Syrian civilians in desperate need, as threat of US strike looms.

[another_liberal]

Source: Al Jazeera America

Any escalation of the Syrian crisis in response to last week's reported chemical weapons attack will aggravate civilian suffering, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday, as UNESCO warned that Syria's rich cultural heritage is being destroyed and archaeological sites looted.

The ICRC, an independent humanitarian agency, said it was appalled by reports of a poison gas attack on Aug. 21 that left hundreds dead -- which the U.S. said was carried out by President Bashar al-Assad's regime. A U.N. investigation at the site of the alleged attack is ongoing. The ICRC urged warring parties in Syria's two-year civil war to respect the absolute ban on chemical weapons use under international law. Magne Barth, head of the ICRC's delegation in Syria, said proposed Western military action would "likely trigger more displacement and add to humanitarian needs, which are already immense." Some 2 million people have already fled Syria, including 1 million children. Human rights groups estimate that 100,000 people have been killed since the war began.

Areas plagued by heavy fighting -- including the countryside around Damascus, eastern Aleppo and Deir Ezzor province -- are also reeling from breakdowns of basic services such as water, electricity and garbage collection, the ICRC said in a statement. "In large parts of rural Damascus for example, people are dying because they lack medical supplies and because there are not enough medical personnel to attend to them," said Magne Barth, head of the ICRC's delegation in the country. "They also go hungry because aid can't get through to them on a regular basis."

The United Nations says that in the besieged areas of Damascus and its outskirts, 600,000 people are believed to be in a critical situation due to frequent power cuts, lack of water supplies and shortages of basic goods.

snip)

Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/8/30/icrc-military-strikeswillworsensyrianciviliansuffering.html

---

Remind me please, who is it again that our attacking Syria is supposed to help?

[raindaddy]

1. Bottom Line

Does this president represent the interests of his own people who are tired of supporting questionable wars? Is he concerned for civilians who end up taking the brunt of these attacks, or is he representing interests that profit off of war?

[another_liberal]

4. I sincerely want to believe the former . . .

I hope President Obama will help me, by showing some real courage and not attacking.

[L0oniX]

2. US civilians in desperate need, as threat of US strike looms. n/t

[another_liberal]

5. No doubt.

Each of those cruise missiles costs just under one and a half million scarce dollars.

[geek tragedy]

3. It's tragic, but the people of Syria are on their own. nt

[another_liberal]

6. "What goes around, comes around."

The people of this country may one day be just as "on their own."

[geek tragedy]

7. We are already on our own. But, the US is strong and prosperous compared

to the rest of the world, so the idea that we will ever need to be rescued is implausible at best.

Certainly, no foreign military will ever be in a position to intervene inside the US.

"Never participate in someone else's holy war" is a pretty good rule to follow.

[another_liberal]

8. "We are the greatest city, the greatest nation . . ."

The doors were cedar
and the panels strips of gold
and the girls were golden girls
and the panels read and the girls chanted:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.

The doors are twisted on broken hinges.
Sheets of rain swish through on the wind
where the golden girls ran and the panels read:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation,
nothing like us ever was.

It has happened before.
Strong men put up a city and got
a nation together,
And paid singers to sing and women
to warble: We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation,
nothing like us ever was.