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

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? 

Blacked Out In Hell

Assad Guarantees No Syrians Will See This Post
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Internet Shut off at 10:30am Across Syria) 

With the war in Syria grinding its way through the 20th consecutive month the Assad dictatorship has apparently become desperate to stop the uprising from having access to its lifeblood... the outside world. In a move that has drawn harsh criticism Bashar al-Assad has shut down the Internet within Syria. It is not clear if the services will return under foreign pressure. But it is clear to human rights observers as to why Assad has taken this dramatic action in his attempt to smash his opposition.

Media blackouts have been common when it comes to Assad and his massacres. Before the last two massacres there were minor interruptions in communications with the outside world. In the last pogrom Assad interrupted the Internet surrounding Houla in an attempt to black out any videos arising from the area. These attempts to stifle the truth from flowing out of Syria failed. So now we must ask if this new nationwide black out is a smoke screen like it had been back in Houla?

We do know now that Assad is fighting fierce battles in and around Damascus. The war for Aleppo was lost to a stale mate for Assad's forces. Now the war is coming with even more ferocity to the capital city. Car bombs rack the Syrian army every time they try to rush off to a new guerrilla street fight. Planes that had ruled the air around Aleppo are now being brought down by Free Syrian Army surface to air missiles. And yet the fighting seems to still be stuck in grid lock as Russia and China continue to poor money into Assad's reserves. 

With Russia printing Assad's money for him the dictator can continue to pay off Iranian mercenaries and Shabiha thugs. The flow of cash means that Assad can continue to pay for his secret prisons and purchase new tools with which to torture his own citizens. These billions of dollars means that Assad can use his own money, thus keeping Russia's hands clean, to purchase more Iranian weapons and Chinese ammunition. It also means that Assad has the money to fund an all out push for wide spread atrocities across the country.

In addition to cutting Internet services Assad also cut cellphone services in the country. This makes it appear that the dictator has admitted that cellphone pictures have been the leading source of "eyewitness testimony" against his war crimes. After all, it was the cellphone videos uploaded to YouTube that first alerted the West to the horrific war crimes committed by the Shabiha in Houla. It was the images of children having been bound and executed by Assad's thugs that first raised concern amongst governments in Europe and the Americas. So once again we must pose the question of whether or not Assad is preparing to launch an all out push against his opposition across the country? And how far will Assad take the country before the lights come back on? 

Some outside sources have suggested that the cutting of communications was an overreaction to the car bomb attacks that rocked suburbs of Damascus earlier this morning. Around 50 people were killed in the attacks. Yet it is hard for Alder's Ledge to buy into this excuse since the car bombs were set off in Christian and Druze neighborhoods. A fact that rules out any sympathies an Alawite Islamic leader might have for the dead. In addition the very leader that cut the communications is the same leader that began targeting Christian and Druze Syrians shortly after the uprising began. 

(Syrian Neighborhood Rocked By Explosions This Morning)

We do know that Assad had already made plans to make a push somewhere around the international airport where rebels had been attacking for days. And shortly after cutting communications Assad did in fact start such a push against the Free Syrian Army. And in an effort to get planes back in the air and landing at the airport Assad has begun shelling civilian areas nearby. In this assault to reopen the airport Assad has sent the bulk of his forces into the villages of Babila and Hujaira to the south and Harran al-Awamid to the east. These are also areas where the cellular communications were slashed ahead of the military's arrival. 

If this is a new push to kill off as many "rebels" as the Assad regime can dig up or gather from the civilian population the West may never know. The fact is the lines of communication with the rebel militias are now cut. Outside of the foreign governments supporting the uprising, the rest of us will have to wait till information leaks out over the border into Turkey or Lebanon. What little news reporters are on the ground will also find it hard to get their reports out of the country. 

