to it. But after the Houla massacre it is obvious that this is not the "red line" that Obama was talking about. 

Will we really have to wait till the chemicals are falling from the sky before we decide to act? It is time to wake up America. It is time to wake up Europe. This is a deliberate act of genocide being conducted by a failing tyrant. His regime is not afraid to take Syria to the very edge of the abyss. So why are we fooling ourselves in imagining that not even Assad would plummet all of Syria into the pits of hell?

If They Were Christians Would We Help?

From Syria to Burma
(The Darkness Visible series)

(Just Another Funeral in Syria) 

Over the past few months I have found it hard to not ask myself if things would be different if the current genocide victims were not Muslim. From Syria (where Assad, an Alawi, slaughters Sunni Muslims) to Burma (where the Buddhist regime targets Muslims for extermination) the victims all have one thing in common. Their faith. 

The response given by the United Nations and the Western governments that help guide it has reminded me since the start of how the UN responded to Bosnia. In 1992 the Serbian forces within Bosnia decided that the Muslims had to die to help create a "Greater Serbia". The United Nations responded just as one might have expected. Their actions helped further the cause of the Christian Serbs while punishing the Bosnian Muslims. No arms were allowed to be distributed to the Bosnian forces so as to help defend themselves and their families. Aid to the Bosnian community was seemingly given under the conditions that Bosnian Muslims would not defend themselves but commit to damned attempts at "diplomacy". All the while Serbs were allowed to funnel arms and ammunition across the border from Serbia so as to fuel their war upon Islam. 

The entire time I spent studying Srebrenica I couldn't help but ask myself... if the dead weren't Muslims would the West care? 

In Syria today the Alawi, a minute percentage of the population, have taken every action to reduce the Shiite population while securing power for the Shia minority. Dehumanization began from the very start of the protest against Assad. But it wasn't the rebels who were comparing their opposition to cockroaches. Instead it was Assad who was laying the ground work for genocide. And it was Assad who began working his way through the steps of genocide as if reading them from a book. Yet in Syria today the UN and US can be seen as only helping the Shia die in a little more comfortable ways than Assad would wish. They do not seem willing to stop the bleeding. 

Children are massacred in waves of violence not seen in the region since Saddam's campaign to annihilate the Kurds. Yet the UN did nothing more than ask Angelina Jolie to come and visit the refugee camps... across the border in safety. Aid has been slow (it wasn't till recently that America secured 1.5 billion in aid... with vast restrictions on its use of course) and at times has been left rotting on docks in neighboring countries so as to never arrive. The only thing that the UN seems competent to deliver has been the dirty white tents that help cameras capture the appearance of UN aid. Most aid has arrived through private organizations that have stretched themselves to the limit so as to save at least some of the refugees who have fled. 

Those left in Syria have been subjected to mortars, artillery, jet and helicopter attacks, and scud missiles that may be used to deliver chemical weapons. The dead are buried wherever a spare patch of ground can be found. Water, food, and electricity are subject to Assad's desire to either starve a region out or reward a region for their loyalty. All of these are seemingly random since Assad has begun to see rebels behind every rock and around every corner. 

So why does the West not act to help end the genocide in Syria? 

(Humanitarian Aid Remains Behind Blockades While Rohingya Starve To Death)

In Burma the Buddhist regime has been praised almost religiously by the West as the governments of Europe and America prepare to race in and claim as much of the economy as they can before China gets it all. In doing business with the Myanmar government the governments of the West are funding genocide. For decades now, of and on, the Burmese have been attempting to slaughter the Rohingya minority and all other Muslim groups. Under the Junta regime the Rohingya were not only dehumanized but often massacred. This latest burst of genocidal slaughter was just an extension of the decades of systematic slaughter the Junta perpetrated. 

As the violence spread the Rohingya were rounded up into camps where the Burmese military was seen attacking the Rohingya who attempted to flee. When it wasn't the military killing Rohingya it was the Rakhine mobs that the police let through from time to time to keep the Rohingya terrorized. In effect the Myanmar government was establishing concentration camps like those the Serbs established for the Bosnian Muslims. Yet the West refused to call these "refugee" camps what they truly were. Instead we now find ourselves in a place where Rohingya are banned from leaving the camps and aid is blockaded from entering the camps. 

Food and water have been restricted while the Burmese Muslims are starved to death. Babies, some seen on previous post, are left forever harmed by this cruelty... if they survive at all. Yet the West fails to go beyond their business prospects in Myanmar. 

Once again I have to ask, if the Rohingya were not Muslims would the West care anymore?

