|
In the slew of material from Syria that moved across the wireservices this week was a batch of nine still photos, antisepticallytitled "Houla1," Houla2," "Houla3," etc. Now, I've seen more than my share of torn, shattered corpses andbody parts often, what's left of innocent civilians killedintentionally or just carelessly by soldiers or sundry otherfighters. Still, Houla3 knocked the breath out of me. It was a picture of a young child; a girl, I think, probably noolder than three or four. Quite a beautiful child she looked as though she was justnapping peacefully. Someone had washed her and swaddled her in somedecorative cloth. Probably because of that post-mortem cleansing, the bullet hole inher temple was less prominent, making the picture all the morepowerful. It forced one thought into your head: Someone, most likely a Syriangovernment enforcer, actually put a pistol to this youngster's headand pulled the trigger. It was the very essence of terror, to send a message to youropponents that nothing is out of bounds. Houla3 According to those who survived the massacre in central Syria lastFriday, the child-killer belonged to a "shabiha" militia, whichexecuted over a hundred mostly women and children in Houla thatday, provoking worldwide outrage. The militias are gangs, organized by the regime of Bashar al-Assadand modeled on Iran's Basiji, the thuggish state operativesresponsible for another unforgettable image during thepro-democracy protests there in 2009. This image, known simply as Houla3, was provided by the Shaam NewsNetwork and purports to show a dead child following a Syriangovernment assault on the city of Houla on May 25, which left over100 people, most of them women and children, dead. (Shaam News Network / Associated Press) A Basiji sniper shot a 16-year-old girl named Neda through theheart as she walked alongside her father in Tehran. Someonerecorded it and, unnervingly, Neda's eyes followed the lens as shewent into shock and died. Neda became an iconic symbol of all the innocents slaughtered by amurderously oppressive state. We can only hope the little girl inHoula3 is not forgotten either. Normally, news organizations shy away from using such shockingimagery, usually citing standards of tastefulness. To CBC's credit, though, I was not just permitted, but encouragedto use Houla3 in my report the other night on the National. My editors felt that if innocents in Syria are dying for theirfreedom, the least we can do is look at the evidence of theirsuffering. But now what? Do-nothing plans As ever more evidence of butchery and evil issues from Syria,sentiment is building in the West that somebody ought to do something . Pretty clearly, the economic sanctions imposed on Syria haven'tprotected its civilians from the predations of the Assad regime. Any discomfort the measures might have imposed on the Alawite andChristian minorities that run the government and military there isclearly outweighed by their conviction, probably pretty accurate atthis point, that they and theirs will pay an awful price for theircrimes should this current uprising succeed. The Arab League lived up early to its do-nothing reputation,sending in monitors to back up its denunciation of Assad'sbrutality, then pulling them out after a few weeks. As for the six-point peace plan being peddled by UN special envoyKofi Annan, it has failed catastrophically. Not only has Syriaignored it, the scheme has actually provided the Assad regime withpolitical cover ever-shifting deadlines to continue itsrepression. Annan himself is coming off as an almost ridiculous figure. Aftermeeting with Assad to express "grave concern" about the clearexecutions in Houla, the former general secretary of the UN feltcompelled to say: "I note that he (Assad) condemned the killings,too." Oh. Well. All right, then. The UN Security Council, an organ that actually has some teeth, isparalyzed by China and Russia. Vladimir Putin's foreign minister has made it clear that there willbe no intervention in "Syria's internal affairs," adding thatmilitary intervention would be "premature" in any event. Premature? Perhaps the Russian government has some specific deathtoll in mind that Assad has not yet attained? So, the Washington Post gave voice to what many people are thinkingwhen it editorialized that "it's time for U.S. leadership onSyria." It is time, declared the Post, that "Mr. Obama stops counting onthe likes of Kofi Annan and Vladimir Putin to spare him from theresponsibility that should be shouldered by a U.S. president." I understand the sentiment. Anyone who looked at Houla3 would. But the Post didn't offer a single suggestion as to what PresidentBarack Obama should do. Because there's emotion, and then there'sreality. On their own Assuming Obama could muster domestic and international support forinvading another Arab country, does anyone seriously thinkAmerican-led invaders would be treated as liberators for long, ifat all? Remember Iraq? Israeli soldiers used to refer to being "stuck inthe mud" of Lebanon during their decades occupying that country. Syria, traditionally the beating heart of Arab nationalism, wouldbe quicksand. Perhaps the international community could impose a no-fly zone. Buthow that would deter thuggish militias on the ground is not clear. An air war? It might have worked in Libya, but Libya is basicallyone long east-west coastal highway, simple enough to chop up andpatrol and bomb from above. Syria is nothing like that. Obama also would have to consider the inevitable spillover intoneighboring countries. Political boundaries in the Middle East weremostly created by Western powers over the last 100 years or so.Tribes and families sprawl heedlessly across them. Already, the violence in Syria has spread to Lebanon. If the entiregoverning machinery in Damascus collapses, there are dangerousimplications for Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq all U.S. alliesto varying degrees. Lastly, there is the matter of will and fatigue. The Americanpublic wants out of Afghanistan. France is pulling its troopsearly. Canada is firm on its withdrawal. Add to this the fact that Barack Obama is running for re-election. Perhaps noblesse oblige demands that America set reality aside and once again act as theglobe's policeman, knowing it will be probably be thanked byneither the Arab nor, ultimately, the Western world. The idea of simply going in and assassinating Assad and his cohortwill obviously appeal to some people. Given that this regime haskilled something like 15,000 of its own citizens so far, itsleaders are certainly at least as deserving as those commoncriminals Texas injects with poison on the death-house gurney everyyear. But that's just fantasy. Knocking off foreign leaders is generallytaboo, for all sorts of good reasons. The U.S. even has a lawforbidding it. More likely, as sickening and enraging as the image of Houla3 is,the Syrian people are, and will likely remain, alone against theirtyrants. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Tubular Lanyard , Custom Keychain Lanyard, and more. For more , please visit Tubular Lanyard today!
Related Articles -
Tubular Lanyard, Custom Keychain Lanyard,
|