When the next massacre occurs we will have to wait to hear about it. When the next batch of children are sent off to an alleyway to be gunned down we will never be able to bear witness. When the next wave of Shabiha enter Syrian homes in the middle of the night the world will not hear their screams. This is precisely what Assad wants. The genocidal regime he has led now has all it has ever needed. A vacuum in which to operate. 

It is time for the world to wake up and take action. The darkness that has been covering Syria for nearly two years has now descended into pitch black. The monster in power now has the ability to operate without impediment. The people of Syria are now at risk of suffering far worse than they already have.

Source Document 

World Magazine

 http://www.worldmag.com/2012/11/deadly_twin_car_bombs_explode_in_a_christian_and_druze_suburb_in_syria

Forbes 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2012/11/29/syria-shuts-off-internet-but-can-they-really-block-information-flow/

Voice Of America 

http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-pushing-back-as-rebels-advance/1555248.html

BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20547799

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20493687

(note that not all documents used are listed)

The Tenth Circle of Hell

Improvised Warfare
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)

As car bomb continue to blast their way into the Syrian Army's ranks it is obvious that Assad has no defense against the creative attacks the Free Syrian Army has to offer. On the battlefield Assad's forces can claim victory after victory even as they incur massive casualties. But now, as they try to consolidate their gains by massing in reclaimed areas, the resistance sparks... and the flames of Hell itself come up to lap the blood of Assad's men.

State controlled media in Syria claims that the attacks are futile and barbaric. The rest of the world can see that Assad's forces are unable to gain control even when their forces are present in an area. The rebels are able to penetrate Assad's ranks while setting up their attacks and are able to target commanders and vital equipment Assad's army needs to operate. While the main goal of car bombs is to inflict tremendous amounts of casualties and impart terror, the rebels have begun using them as weapons of assassination.

What few outsiders are aware of however is that these very same weapons of resistance are the same weapons that claim innocent lives without discrimination. Today when simultaneous car bombs erupted and managed to kill dozens of Assad's soldiers with each blast they also killed many civilians. Women and children remain trapped in areas where these tools of improvised weapons of war are in use.

The miserable reality of living under constant siege has forced hundreds of thousands of Syrians to flee their homes. In one day 11,000 Syrians fled the country. Of those 11,000 and estimated 9,000 of them braved ongoing battles, Assad's helicopters, and cold rain and Turkish border guards as they cut their way through the barbed wire and crossed into Turkey. This mass exodus has led to renewed calls in the Turkish government for action to help end the crisis after 20 long months of hellish fighting.

(Syrians Illegally Crossing Into Turkey)

Meanwhile the newly elected leader of Syria's largest opposition group (Syrian National Council) claims that the crisis is still ongoing due to lack of concern by the world community. George Sabra, a Christian who was repeatedly imprisoned by Assad's regime, the new SNC leader blames countries like America for offering nothing but "statements and encouragement". He notes that good intentions and polite words can not win a war for freedom. While the West offers a pat on the back Russia, China, and Iran offer Assad helicopters, snipers, naval support, ammunition, armor, money, and at times mercenary soldiers and military training. 

This lack of will to offer aid, without demands, has led the Syrian Free Army to utilize every sort of guerrilla warfare imaginable. The rebels use mortars, improvised rockets, roadside bombs, child soldiers, car bombs, and blitz style attacks. Unfortunately all these weapons of war have the side affect of causing civilian casualties just as often as they kill their intended targets. 

On the flip side the innocent people trapped in the crossfire have Assad's heavy artillery, jets, helicopters, and Shabiha to deal with. 

This constant threat has led to shortages of food, lack of electricity, and undrinkable water. Children who had been in school 20 months ago have not been back in almost two years. Jobs that existed prior to the war are gone and thus most of the country are unemployed. The only way to earn money now is fight for it or barter for it. Not that Syrian cash has any value outside of Syria... and what value it holds in Syria is minimal. 

All of this builds to the new reality most Syrians live with. This is the new Syria that the upcoming generation will remember for all their lives. This is the tenth circle of Hell.

