Aleppo is a humanitarian catastrophe-- "ten times worse than hell"

[Fast Walker 52]

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/17/ten_times_worse_than_hell_a

In the latest escalation of the war in Syria, Russia has begun launching airstrikes from an Iranian air base. The New York Times reports this marks the first time since World War II that a foreign military has operated from a base on Iranian soil. The move comes as fighting has intensified around Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. Earlier this month, rebels fighting the Syrian government began a new offensive to break an ongoing government-backed siege of the city. The rebels have been led in part by an offshoot of the Nusra Front, which up until last month had been aligned with al-Qaeda. The International Committee of the Red Cross has described the fight for Aleppo as "beyond doubt one of the most devastating urban conflicts in modern times." The United Nations is warning of a dire humanitarian crisis as millions are left without water or electricity. For more on the humanitarian and medical crisis in Syria, we speak with Dr. Zaher Sahloul, founder of the American Relief Coalition for Syria and senior adviser and former president of the Syrian American Medical Society. He has visited Aleppo five times since the war began.

[closeupready]

1. My friend from there (born and raised) got out years ago. At the time,

hostilities had not really commenced, aside from some isolated incidents.

Then one day, his business - quite a successful one - got bombed. Then I recall, weeks later, he was in Latakia, setting up a new place of business, a new home, etc. ! That confused me - facts on the ground were moving so rapidly that news coverage hadn't yet uncovered the arc of events as to how they were unfolding.

Later of course, it became clear Aleppo was going to be in the crosshairs. I'm so sad for those who can't escape this hellish situation.

[Calculating]

2. Sucks

But not much we can do short of invading another country.

[pampango]

3. "Last week, 15 of the last 35 doctors in rebel-held eastern Aleppo wrote a letter to President Obama

calling for help in getting humanitarian aid to 300,000 civilians trapped in the area and an end to Syrian and Russian bombardment of the besieged city. The letter said that there is an attack on medical facilities every 17 hours, and doctors were being forced to decide who will live and who will die.

I mean, my thoughts and my colleagues’ thoughts from Aleppo, which I keep contacts every minute with them, is the same, that everyone is bombing Syrians, and no one cares about ending the crisis. So it looks like the Russians are having fun bombing Syria from different parts, now added Iran to this, Iran bases. The coalition are bombing parts of Syria. They are bombing ISIS and also civilians. The Assad regime is bombing, you know, cities and historic sites and civilians, with barrel bombings and all kind of weapons. The Iranians are bombing Syrians. So everyone is bombing Syrians.

Barrel bombs are an invention of the Syrian regime. It’s a very cheap way to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. I’ve seen it, in my eyes, and the victims also of barrel bombs in my several missions to Syria, especially to the city of Aleppo. So these are barrels that—big barrels stuffed with TNT, half a ton of TNT, and shrapnels, metal shrapnels. And they come in all kind of sizes and shapes. And they’re thrown from helicopters on urban areas, on hospitals, on blocks, on civilian neighborhoods, on fruit markets, on schools. And it can cause a lot of destruction. I’ve seen them. I took pictures of the victims. I took pictures of the buildings that have been destroyed with barrel bombs. It’s a weapon of mass destruction. It’s a dumb bomb; it’s not a smart bomb. And it can kill a lot of people.

And many of these hospitals have been targeted multiple times. It looks like there is systematic targeting by the Syrian government, by the Russians lately, to hospitals, because these hospitals treat everyone, of course, including the people who are injured by the fighting and snipers and the shelling. But what I’ve seen in Aleppo is mostly civilians who are the victims of barrel bombings and shelling.

[LittleDuckie]

4. Time for the rest of the world

to grow the fuck up & stop expecting the West to bail them out of the messes they make for themselves.

[Fast Walker 52]

7. who are you referring to?

We're not exactly innocent here, and the Syrian people are getting slaughtered.

[Calculating]

11. so what do we do?

Invade and have the Iraq war 2.0?
The rest of the word needs to step up and do THEIR PART.

[JanMichael]

13. Puppet?

[Fast Walker 52]

14. as the world's dominant power and one of the major arms suppliers in the world

we should do our part to promote peace by pushing endlessly for negotiations and a ceasefire. If we cared about humanity, that is.

[JanMichael]

12. Sock?

[malaise]

5. That's what Don the Con and his base wish for

America

[Fast Walker 52]

8. oh god, help us

[Blue_Tires]

6. And Russia is still bombing it daily

But good luck getting anybody on this forum to notice

[Fast Walker 52]

9. Initially I thought Russia might help end the war by helping to finish off the rebels/ISIS

but it just goes on and on

[moondust]

10. 100,000 children at risk.

Some with no family left.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20378&LangID=E