We Are All To Blame For Syria

Written by Nanice

The Arab League. The damned Arab League. Where oh where are you? And Jordan and Turkey and Saudi and Qatar and everyone else in the region that should step up. That should have stepped up. Where are you? Why are you waiting for the United States to handle Arab affairs? (In all fairness Jordan and Turkey are bursting at the seams with the refugee crisis.) So why didn't the United States or the European Union get involved earlier as opposed to now? Way before well over 100,000 people have died and now over 3-4 million people are in dire need of humanitarian aid? 

Obama and Cameron condemned atrocities, but sat on their hands and waited. The Arab League condemned atrocities as well, but just sat on their hands. Nowhere to be found. As usual. As always. I can't be disappointed because I am always disappointed. Now chemical weapons have been used so now "we care." The world "cares." The EU "cares." Saudi "cares." France "cares." Israel "cares." The United States "cares." Obama "cares." And so on.

The day Bashar Al- Assad started killing children is when the world, The EU, the Arab League, the US, Obama, Cameron, etc., etc., should have "really cared." They didn't then. They don't now. 

Obama wants to save face and make Americans think he's doing the right thing by going to Congress. What happens if they say no? No to intervention? Will he over ride them anyway? What is his motive NOW vs. 2 years ago? And why does the US get tell the other Arab countries what to do? 

I'm not for US involvement, but I'll be damned if it happens in my name and makes the situation worse. I won't blame the US or EU fully. I will blame the Arab League, KSA, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Russia, China and Iran. I will blame everyone but not the US wholly. Why? Because the US does nothing that doesn't protect or benefit Israel. You know this. You should know this. If you don't, you know now.

And all you "Hands off Syria" people, what is your solution? "Hands off!" "Hands off!" Then what? What happens next? No plan huh? No. No plan. Just keep hands off Syria so things stay the same. All I can say now is, SORRY. Sorry children of Syria because all we can say is "Hands Off Syria!" And we can say we need intervention now, and those are short term, easy out solutions that make us feel better. But we do not project. We cannot think. We have nothing else in place for your future. We have no long term solution for you. So you will continue to die and for that I'm so very sorry.

And all you who urge me to call Congress to vote yes or no on strikes? I've been calling Congress. I've called them to ask what their plan is either way. I've called Congress to ask them what their long term goals are for Syria should they vote yes. I've called Congress to ask them what they will do if Assad is weakened and opposition takes over? What Congress will do if Assad strikes back? Or what they will do if he lashes out even harsher on his own people. I've called Congress to ask what if there are more civilian casualties? I've called Congress to say, if you decide not to strike what are your plans now because we've dug our heels in too deep?! What is the next step? What are the next 10 steps? Surely they have a plan? Surely they've thought this out! Surely we all have, haven't we?

I can't be mad and place all blame on countries who I expect to act. I can't be mad at them at all. Not entirely. Countries are run by people, who although have power, they are people just like you and me. They might have the best of intentions, they might have the worst of intentions, but either way there has been no overwhelming flood of public pressure on a world-wide scale to these people in power until now. 

Why? 

Because chemical weapons have been used and now the threat of foreign intervention is real. Very real. So real it now has an affect on us? Now we, you and me, those of us who call ourselves "activists", those who wanted to help but didn't know how, all of us, we, you and me, are frantically trying to help Syrians and ourselves (let's not joke) by either pressuring these powers to intervene or to keep their hands off. Where were we, you and me, and activists and global citizens; those who wanted to help but didn't know how or when? Where were we when the Houla massacre took place? Where were we when it happened in Daraa? When it happened in Hama? In Aleppo? When the refugees reached into the tens of thousands? Then hundreds of thousands? When it reached 1 million? When there was a mass exodus of refugees to Iraq? Iraq for crying out loud! Where were we? We, and you and me, we are to blame. All of us. All of us are to blame because we waited too long. We waited for it to come to this. I am to blame because I sat in the comfort of my own home listening to the screams and cries of Syrians. Men and women and elders and children, all begging for help. I sat in the comfort of my own home while children were butchered, mothers & daughters were raped, while their fathers and husbands were being tortured. I am to blame while I stayed up all night looking through the awful videos and decided to wait.

With The Dawn Of A New Day

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News of Another Massacre
(Part of The Darkness Visible post)

As Aleppo's battle rages the government forces in Syria have taken to spreading out their forces across the country. It appears that Assad's regime is attempting to force the rebel forces to fight a war on multiple fronts. And in Syria, this war seems to be being fought on countless fronts. It's wildfires pop up in nearly every city, town, and village. Not a single person's house is safe as the two sides are forced into combat in people's backyards and living rooms. All the while Assad's forces commit massacre after massacre where ever they go.

In Harbnafsa, in Hama province, the forces loyal to Assad are reported to have laid siege to the town for five hours. Troops and shabiha surrounded the town while artillery and tanks were ordered to fire upon the neighborhoods. The 8,000 plus citizens of the town were trapped as shells and bombs fell on their homes, schools, and businesses. And when the bombs stopped, the shabiha came storming into town.

Local citizens who fled the town were the first to report that around 40 innocent citizens were killed and over 120 more had been wounded. Those who fled reported that shabiha had chased citizens out of town while firing upon them and running them down with knives. Troops loyal to Assad tried to turn fleeing citizens back into Harbnafsa where they would face certain death.

By luck, through hiding, and by the grace of G-d the number of dead seems to be hovering around 40 and 120 wounded. But the terror that was spread over Harbnafsa will not clear any time soon. It is not clear to those who survived whey the government attacked. And it remains to terrifying for many to return home.

For the Free Syrian Army it is a little more obvious just why Assad attacked Harbnafsa. The town is mainly Sunni and is thus assumed to be loyal to the rebels' cause. Yet no weapons were in the town and rebel fighters had not been near the town for some time. So for those working with the rebellion it is obvious that the Alawite militias wanted to drive out the Sunni population. After all, this is a civil war based on Assad's hatred for Sunni Muslims and his desire to keep the Alawite establishment in power.

In this campaign to spread the battle across the country Assad has claimed victory in Damascus even as rebel bombs continue to explode in Damascus. He has spread the war from Lake al-Assad in the East to the Mediterranean Coast in the West. Yet the rebel movement has shown this fight can't be drawn into battles on Assad's terms. This fight will continue to be played out on the terms drawn up by the Free Syrian Army. This will continue to be a guerrilla campaign in which Assad's forces will be made to defend their strongholds.

In the meantime the massacres continue. Assad's militia thugs spread the fear and terror they claim their opponents stand for. The hatred for Assad only grows as the blood continues to flow. And in all this we still wait to see what will come of Aleppo. Will the main battle field of a city turn into a massacre of unprecedented proportions? Or will the Free Syrian Army be able to hold out against unbelievable odds?

Please continue to put pressure on your state representatives in Washington to get the United States government to act more directly in Syria. The people of Syria are fighting for their lives. And we need to act now to help save those still trapped under Assad's tyrannical rule.