From Where Even Demons Flee

"I Will Live and Die in Syria"
(Part of The Darkness Visible series)

(Wounded Boy in Syria Seeks Comfort... Protection) 

It has been said many times that war is a kind of hell on Earth. In Syria the flames of Sheol lick the living as the torment of life in perpetual war seems far more contemptuous than that of death itself. This is a living death that knows not the religious affiliation nor political views of its victims. It does not target one over the other. This death is a tormentor without conscience. It attacks without mercy. It afflicts without pity. 

Under Assad the war has dragged on as new weapons make their way onto the battlefield. There is now evidence that the Syrian army has been using "cluster bombs" against its own people. These ammunition violates the laws that govern war amongst civilized nations. They are used to inundate an area and overwhelm an enemy. More importantly, they can't be targeted at one building or a small tactical area. They scatter to the wind and hit whomever happens to be near by. This is why they are so devastating when used in neighborhoods and small towns and villages.

(Cluster Bombs Found in Assad's Arsenal)

In Syria these cluster bombs appear to be used just before the appearance of Shabiha (thugs who are loyal to Assad for a price). Much like the Sudanese style of war, Assad is softening up the targets before allowing his Shabiha to enter in and kill whoever is left. In Darfur it is the Janjaweed who ride in and finish off the survivors. In Syria the Shabiha fulfill this cowardly act. 

(FSA Street Fighting Casualty)

In other attacks the cluster bombs have been targeted at schools and hospitals where Assad imagines the Free Syrian Army may be operating. In many cases the schools are occupied by refugees who have fled their homes in bombed out neighborhoods. It is in these schools that the Free Syrian Army often offer medical attention to the victims of Assad's indiscriminate campaign of bomb first and ask questions later.

Where the attacks fail Assad does not back down or deploy aid to the area. Instead the people he says he represents are left without power or water as winter approaches. No medicine or food is allowed to enter areas where Assad's forces are engaged. In this aspect Assad asserts that all those in his gun sights are guilty. Instead of targeting simply the rebels, Assad puts women and children under the daily anguish of siege warfare. 

(FSA Rebel Helping Woman Through "Sniper Alley")

For those who find themselves alive after the first wave of aerial bombardment the fight to survive is simply beginning. Survivors of what happens next have reported that within minutes of the bombs dropping the artillery opens up. These heavy weapons are often stationed in neighboring villages or neighborhoods. They are kept hidden near homes, mosque, and refugee shelters so as to keep the Free Syrian Army from returning fire. This very act of "hugging" civilian targets is also forbidden by the Geneva Convention. It is considered a war crime. 

When the target has been blasted by both the air and land those left alive are still struggling to remain so. In almost every case of Assad's blitz the barrage is followed by Syrian Army and Iranian snipers. These silent killers set up shop where their sights can be targeted down long open pathways. The result is that a street or becomes a "Sniper Alley". This was used by the Serbians in Bosnia to drive the death toll up as the Serbs killed off the "Muslim threat". 

(The Most Common Victims of the Shabiha) 

As the attack comes to its climax the Free Syrian Army braces for the arrival of the Shabiha. The Syrian Army will often give a short burst of artillery or send in Russian built helicopters to keep the target under control as the thugs ride in. These killers have often gone door to door looking for victims. They are said to be after the rebels alone and yet the Shabiha actions point to their real motivation. 

Killing off entire families and specifically targeting children the Shabiha loot the homes of their victims and take anything they view as valuable. In doing so the Shabiha are showing the West that Assad's money is running out and instead of offering a set pay scale the Nero of Damascus is paying off his militia just as Bashar in the Sudan does. Like the Janjaweed, the Shabiha are extracting their pay from the very people Assad is attempting to repress. 

The end result of the cluster bomb thus is that the original goal of Assad's war against the Sunni is achieved. The rebels are subjected to total war and the Sunni majority is subjugated by the Alawi Shia in power. It does not matter to Assad that the people he is killing are his own countrymen. It doesn't bother Assad's wife that almost a third of all the deaths in this war have been children (under the age of 18). 

