"Syria crisis: Houla child massacre confirmed by UN"But what isn't in this article makes me cautiously hopeful. I'll get back to that.
BBC News (May 26, 2012)
"UN observers have counted at least 90 bodies, including 32 children, after a Syrian government attack on a town...."
I'm covering quite a bit of ground in this post:
- Houla Killings: Real? Very Likely
- Who's Said What
- Words and Actions
- Friends of Syria
- Promises and the United Nations
- "Just Refused to Come"
- News About Syria: What's Missing
Houla Killings: Real? Very Likely
Interestingly, Syria's boss isn't claiming that the killings in Houla didn't happen: or that the place doesn't really exist. Maybe Syria's leadership learned about keeping a story plausible, after that experience in 2007. (October 17, 2007, September 23, 2007, September 18, 2007)A major problem with denying that anybody got hurt in Houla is that someone took video of the aftermath:
"...Horrific video footage has emerged from Houla of dozens of dead children, covered in blood, their arms and legs strewn over one another. It is unverified, but our correspondent says such images would be difficult to fake.I hope the BBC correspondent is a bit more sophisticated than the folks at Reuters, who didn't spot what may be the worst bit of botched digital editing outside 'Photoshop 101' classes. I've posted about that before:
"International media cannot report freely in Syria and it is impossible to verify reports of violence.
"A team of UN observers visited the town on Saturday and afterwards Maj-Gen Mood said they could confirm 'the use of small arms, machine gun[s], artillery and tanks.'
"But he did not say who was behind the killings.
(BBC News)
- "News from Gaza: Making a Game of Death and Destruction"
(January 7, 2009)
Who's Said What
Here's a summary of comments on the houla killings, according to the BBC:- UN mission head Maj-Gen Robert Mood
- "Indiscriminate"
- "Unforgivable"
- UK Foreign Secretary William Hague
- An "appalling crime"
- UN chief Ban Ki-moon
- A "flagrant violation of international law"
- Syria's government
- The fault of "armed terrorist gangs"
- "Activists"
- The result of
- shelling
- Summary executions
- Butchery by the regime militia known as the "shabiha"
- The result of
- Arab League head Nabil al-Arabi
- A "horrific crime"
Words and Actions
Those folks in Houla are dead, and nothing's going to change that. But in circumstances like this, survivors often expect some sort of action to be taken. Or at least an official statement to get drafted. Here's what we've got so far, apparently:- UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan, and the Arab League
- Condemned Friday's assault
- France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Fabius
- Making immediate arrangements for a Paris meeting of the Friends of Syria group
- 250 UN observers
- Observing
"...The UN says at least 10,000 have been killed since the protests began...."Tempting as it is to write something sarcastic about arranging a meeting in Paris, I won't. Just 'doing something' can be effective in action movies: but this is real life.
(BBC News)
Quite a few people in quite a few countries have to figure out what can and should be done. Maybe Paris is a place where the folks involved won't get into an argument over what city the discussion should be held in.
(Back to the list of headings)
Friends of Syria
That "Friends of Syria" outfit include Western and Arab nations, but not Russia or China. Russia and China don't seem to like the idea of sanctioning Syria's current boss, and have blocked United Nations sanctions before.I'll grant that whether or not sanctions work in situations like this is debatable, and that's another topic.
(Back to the list of headings)
Promises and the United Nations
Briefly, here's the sort of concrete action that's been promised:-
UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan
- Contacting Syria's government to
- "Convey in the clearest terms the expectations of the international community
Visit Syria - Do the same thing
- Contacting Syria's government to
- UK Foreign Secretary William Hague
- Will call for an urgent session of the UN Security Council
- Pretty soon
- Will call for an urgent session of the UN Security Council
- Arab League head Nabil al-Arabi
- Has urged the Security Council to "stop the escalation of killing and violence by armed gangs and government military forces,"
- The opposition Free Syrian Army
- Unless the United Nations Security Council can keep civilians alive
- the ceasefire is off
- Unless the United Nations Security Council can keep civilians alive
"...A team of UN observers visited the town on Saturday and afterwards Maj-Gen Mood said they could confirm 'the use of small arms, machine gun[s], artillery and tanks.'(Back to the list of headings)
"But he did not say who was behind the killings....
