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Syria and Iraq, what's next? Ceasefires, or matches in the
tinderbox?
By mickielynn on 2014-08-29 14:10:57
[caption id="attachment_6196" align="aligncenter" width="504"]
THIS WAS A NEIGHBOURHOOD WITH FAMILIES
NO SCHOOLS. NO LAUGHTER. NO PLAY
Syrian war death toll surpasses 190,000
people in 3 years (April 2014) image by UPI. One of 5 posters[/caption] On Tuesday, August 26th, President Obama spoke
of "recruiting allies' for air strikes over Syria. He also mentioned that the US military was already involved in surveillance
over Syria, possibly in preparation for air strikes against ISIS, and that we would be expanding air strikes against ISIS, over
northern Iraq. Then, yesterday he backtracked a bit from unilateral action saying instead that he was sending Secretary of
State John Kerry to the Middle East to help build a regional coalition against the Islamic State, or ISIS. He admitted: “We
dont have a strategy yet.” Which I find hopeful because perhaps we can stop the unsuccessful strategy of arming one
faction [The New Syrian Army]of an almost 3 and a half year long war in which the Syrian people have suffered
immeasurably. [caption id="attachment_6201" align="alignleft" width="570"]
A Syrian refugee boy poses with
his newborn brother as their mother lies near them in a house in the Basaksehir district of Istanbul, on March 4, 2014. Syrian
government forces are waging a campaign of siege warfare and starvation against civilians as part of its military strategy, a
UN-mandated probe said on March 5. Syria's war has since March 2011 killed more than 140,000 people and forced
millions more to flee.
AFP PHOTO / GURCAN OZTU[/caption] The human suffering, for both the Syrian and the Iraqi people, is what I want to
share in this article today. On August 27, 2014, For the first time since 2013, the UN released an update on the death toll
from the Syrian civil war. Reporting that at least 191,369 people died between March 2011 to April 2014. This is a very
detailed report _(45 pages.) Here are a few of the highlights which illustrate why we need to reach a ceasefire and a
negotiated settlement to end this incredible suffering. Suffering which is increasing daily as more factions begin fighting
each other as well as the Assad government. Overall it details the story of a ruthless struggle where all sides are taking
hostages, and indiscriminately killing and torturing civilians. There is a long list of human rights violations and war crimes
committed by both the forces of President Bashar Assad and non-state armed groups, fighting to topple the regime. For
instance the IS is known to be training child soldiers, while the government imprisons and tortures women and children.
Here's a brief summary from The Guardian
Syrian government forces have dropped barrel bombs on civilian areas, including some believed to contain the
chemical agent chlorine in eight incidents in April, and have committed other war crimes that should be
prosecuted, they said in a 45-page report issued in Geneva on Wednesday. 'Violence has bled over the borders of
the Syrian Arab republic, with extremism fueling the conflict's heightened brutality,’ said the report. [...]
‘Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays in [Isis power-base] Raqqa and in
Isis-controlled areas of Aleppo governorate,’ said the commission, which includes former war crimes prosecutor
Carla del Ponte. "Bodies of those killed are placed on display for several days, terrorizing the local population."
And in a detailed report with several background articles, the BBC estimates that about 200,000 people have been killed
since the conflict began in 2011. In war zones generally the number of injuries is 10 times greater than deaths. So we're
talking about 2 million people injured and disabled in addition to the deaths. [caption id="attachment_6200"
align="aligncenter" width="275"] The continuing war in Syria, Reuters
images|[/caption] Here are a few more figures that relate to the ongoing tragedy of human displacement as external refugees
and as internally displaced people within Syria: — The total number of Syrian refugees will surpass 3 million people since
the conflict began in 2011. — Nearly half of all Syrians have been forced to abandon their homes. — One in eight Syrians
have fled the country. — 6.5 million Syrians are displaced inside the country. [caption id="attachment_6202"
align="aligncenter" swidth="600"]
= — Tizanalin eee en
a ease
a A Syrian refugee woman
carries s her son as she walks at Azraq refugee c camp near Al Azraq area, east of Amman, Jordan, August 19, 2014.
Muhammad Hamed/Reuters[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6213" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
11 February 2014. Jordan on
Tuesday said the overall number of Syrian refugees in the country reached 591,176 since the start of the unrest in Syria,
three years ago. Image from the Arab Humanitarian website[/caption] In some ways the displacement has even more future
consequences than the deaths. You can read more about where the Syrian refugees have gone in a_previous article on this
blog. In a 2013 UNICEF report some of the effects of displacement on the 5.5 million displaced Syrian children were
described. This particular problem concerns education and potential.
Before the violence began, Syrian children held a world of potential in their hands. In March 2011, 97 percent
of school-age children were enrolled in school and literacy rates surpassed the regional average, according to
the recent UNICEF report. Two years later, just 30 percent of Syrian children had access to education. Instead of
pursuing their passions, | in 10 refugee children are working as cheap laborers in cafes and repair shops. Many
have no choice but to beg on the street.
Arming one or more factions and the bombing of others only contributes to the extended suffering, death, displacement and
destruction. And there is one more consideration about the pursuit of a military solution in Syria. That is the question of
whose side are we supporting? If the Obama administration and the US military attack ISIS in Syria then they are helping
the very regime that they claimed to oppose, The regime of Bashar al Assad. If they arm what they consider "moderate"
opposition forces in the ever changing and chaotic internecine clashes then they risk the arms falling into the hands of ISIS,
as they did in Iraq. Here's an article that describes the tension of either getting permission from Assad or violating the
airspace of a sovereign nation : US won't work with Assad if airstrikes in Syria happen
Julien Barnes-Dacey, a Mideast analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said public U.S.-Syria
coordination is out of the question politically for the United States and probably for Assad. Despite being
strange bedfellows, Assad would probably welcome strikes if they were coordinated between the two
governments, Barnes-Dacey said. 'Assad's biggest foe today is Islamic State,’ and the Obama administration
now identifies the group as an instant threat, Barnes-Dacey said. 'That inevitably draws them together in spheres
of action.'
[caption id="attachment_6203" align="aligncenter" width="462"]
P@ An earlier demonstration about a year ago,
September 2013, that prevented airstrikes against Syria in favor of the dismantling of Chemical Weapons with international
cooperation. This has now been accomplished.[/caption] There is only one way to solve the current cross border crises in
Syria and Iraq. That is regional negotiated ceasefire, involving the nations who are funding and arming the proxy fighters
for Sunni and Shia factions and for those supporting the government and its overthrow. Including all interested parties in the
region. Otherwise the suffering of the Syrian people and the increasing violence in Iraq are going to continue and be added
to by civilian deaths from airstrikes and troops on the ground. Here's an update on the anniversary of September 11,
2001 and in light of the horrible speech given by President Obama that seems to demonstrate that we haven't learned
anything in 13 years of war, death, displacement and economic damage. The speech was particularly hollow and impractical
about what we would accomplish by bombing Syria or YIKES allowing the extremist nation of Saudi Arabia to "train
moderate rebel forces ." [caption id="attachment_6244" align="aligncenter" width="436"]
ON THE 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11:
13 REASONS
HY WAR SUCKS
® ) In the world.
Immoral: War is
i
GET INVOLVED!
13 years, 13 reasons not to bomb Iraq and Syria, image
by Code Pink[/caption]