Both sides are becoming desperate.

(FSA Executing Surrendered Syrian Soldiers)

The Free Syrian Army has begun openly shooting Syrian soldiers who surrender or attempt to defect form Assad's ranks. In the past the Free Syrian Army had welcomed Syrian soldiers who wanted to leave Assad. Now, with the war approaching 2 long years, the FSA seems unwilling to accept surrender. What had begun as a war of annihilation against the people of Syria is now a war of attrition. Either Assad's forces will perish or leave Syria or the Free Syrian Army will be killed off entirely. 

This is hell. No better word can describe it.

Sinking To A New Low

Syria's Hope Lost To War
(Part of the Lost Childhood series and The Darkness Visible post)

(Syrian Boy Recruited To Fight For The Rebels)

Every time I think about Syria a part of my soul screams out. I pray for the people there. I pray for their safety. I pray for peace. The images of their youth being killed by Assad's forces haunt me. The images of their cities burning never leave the back of my mind. Every day I do not write about their struggle is a day where my soul remains restless. It pleads with me to scream. 

That is why it has hurt in ways I never thought imaginable to see this struggle for freedom to be degraded into a fight for survival. I have watched as Russia (the motherland of oppression) has continued to supply Assad with the tools he needs to continue his reign of terror. I have watched China stand in the way of diplomacy as it trickles money into Assad's pockets through Russian hands. And I have been sickened to see Iranian snipers remaining diligent in their attacks on innocent Syrian citizens. 

This could have all been avoided... this could have been stopped. 

(Wounded Innocence) 

When Barack Obama took action in Libya he claimed he was stopping "genocide". It was the key word he knew would justify pushing regime change on the Libyan people. He didn't mention the black Africans that were being killed by the Libyan Arabs. He didn't mention that the people he was helping were already a group of armed combatants... combatants that had sparked the conflict. Obama just knew that by using the word "genocide" he could justify using American might to get his way. 

This is why Obama does not act to stop the genocide in Syria. I have posted in several articles in "The Darkness Visible" series why this war of Assad's can be classified as genocide. I have made it clear that Assad is pushing his version of Islam while attempting to subdue or destroy an opposing religious sect in the process. The rebellion in Syria is a response to Assad's own actions. Unlike Libya, this conflict was started by the regime... for the regime... and will only be ended with a change of regime. 

Something Obama and the West seem reluctant to approach. 

But that is not what has drawn me back to Syria tonight. It is the fact that the Free Syrian Army (the rebels) are now openly using child soldiers that has troubled me. The use of a child as a combatant for any cause can not be ignored. These children are the very source of Syria's hope. And this act of abuse is now poisoning any hope Syria has left. 

For over a year now I have watched as images of Syria's youth flashed before my eyes. Their young lifeless bodies captured in horrific images that have robbed me of sleep. Those who remained shown the sheer horror of what had happened upon their faces. For over a year those most innocent of souls have been my driving force in writing and screaming for them.... for their future. 

If Syria is to live, if it is to thrive, it must have a source of strength to draw upon. When a child is robbed of their most valuable years this source of strength is damaged. The inspiration for their future is crumbled. And the evil we wish to protect them from is given a place in their soul from which it can not be removed. These acts leave scars that time can only fade... not heal. 

For the Free Syrian Army it has taken over almost two years to reach this point of desperation. They have been massacred. They have been imprisoned in hellish conditions. And they have watched as their cities, homes, and families were stripped away from them. But this act, even out of desperation, can not go unpunished. 

It takes grooming and force to make a child fight. It takes abuse, both physical and emotional, to keep a child on the battlefield. And it takes a heartless monster to allow these children to die fighting a battle grown men could not win. 

