A piece from a Canadian lawyer Chris Black got my attention amid the increasing calls for somebody to do something to stop the city of Aleppo, or the part of it that is still controlled by Jihadi terrorists, from being destroyed. Turns out this is the part of the city frequented by MSF and a number of western NGOs - one of which brought us the saga of the 'White Helmets'. Strange that, for all the concern about 'trapped civilians' nobody is calling for their release to join the rest of the civilians of Aleppo, in non-rebel held parts of that city. Just what does it take to make somebody a human shield? Our bombs?
Aleppo is one among a number of Syrian cities that have 'fallen' (for we westerners don't think that any of them, legitimately, belong to anybody unlike ourselves) in whole or in part, to either the government forces of Bashir Assad or to one of the numerous 'Islamic fighters groups' opposing him. Save for a couple of small villages near the Jordanian border, which are controlled by a US-funded and supplied - 'moderate militia'. Most of the other 'moderate militias' were eliminated by the more powerful forces, or in most instances, simply took their US weapons, equipment and supplies directly over to ISIS.
Most of those Syrian cities have to varying extents been destroyed - some of them completely - in fighting that has seen the liberal use of high explosives of all kinds and by both sides. Again we in the west have a myopia that makes us, or our media. think that the destruction is all 'one-sided' and that Bashir has taken into his mind to wipe all other Syrians out. Or that's what we're told by the media and the government sources they quote. That would of course be Assad and the Syrian supporters who have kept him in power, much like the government of Ukraine is supported by a 'majority' of Ukrainians fighting-off a russian-inspired insurgency and invasion. Well not quite. Ukraine is 'good' because we back that government (that took over after a coup), while Syria is bad because we don't back Assad (who got himself elected). What it's all about us that Assad is stopping the Syrian people from having a happy, 'free' and, as it turns out, fundamentalist Islamic life. Stupidly they insist on having their country back, without the rebels. That's just not gonna happen. Nobody can go back from liberty.
So to-day we hear their are voices being raised around the situation room table in the White House action bunker - and they're calling for a kinetic solution. They want America to stop the bombing of Aleppo by increasing the bombing on Damascus. They're the same 'voices' that didn't say anything about the raid last week that scuppered the ceasefire - until they said 'sorry' afterwards. And if the advisory panel of retired intelligence workers, that has been calling the shots correctly, as least, as long as the anti-war movement has been correct, there is nobody with a pinch of horse sense speaking out against them. The ONLY thing that could be stopping it is Obama's fear of making his foreign policy legacy even worse than it is. He spent some time, yesterday, talking about his 'domestic legacy' to the next guy.
The foreign policy legacy probably keeps him up nights.
Recent developments. Get the proxies busy.
A spate of calls for a war crimes investigation by the World Court is being spearheaded by the pacifists of France. Meanwhile the Brits are debating the merits of having the RAF fly top cover for the fighting citizens of north-east Aleppo. The US is 'all up' for a war crimes trial in a court that neither they, nor the Russians recognize. And it would probably be 'all up' for an Article 5 duty to protect a NATO ally, if it gets attacked while flying top cover for the fighting citizens of north-east Aleppo.
And then there's Mr Obama and his foreign policy legacy.
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