Syria attacks hospitals, denies healthcare as "weapon of war" - UN

[joshcryer]

18. I have no doubt that if the rebels had Russian bought heavy arms...

...it'd be lopsided in the other direction. This is a brutal civil war, like in the US Civil War, where entire churches were filled with civilians and burned to the ground. The only significant difference is that we have the Geneva Conventions and War Crimes are clearly laid out under the 4th Geneva Convention. As well as the Responsibility to Protect. So basically we're supposed to know better. Civilian protection should be paramount. If Assad wanted to be the good guy in this he'd use non-lethal means to go after the rebels up until the point they were positively seen as shooting back, then they get shot at. Indiscriminate shelling of areas where they are is just insanity.

If I'd wager a guess the civilian massacres were either rouges seeking vengeance or like US military personnel who have gone off the deep end, insane fuckers who just were out for blood (Robert Bales comes to mind). If they were ordered by the top that will come out.