(Wounded Rebel Leaving the Battlefield)

Sadly it appears that the West is set to act now that the fighting has claimed so many. They do not seem to have the stomach to send in troops though. They don't have the spine to send in planes though. Instead, the West is ready to prosecute the Syrian rebels for the use of children soldiers. This crime against humanity seems to be the straw to have broken the camel's back. 

We will not go after Assad for bombing out cities and hiding his troops amongst mosque and schools. We will not go after Assad for organizing massacres of children and then calling the dead terrorist. We will not go after Assad for systematically targeting a specific religious sect of Islam. 

We simply will target the rebels for crossing the last line in the sand we had left. 

I believe that if it is to be the place of any court to prosecute war crimes and genocide then it is the court's responsibility to prosecute these sins every time by every side. Assad should be the first of the murderers to be marched out and executed for his sins against humanity. Then we can start finding those responsible for the massacres on both sides. And we must track down those who brought children to the battlefield... both as weapons and shields. 

We can not pick and choose our battles when it comes to these issues. Not even when it become inconvenient.

Peace be with you Syria

-
What a beautiful land you will be for our enemies...
(Part of The Darkness Visible post) 

When we think of Syria we do not usually take time to think about the roots of Christianity. Yet it was in Damascus that Saul became Paul. It was here in Syria that the world of Christianity ceased to focus on converted Jews and shifted to the rest of humanity. And in spite of all this the history of Christianity in Syria seems forgotten at best.

Just a century ago a fifth of Syria's population were Christian. Today only about five percent of Syria's population is Christian. And it is this tiny community that is falling into the darkest chapters of Syria's rebellion. Soon the history of Syria's Christians could be more than just forgotten.

Assad has been a cruel dictator. His ruthlessness has made him a villain in the eyes of the civilized world. His tactics have made him a war criminal. And his supporters are just as extreme as their opposition. Yet it is both the brutal regime and the rebels alike that are putting the squeeze on Syria's Christian community.

“The armed [rebels] in Syria [have] murdered more than 200 Christians in the city of Homs, including entire families with young children. These gangs kidnapped Christians and demanded high ransoms. In two cases, after the ransoms were paid, the men's bodies were found,” according to a priest in Homs.

It is clear to many outside of Syria that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is not as pure as some would make them out to be. There are extremist within the rebel movement that are attempting to spread the violence beyond politics and into the realm of genocide. And there are those in the FSA that have perverted the ideals of freedom with their radicalized versions of Islam itself.

As for Assad and his Alawite following, the killing of Christians and the destruction of Christian holly sites has been accepted since the beginning of the the uprising. Assad's loyalist have long been skeptical of the Christians and have often accused the Church of supporting "terrorism". These accusations have long been tucked beneath the socially acceptable charge of "Zionism" due to the belief that all Christians are sympathetic to Judaism and Israel.

For the Christians in Syria the lack of understanding and tolerance within the Muslim communities has simply reached its boiling point. The extremist on both sides of Syria's conflict are now armed with the tools to bring about their wicked goals. Unarmed communities like the Syrian Christians thus find themselves surrounded by snakes with no way to defend themselves. And that is where we find Syria's Church today.

Persecution for their beliefs has long been part of being a Christian in Syria. However in the past 17 months life has become almost unbearable as the fighting becomes more and more sectarian in nature. Entire families have been killed in many attacks while in some attacks entire congregations have been targeted. These brazen attempts at "cleansing" Syria of its Christian past point to a genocide the world dares to overlook. They also leave many asking if Christianity can survive within Syria?

Some within the Syrian Christian community have supported Assad in hopes of keeping the tyrant they currently have for not knowing what kind of monster might replace him. Others are supporting the rebellion in the belief, if hopeful at best, that democracy might actually be snagged from this brutal uprising. All are waiting to see if they will be able to weather this storm.

