Council of Councils
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Introduction
Over the last several decades, governments have collectively pledged to slow global warming. But despite intensified diplomacy, the world is already facing the consequences of climate…
Bombing Hospitals in Syria
The Washington Post reported that the Assad regime, continuing its reign of terror, bombed four hospitals in Aleppo yesterday.
Here is a part of the Post report:
A relative calm in the northern Syrian city on Saturday night was shattered by airstrikes that targeted hospitals. Government forces have been bombarding the city lately, and their helicopters allegedly dropped the missiles....More on:
One of them, the Children’s Hospital, is run by a Syrian organization called the Independent Doctors Association (IDA). It released a statement saying that the bombing cut off the oxygen supply to a room where babies were being cared for and that one died. The hospital had been struck once earlier in the night, but a second hit did worse damage....
A total of four hospitals were reported to have been bombed on Saturday night, as well as the city’s central blood bank. All are said to be out of commission....Government forces have targeted health-care providers for years, destroying hundreds of hospitals and killing hundreds of doctors, nurses and patients....
Government forces have been bolstered by robust air support from the Russians.
Obama policy toward Syria has really never wavered: the United States will do next to nothing to stop this slaughter. The single thing we do appear ready to do is parley with the Russians, as if they were possible partners in stopping the killing rather than partners of Assad’s in mass murder.
So the murder continues. A thought experiment: what if the United States said it must stop, and next time barrel bombs and missiles are used to destroy civilian targets like apartment houses and hospitals we will destroy the Assad air force? The net result of Obama policy has been to allow Assad to create millions of refugees, whose flight has helped destabilize all Syria’s neighbors and even the European Union.
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I’ve said this before in this blog, but it is worth repeating: the president who created the "Atrocities Prevention Board" with great fanfare and who proudly said "Never Again" is sitting with his hands folded while atrocities in Syria continue and continue, year after year. The "Atrocities Prevention Board" cannot prevent atrocities, but Barack Obama can. And his inaction will be a permanent stain on his presidency.