(BBC News)
"Just Refused to Come"
I don't really blame Maj-Gen Mood and the observers for showing up a little late, observing bits and pieces of people, and concluding that they'd been killed by a variety of weapons. My guess is that their orders limit what they can do: and that the UN observers lack both the authority and the means to do more than keep score.On the other hand, I'm sympathetic with the local folks. Back to BBC News:
"...Our correspondent says local people are angry that the observers failed to intervene to stop the killing.Again, I think it's very likely that the United Nations observers simply can't get involved: and don't have the equipment to take effective action. Or the authority.
"Abu Emad, speaking from Houla, said their appeals to the monitors failed to produce action.
"We told them at night, we called seven of them. We told them the massacre is being committed right now at Houla by the mercenaries of this regime and they just refused to come and stop the massacre.'
(BBC News)
The situation is sad, tragic, and intensely frustrating. Syria's current boss is, I think, unlikely to stop killing Syrians. Bashar al-Assad seems to like the newfangled title of "President," but his actions strongly suggest that he's an old-school autocrat.
There may have been a time when a country's boss could instill loyalty by killing large numbers of his subjects. These days, even the Arab League finally got fed up with the Syrian 'President' and his enforcers.
It's not the 20th century any more, and I think all but the most committed - or clueless - autocrats are beginning to realize that 'the good old days' are over.
(Back to the list of headings)
News About Syria: What's Missing
What impressed me about that news about the latest atrocity in Syria was what wasn't there. None of the people or organizations mentioned BBC News seems to have blamed Israel. That, in my opinion, is remarkable.Maybe the United Nations will get around to condemning Israel for what happened in Houla. The rationale could be that, because Israel always starves Palestinians and does bad things, someone in Syria had to kill all those kids.
Putting it that simply, the idea sounds daft: and I think it is. Add enough emotionally-charged words, and I think some folks might still believe it. Or want to.
The rest of us, I suspect, are beginning to realize that it's a big world: and that killing folks who don't follow the local neighborhood association rules can't be tolerated any more.
We're a very long way from having an "international authority with the necessary competence and power"1 to deal with people like Syria's Bashar al-Assad effectively. But going nearly 24 hours without blaming the Jews for an incident like this is, I think, a hopeful sign. Maybe more folks are starting to consider the idea of living with neighbors: instead of killing them.
It's a start, and that's yet another topic.
(Back to the list of headings)
Somewhat-related posts:
- Autocrats and a changing world
- "Six Battalions, the United Nations, ' - - - and it is the Fault of the Jews' "
(May 2, 2012) - "Arab League: Syria Suspended - My Take"
(November 13, 2011) - "Libya, Syria, Bahrain: Journalists Uncooperative; 'the Masses' Worse"
(March 29, 2011) - " 'The Jews Blew Up Our Reactor
(Which Does Not Exist)' "
(October 17, 2007) - "Doctors, Terrorists, and the Proletariat: What's a Person to Think?"
(July 3, 2007)
- "Six Battalions, the United Nations, ' - - - and it is the Fault of the Jews' "
- Today, and looking ahead
- "Still Blogging About Anachronisms, Autocrats, and America"
(October 8, 2011)
Particularly - "9/11, Just War, and 'Death to Mickey Mouse' "
A Catholic Citizen in America (September 11, 2011)
Particularly - "Libya, Interpol, and a Really Big Job"
(September 9, 2011)
Particularly - " 'Just War:' Unpleasant, but Not a Contradiction in Terms"
A Catholic Citizen in America (March 22, 2011) - "U.N. Condemns (What Else?) Israel: This Time it's Over an 'Aid Complex' "
(January 15, 2009)
- "Still Blogging About Anachronisms, Autocrats, and America"
1 I think the United Nations is an international authority: but I also think that it's a far cry from the "international authority with the necessary competence and power" I mentioned. That term is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war.Implying that it might be okay to develop an "international authority with the necessary competence and power" to handle regional troublemakers does not mean that the Catholic Church is plotting to take over the world. I've discussed government, Catholicism, subsidiarity, and lizard men, before:
"However, 'as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.'106"
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2308)
- "Faith and Obedience"
A Catholic Citizen in America (March 25, 2012)
Particularly - "Is Government Really Necessary?"
A Catholic Citizen in America (March 12, 2011)
Particularly - "News, Assumptions, and Getting a Grip"
A Catholic Citizen in America (May 28, 2011)
Particularly - "Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, India, and the Lizard People"
(January 14, 2009)
Particularly - "Nero Was Working for the Christians: Who Knew?
(March 22, 2008)