So as I have ended these post for weeks now I invite you to pray for Syria. Today I ask that you might pray for the Syrian Christians as they face one of the darkest chapters in their long and colorful past in Syria. May G-d show them mercy and guide them through this dark night. May their faith only be strengthened during this storm. And may we never forget their suffering... their contributions to Syrian culture... their dedication to their G-d even in the darkest hours.

An Eye For An Eye

-
House to House Fighting in Aleppo

What would you do if you were told that somebody you knew had attacked and maybe even killed your family and friends? How would you feel if the person was free to do this sort of thing over and over again? And if you had the opportunity to kill this person would you?

For the Free Syrian Army this seems to have been the case when they captured a police station in Aleppo today. The rebel fighters were led to believe that the police they had taken prisoner as a result were shabiha. And that appears to be the reason these police officers were not just executed but beaten and publicly humiliated before being butchered.

Some believe that the police officers were taken to a near by school where they were gun down. The video shows the four officers being lined up and put on their knees. Then the rebels yell out "G-d is good" and commence to firing into the police. For about a 30 to 45 seconds the gunfire and screaming are all you can hear. The riddled bodies of the prisoners collapse under a hail of bullets. Then the video ends.

This is not a simple execution. This is retaliation. Reprisals for what the hated shabiha have done all across Syria. And yet nobody can confirm that these police officers were actually Assam's militia. No one can tell us for sure that these poor prisoners weren't just the target of the rebels' collective frustrations.

No matter what the case it is still wrong by our Western standards to savagely beat prisoners of war. It is blatantly wrong to execute them... let alone with a barrage of bullets that last long enough to kill the prisoners 10 times over.

Human rights groups that have had sympathy for the rebels' cause now find themselves squeamish when it comes to supporting a fight as brutal as that which Assad himself has fought. Of course it is hard to compare 4 prisoners to 20,000 plus casualties Assad's campaign has racked up. And nobody can say that this is on the same level as slaughtering innocent children to terrify their parents (Assad's favorite method of oppression). But none the less it is the first step toward a bitter end where both sides fight a war with the idea of "an eye for an eye... a tooth for a tooth".

Meanwhile Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary, has noted that Assad is absent from the fight.

"His recent remarks show him for the coward that he is," Jay Carney referencing Assad. "He hides out of sight, encouraging the heavily armed Syria military to continue slaughtering civilians in his name."

Other Western governments have been noticing the same thing as the White House this past week. The Arab League has decided to go to the UN and make an official call for Assad to step down. One can only assume that Assad's lack of courage to come out into the open has spurred this unprecedented course of action onward. After all, since a bomb attack killed four of Assad's top officials on July 18Th the cowardly leader has been missing in action. And it seems that even the Arab League's request may not bring him back out into the open.

So now the world will wait to see what comes of Aleppo.

While Assad's neighbors plead with the West to force him to step down the commercial hub of Syria burns. This decisive battle the West wants to see in Aleppo appears to be a fight that could last weeks. For the the countless number of civilians trapped in the cross fire this battle may end in a humanitarian disaster not seen since Srebrenica. And all we here on the other side of the world can do is wait, watch, and pray.

And We All Come Tumbling Down

-
Syria's Downward Spiral Continues
(Part of The Darkness Visible series) 

As the two sides wave their flags and celebrate hollow victories the death toll rises. And with each tick upwards in those numbers comes the suffering for those who upon the war if forced... Syria's innocent... the children.

In recent days the battle for Damascus has grown so fierce that the innocent civilians trapped inside the city have nowhere to go. Government troops have been keeping the city on lock down while rebel forces send reinforcements into the area. Bombs continue to rip the heart of Syria apart while bullets fill the air like rain. Government shelling has been nonstop in civilian areas so as to draw rebels out into the open. While rebel bombs have been exploding in the Government's back yard.

Is there no chance for peace?

The answer once again this week seems to be no. The fighting in Syria has no end in sight. The burning of Damascus now threatens to engulf the region. And as a result has put the world on notice... yet nobody is listening.