Many "humanitarians" in the media and Western culture have spent years upon years trying to get governments to help the victims in Darfur and the Congo. The obvious difference in this post is that the victims in this case are predominately Christians. And the attackers are predominately Muslims. This is not to say that genocide in these two cases should not be protested or should not be stopped. But it is painfully clear that those speaking out for the victims share a fairly obvious link to the victims themselves. Their faith.

With this we should all take a look at the reasons for why we get involved. And more importantly we should take a real hard look at the reasons why we tend not to get involved. Both are the sources for our inaction when faced with genocide. And both have effects that last for generations. By not taking action to help those in need we show our true selves... our greatest weaknesses... and most of all our prejudices.

Assad's al-Anfal

Syria's Inevitable End Game
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Iraqi Kurdish Children Killed in Gas Attacks)

As the fighting worsens in and around Damascus the West has begun to realize that Assad has no way to leave the battlefield with any honor left intact. This fight to maintain control of Syria has left the dictator helpless as the country has descended into the abyss of war. It is in this sense of desperation that has become nearly palpable in the heart of Syria. A sense of desperation that is leading to more hopeless means of combat. Helping fuel the fear of another al-Anfal genocide within the region. 

In 1986, toward the end of the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein launched the worse campaign of genocide since the Nazis conquest of Europe. Attacking the Kurdish villages in northern Iraq, Saddam targeted all minority populations as well, the dictator embarked upon a war of annihilation. This was a barbaric battle to rid Iraq of those who Saddam deemed to be "non-Iraqi" or "non-Arabic" populations. 

"... Allah willed to justify the Truth according to His words and to cut off the roots of the Unbelievers..." Koran 8:7 

Saddam took the name of his genocide from the Holy Koran. Yet his war was far from holy. It was so barbaric and ghastly that not even the Western world couldn't look the other way. This was a war that would scar the minds of world leaders for decades to come. 

For the first time since the world wars the West would watch as gas was used to kill off thousands of people in just a matter of minutes. Men, women, and children died where they were standing as the shells carrying the gas fell from above. The images of children gasping for air were suddenly seen around the world. All were victims of Saddam's al-Anfal. 

Today Turkey joined the United States in warning the world of the lingering threat of Assad's vast chemical weapon stores. The United States State Department managed to piece together strong words of warning for Assad as they talked about the "red line" these unconventional weapons presented. Turkey on the other hand has a very real fear of these weapons being used along the border with Syria. After all, chemical and gas don't know the limits of the battlefield and rarely behaves as the murderers intend. 

Yet for all the warnings and all the nervousness surrounding the use of chemical weapons the Syrian government has already begun deployment of chemical weapons to the embattled areas. In Aleppo the West believes that enough chemical shells could already be in place to kill the local population without warning. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians could be at risk as this post is being written. Even an upwards of a million civilians could be at risk as chemical weapons make their way across the country.

“Today I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching,” President Barack Obama. 12/3/2012

It is clear now that Assad has every intention to use some measure of chemical weapons on his own citizens. It is also clear that Assad will use these weapons without warning and without relent. Once the gas begins to flow it will not stop till the UN or US step in to stop it. A level of commitment that the White House has finally begun to show it is willing to take on. 

But the question remains... just how many Syrians will have to die before the West starts to take military action to stop the genocide in Syria? 

A spontaneous offensive with the use of chemicals as it's spearhead will kill hundreds of thousands of Syrians in a matter of days at best. With Syrian civilians clustered together, so as to avoid the fighting, their populations are gathered in small areas. Gas will allow their numbers to be drastically decreased in the first few hours of the attacks. This appears to be what Assad is hinging his bets upon as his chemical weapons are now being deployed. 

“This is a red line for the United States,” Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. 12/3/2012

We may be watching. We may have plans to take action to stop the attacks. But as of now the United States can not nor will not be able to prevent the gas from being used. Once again the West has put themselves in a position where they can not protect those in the most need of it. We have failed the Syrians. 

This will be Assad's end game. 

The final stages of his rule are falling in place. The rebels are closing in upon their old master's stronghold. Assad is now nothing more than an animal... an animal that has been backed into a corner. Yet like most beast, Assad won't go down without a fight.

If the West wants to declare checkmate it should had already entered the fight and prevented this scenario from ever taking place. Now we have little we can do but attempt to limit the number of civilians Assad can take to Hell with him. Yet even this depends upon men like Barack Obama who have done nothing to stop us from getting to this point to begin with. 

How much more of this wretched war can Syria take?