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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Is it because we're Muslims?" many Syrians angry at world's "indifference" to their plight
"Is it because we're Muslims?" many Syrians angry at world's "indifference" to their plight
While some Syrians inside the country welcome the idea of military intervention, many are critical of what they say has been indifference to their plight for the last two-and-a-half years, as the BBC's Ian Pannell discovered in the north of the country.
Abdul Majid's face is a testament to the random brutality of the Syrian war. The 14-month-old had been playing in the corridor of his home when a bomb from a government fighter jet smashed into the building. That he is alive at all is no small miracle.
...
The boy's father Abu Abdu is angry, not just at President Bashar al-Assad and his military forces, but also at what he sees as the indifference of the outside world to what is happening in Syria.
The case for intervention made by America and others has focused on the issue of chemical weapons. But for many Syrians opposed to the government, the issue is not how people are being killed but the fact that so many continue to die each day.
"Why is there silence?" Abu Abdu asks. "Is it because we're Muslims? Is our blood cheaper than yours?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24037091#TWEET885110
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)It is eclipsing all other issues, both domestically and worldwide. hardly seems like "silence" and "indifference" to me.
Indifference might better describe the world's reaction to the Congo and Rwanda
David__77
(23,214 posts)It certainly has gotten 1,000 times more attention than much more bloody conflicts in Africa. And, again, Syria is not exclusively a Muslim country - somehow they don't consider the Christians and Alawites in their equation. I think there's no "silence" at all. There have been many words and a lot of money spent on humanitarian relief. The important thing is for a political solution to be found.
Some people want their "revolution" handed to them on a silver platter... That is not the job of the United States or any other country.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)We've armed and supplied you. And now you expect us to fight it for you. And if we don't, we're indifferent?
Nice try. You start a civil war, you had better win it.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)in so many of the refugees. It needs to be run by the UN. We need to stay out of it, other than giving them financial help.
ocpagu
(1,954 posts)leftynyc
(26,060 posts)why none of them is willing to lift a finger to help them and stop blaming the west.
cali
(114,904 posts)not that one could or should expect Syrian civilians not to be angry.
eissa
(4,238 posts)Or is their job just to throw money at the terrorists, and then pay US soldiers to do their dirty work.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)overcome their sectarian hostilities. It speaks volumes that leaders from the various Islamic sects aren't convening peace talks.
Waiting For Everyman
(9,385 posts)If I were there, I'm sure I would feel the same way.
But there are all kinds of factors that put limits on what can be done: international law, the vetoes on the Security Council, the configuration of alliances in the area, political constraints and financial burdens, and very heavy war fatigue, just to name a few.
Chemical weapons is one of the few things that can be acted upon.
One thing that I think people tend to forget though, is that the major powers had a lot to do with empowering these dictators in the Middle East, and we have some responsibility to the citizens of those countries who are attempting to rise up and claim their rights without much in the way of anything to defend themselves from the weapons that we sold these dictators for decades.
In a very real sense, we built the monster that is killing them. And I include all the powers in that including Russia and China, and a number of states in the region too.