Washington's ears perked this week when the Assad regime stated boldly that they were willing to use chemical weapons if the outside world intervened. To make things worse, nobody in the West seems to know just what weapons Syria has at its disposal. It is thought by many that Iraq's weapons (whatever they may have been) could have easily been transported across the border when American soldiers first appeared. And then there is the question of what kind of weapons Syria has developed on its own.

We do know that the classic chemicals such as mustard gas are probably readily available to Assad and his thugs. For the unprotected civilians and the Free Syrian Army, this one type of gas alone would spell disaster. All one has to do is think back to Saddam's use of such weapons on the Kurdish population in Iraq.

We can't wait for Assad to become desperate. Even worse we can not wait of terror groups like Hezbollah to get involved in this conflict. It is evident that groups like Hezbollah would simply transport the chemical weapons out of Syria and over to the Israeli border. And in a matter of days the Syrian disaster would become a regional war that could easily spread out of control.

If Israel were to be attacked with weapons obviously leaked out of Syria it would be a spark that could draw the United States back into the Middle East. Our armed forces would be sacrificed to a war that would at that point be out of control. And the fight would be characterized by its critics as "Zionist" despite obvious Islamist aggression.

All of this could be prevented from even being a possibility if the West had just simply ignored Russian interference and acted to end Assad's genocidal regime. We should not have to rely upon murderous countries like Russia, China, or Iran to stop this bloodshed. Instead the free societies of the West should put their principles of liberty and justice to practice and if necessary back these up with the use of force.

Instead we are stuck here... watching the inferno grow as Assad continues to slaughter his own people.

We Rule The Airwaves

Attack on the Ikhbariya Television Station 

-
The "Free Syrian Army" just earlier today made an assault on a pro-government television station just 20 kilometers to the south of Damascus. Armed gunmen stormed the building and killed at least three of the workers there. This attack was one of the boldest moves in recent weeks by the rebels in an attempt to make a move on a symbolic target of Assad's totalitarian rule. 


So far today more than 150 innocent civilians have been killed as the fighting in and around Damascus intensifies. The government forces, and Assad's rouge thugs, are targeting civilians and residential areas in an attempt to force rebels into firefights with civilians trapped in the crossfire. So far the Free Syrian Army has been able to avoid attacking in areas with innocent bystanders in the path of their assaults. It is Assad's use of militias and thugs (such as his Shabiha or "ghost soldiers") that has driven up the death toll in Syria. 


In addition to the intensified fighting a new murderer has entered the war against Assad. The indiscriminate killer, the IED (improvised explosive device) has been identified as a new weapon deployed by the rebel forces. Some believe that the use of this weapon is a move of desperation. I believe that the use of this weapon is a measured ploy to grab the attention of the outside world. Yes, the people of Syria are dieing now on average of 100 per day. And yes, the fighting is beginning to get desperate as the rebels attack heavier and heavier targets. But the will to fight is only growing. If the outside world does not help soon... this will be a war of attrition... of annihilation. 


The IED is not a tool to end war. It is a weapon to make war so hellish that no man would want to fight it. It kills people without warning. It's targets do not know they are in danger till it is to late. And those who live after its attack... they live with wounds that will never go away and a trauma that can not be cured. This is a weapon that has replaced that feared landmine. That is how dangerous these weapons have become. 


If it were up to me the images of this war would be brought into your homes with every new cast. The entire world would be forced to watch as a mad man (the Nero of Damascus) burns his country to the ground. You would have to witness the limp lifeless bodies of children awaiting to be buried after the "Ghost" had stole their souls. No eye would be shut, no head turned away... for in the case of Syria... silence is the greatest sin of all. 


We did not learn from Bosnia. We failed to hear the cries of Rwanda. And nobody dared to think about stopping Cambodia. This is a scourge upon the earth that must be faced. It must be looked right in the eye and made clear to the world. For this crime against humanity is the darkness that must be made visible to all mankind. We must make it clear that it will never be allowed. That no king, president, or dictator has the right to kill and maim his own people as long as he keeps it tucked away within his borders. This is the age of the internet, the camera phone, of YouTube... the world is always watching. 


