12:18, UK,
Sunday 12 October 2014
From a hilltop three miles away, the media can point out airstrikes as many atrocities inside Syria are ignored by the West.
Video: World Watches The Fate Of Kobani
Sherine Tadros Middle East Correspondent
Of all the cities and towns in Syria that have fallen to Islamic State extremists in the past year, perhaps none have received sustained media interest quite like Kobani.
It's true that the town is important. Its fall may have serious repercussions for Turkey's relationship with its Kurdish minority. It also sits on the Syrian-Turkish border.
But this is a 500-mile-long border, and the militants have previously captured areas that give them access to various parts of this stretch. They have been smuggling weapons, fighters and oil via Turkey since last year.
Kobani has become a symbol of perceived failure in the US-led coalition's efforts to degrade IS capability in Syria, despite the fact the US has said saving Kobani is not their aim.
The town is also falling into IS hands in full view of the world's media.
Video: IS Fights In The Streets Of Kobani
From a hilltop around three miles from Kobani, the media can point to "what we think are possible airstrikes" and talk about "what we think is the sound of heavy artillery" from a safe distance.
The militants have conveniently put up their black flag within camera zoom distance.
The location has been dubbed by journalists as the "hill of shame" - but the shame isn't that we can't get any closer to the action, but the reality that if Kobani was a further 25 miles away, we would likely not have paid it this much attention. In the week before extremists encircled Kobani, they took over 65 villages on the way.
Video: Sam Kiley On The Battle For Kobani
Kobani should instead be seen as a symbol of the hypocrisy of the West's policy towards Syria and media bias.
The coalition attacking IS includes the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which US intelligence has reportedly identified as key funders of the group they are now trying to destroy.
During just two weeks in August, Saudi beheaded more people than all the IS videos combined.
Video: IS Footage Shows Kobani Onslaught
This is not in any way to excuse the barbaric and inhumane way in which IS operate, the point is simply to highlight facts many ignore as we lap up the war hype.
Finally, we should remember that before there was a group called IS in Syria, over 200,000 people were killed in the regime's war with the opposition.
On Saturday, the US State Department said there was evidence that IS had abducted 1,500 girls and women. The opposition Syrian National Council claims over 7,500 women have been raped by government militias.
Video: Saving Lives in Syria's Aleppo
The Assad regime continues to barrel bomb rebel held areas killing civilians. They have used chemical weapons to murder thousands of women and children in the most horrific, painful way.
The Prime Minister called IS "pure evil" that must be destroyed, but why did Assad not generate this kind of language? For many Syrians, this is exactly what his regime represents.
The idea is not to compare IS to Assad. But increasingly, we seem to be forgetting the atrocities being committed in the shadows by the Syrian regime, because we have a new and more exciting bogeyman who knows how to play to the media, right in front of us.
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Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
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