Bombing of Syrian refugee camp could be war crime, says UN chief

[uhnope]

Source: Guardian UK

The bombing of a Syrian refugee camp that left dozens of civilians dead and wounded and was blamed on the government of Bashar al-Assad “could amount to a war crime”, the UN humanitarian chief has said.

The airstrikes on Thursday afternoon near Sarmada, a town in Idlib province just 12 miles away from Reyhanli in Turkey, left the camp in ruins, with one witness describing a scene of horror, with tents on fire and body parts strewn around the area.

Stephen O’Brien, the UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, demanded an immediate investigation. “If this obscene attack is found to be a deliberate targeting of a civilian structure, it could amount to a war crime,” he said.

The White House called the strike indefensible. There was no justifiable excuse to target civilians who had already fled their homes from violence, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, calling the situation heartbreaking. The US said it has not confirmed who carried out the strike, but said no US or coalition aircraft were operating in the area. “We don’t know yet if it’s Syrian or Russian aircraft, but they struck in the middle of the camp and many of the tents have been burned,” said Alaa Fatraoui, a journalist who saw the aftermath.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/06/syrian-refugee-camp-bombing-airstrikes-sarmada-un-msf

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[Blandocyte]

1. They will send a strongly worded letter

Assad will tear it in half, give one half to Putin, and they will go to their respective terlets where the letter will have some use.

[christx30]

2. I was thinking about the same thing.

"The UN has condemned this action" has about as much teeth as "Christx30 has condemned this action."

Yes, UN, bombing a refugee camp is a terrible thing. What are you going to do about it?

[malthaussen]

7. They'll tell them to cut it out. n/t

[Sunlei]

21. UN should make the pictures public and satellite footage public. Words aren't enough to stop wars

[malthaussen]

22. Unfortunately, neither are pictures.

For that matter, neither is participating, although combat veterans do tend to be less inclined to war than others. But non-combatant vets can be extremely belligerent.

-- Mal

[Sunlei]

23. We have satellites that can read a license plate. Everything's recorded somewhere.

[reddread]

3. makes me so mad I just want to bomb another hospital

[Sunlei]

4. Outside of Asaads safezone, russia/asaad jets bomb everything that moves.

[jamzrockz]

5. It seems like they are not bombing the terrorists enough

cos it seems like there a lot of armed groups still moving. The sooner the US butts out of the Syrian affair, the sooner the war ends.

[Sunlei]

8. IS is in Russia aswell. About 6 months ago IS 'laid claim' to part of Russia.

I wish the USA would back out of Syria, let the Saudis lead the other anti-Assad military fighters. Use Saudi money.

[Redwoods Red]

13. Why, oh why, would you want to inflict more of the Saudis on Syria?

There is some irony in relying on a monarch to overthrow a dictator in the name of democracy, no?

The Saudis have very bloody hands in all this. They helped turn the anti-Assad Arab Spring protest movement into an attempted armed rebellion. They financed it, they armed it, they really made it possible. How has that worked out for Syrians?

And, anyway, I think the Saudis are busy with their own little imperial adventure next door in Yemen.

With allies like the Saudis...

[Sunlei]

18. They have always let the USA lead in Middle East. Obama got them to step-up and Saudis need

to lead the Parade in wars with their neighbor countries.

Saudis need to develop a 'boots on the ground' military. Saudis hired 'Blackwater' mercenaries for hire to police their homeland. Saudis can hire military boots or train their sons or hire more Blackwater goons.

Lead the Parade
Korn

Lost and alone
I'm out of the stone
repeat this process everyday
Nothings my own
The dreams that I've grown
I won't control and throw away

I need to make the decisions
I need to make it right
I need to lead the parade
Or this shit will fucking take my life

[Redwoods Red]

19. Why do you want the medieval Saudis to be our henchmen in the Middle East?

They are responsible for spreading that pernicious Salafist ideology, you know, the stuff of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Al Nusra.

They basically made war on Syria by financing and arming armed opposition.

They seem determined to inflame sectarianism in the region.

Personally, I think the Saudi regime needs to be in the dustbin of history.

And the US should stay the hell out. Syria is not our country. Iraq is not our country.

[Sunlei]

20. They're an Ally, I doubt Saudi Arabia will ever be in 'the dustbin' of history.

[Mosby]

24. And Syria is not Iran

Maybe the quds force, Hezbollah and the RG should mind there own fucking business and get out of Syria.

[malthaussen]

6. Yeah, it could be.

But it was probably just a mistake, yeah? You know, like the bombing of the Panay or the Liberty.

-- Mal

[bemildred]

9. +1.

After a while the law or diminishing returns sets in, you have to commit bigger and bigger atrocities in order to elicit the required degree of outrage. We are already to the point in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, for example, where bombing the crap out of a working hospital is a PR problem, but it hardly moves the outrage needle, which is already pegged.

[malthaussen]

10. It still depends on whodunit, though.

If we blow up a hospital or refugee camp, no biggie -- but if they do it, it is the biggest atrocity since the Holocaust. Or possibly inclusive of the Holocaust.

-- Mal

[bemildred]

11. And that is the root of the problem, right there.

The truth matters, fairness matters. When you start to get too cute to get your way, you begin excavating the ground of credibility on which you stand. After a while, nobody listens. Your habits become lnown.

[malthaussen]

12. Yep, credibility becomes undermined in two ways...

... firstly, because you're not being fair, so a tolerably reasonable person can see that what is sauce for the goose is suddenly not sauce for the gander. And secondly, as you said above, because the envelope of hyperbole gets pushed to the breaking point.

Without proportion or balance, the whole construct eventually comes tumbling down.

-- Mal

[bemildred]

14. As any good software engineer knows, communication requires a protocol.

And then everybody has to follow it, or communication fails. One of the favorite things of hackers is finding flaws in the protocols and exploiting them with carefully tailored lies. Our political system at times seems to consist almost entirely of hackers, so it is no wonder it doesn't work.

[malthaussen]

15. "A lawyer is someone expert at circumventing the law." n/t

[bemildred]

16. Indeed. nt

[Blue_Tires]

17. The Syrians/Russians have been *actively* and *intentionally*

targeting hospitals, schools and other civilian safe havens...

Yeah, keep on telling me that Assad is the victim of U.S. aggression here...