Help save Syria. Help force Obama's cronies in the media machine to act. Let us force them to call this "civil war" what it really is... GENOCIDE. We will not back down simply because Putin and all of Russia wants to play patty-fingers with Assad and his boys. We don't give a damn what Ahmadinejad wants to happen in Syria. And China can keep its cheap exports if this blood is what we have to pay for it. Help save Syria by telling your congressmen that you want the United States to be the defender of freedom it was founded to be. 


For bloody sakes America... just do something.

The Abyss

And No Way Out

Amnesty International finally showed up to the theater of war in Syria only to simply throw their hat into the ring. We should appreciate their calling of Bashar Assad's actions as "crimes against humanity". But we can not accept that this is all we are going to get out of the world as Syria burns. This can not be all we are willing to do as innocence is snuffed out by the evil we can clearly see before us.

Even worse is the call by Amnesty International to impose a full arms embargo upon Syria. Of course we should support an embargo when it comes to Bashar Assad and his goons. And yes we need to stop the flow of Russian weapons into the Syrian Army's arsenal. But we can not accept the same results we saw in Bosnia when we allowed the Serbs dominance by disarming the Bosnian peoples. We must start arming the Serbian Free Army if we are not going to intervene with a military force large enough and willing enough to stop the fighting.

Unlike in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur we can not rely upon unarmed blue helmets standing around. It didn't work in Rwanda, in fact it only took ten dead blue hats before the Hutu controlled everything. No amount of tin stars could stop the militias in Rwanda when they weren't even armed upon arriving in country. In Bosnia our soldiers were able to stand and watch the killings happening right under their noses. This strategy is broken and has never worked.

If the United Nations is allowed to take on this task they will have to be willing to accept casualties. Brave men will have to die so that others may live. It is really just that simple. But sadly the United Nations has never had a stomach to take on a rouge state that is willing to kill indiscriminately. And they are definitely never going to be willing to accept casualties on their side of the intervention.

Last night we watched as the Syrian Army and its Shabiha ran through al-Haffeh. This was just one of the "rebel enclaves" that Syria added to its latest offensive. And yet the world's media refuses to admit what happened last night after the Syrian Army claimed control. We all know that the Shabiha went through the town trying to drudge up any "rebels" who weren't quick enough in fleeing. And we all know that innocent people were rounded up and killed. But the world remains silent.

Valiant "rebels" in the Syrian Free Army however report that they fought long enough and brave enough to hold off the Syrian tanks so that as many innocent civilians could flee. The world press reports that these "rebels take crazy risk" and "fight fanatically" in the face of much larger forces. We have even seen comparisons of David and Goliath. But nobody wants to admit that these so called rebels had never resorted to the AK 47 till after Assad chose to start bombing their homes.

If they are in fact crazy enough to stand in the face of a mad man like Assad and his "Ghost" soldiers... why not arm them?

Uncle Barry in the White House was willing to arm the Libyan rebels. He was even willing to use our military to bomb the Libyan military to help "level the playing field". Yet when it comes to Syria this coward king we call president chooses to wait on the sidelines to see how things will play out. And if all truth be told, Barack is afraid to stage what he sees as a proxy war against Russia.

And yet if Russia wants to fund genocide than we do need to stage a war against the Kremlin. We need a president that is willing to stiffen up his spine and pull his chin up. We need a president that is willing to tell Putin that we the free people of the world will not remain silent in the face of evil like him and Assad. This is Genocide. And it must be stopped.


As I write this Assad's forces are pillaging  the Latakia region in Syria. They are going door to door looking for targets of opportunity. Any innocent women and children that the Shabiha decide to kill are open game for Assad's blood lust. And all we can do is keep the pressure on our leaders to do something... if anything... to stop this genocide.