Beirut car bombing kills former minister Mohamad Chatah, who opposed Syria's Assad
Updated 10 hours 35 minutes ago
ABC NEWS
Lebanon's former prime minister Saad al-Hariri has accused Hezbollah of involvement in the assassination of his political adviser Mohamad Chatah in a Beirut car bomb attack.
State news agency NNA said former finance minister Chatah, 62, was among several killed and dozens injured by the blasts in the capital on Friday morning local time.
Chatah, a leading figure opposing the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, was on his way to attend a meeting at Mr Hariri's mansion.
The sound of the blast was heard across the city at around 9:40am and a plume of black smoke was seen rising in the downtown business and hotel district.
A witness at the scene said his car was "totally destroyed. It is a wreck".
A restaurant and a coffee shop were destroyed in the blast, and several cars were on fire, the witness said, adding that there was glass everywhere and the smell of explosives in the air.
NNA news agency put the initial death toll at five and said more than 50 wounded in the blast. It said that more than 10 buildings in the area were badly damaged.
Footage broadcast by Future TV showed people on fire, others lying on the ground, some bloodied, as well as the mangled remains of a burning car. Some people were seen walking around dazed and shocked.
Ambulances as well as security reinforcements rushed to the stricken area, where large crowds had gathered.
The blast sent thick black smoke scudding across the capital's skyline and over the Serail, a massive complex that houses the offices of the Lebanese prime minister, the parliament building, banks, modern glass buildings, shops, cafes and restaurants.
Chatah, a Sunni Muslim, was an ex-minister of finance and Lebanon's envoy to Washington under Rafik al-Hariri, who was also killed in a car bombing.
He was also an outspoken critic of Hezbollah, and in his last Twitter message - an hour before the attack - he wrote:
#Hezbollah is pressing hard to be granted similar powers in security & foreign policy matters that Syria exercised in Lebanon for 15 yrs.
— Mohamad B Chatah (@mohamad_chatah) December 27, 2013
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the bombing.
However, Mr Hariri accused Hezbollah of involvement in the attack which killed his adviser.
"As far as we are concerned the suspects...are those who are fleeing international justice and refusing to represent themselves before the international tribunal," Mr Hariri said, referring to five Hezbollah suspects indicted for the 2005 killing of his father.
The trial of the five suspects is due to open in The Hague next month. The suspects are all fugitives and Hezbollah, which denies any role in the Hariri assassination, has refused to cooperate with the court which it says is politically motivated.
Lebanese president Michel Suleiman and prime minister Najib Mikati and officials from across Lebanon's sectarian political divide condemned Chatah's killing.
Mr Mikati said the blast targeted "a moderate academic and noble political figure who believed in dialogue, the language of reason and the right to different views".
Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar described the explosion as a crime.
"We condemn this terrorist act," he told Hezbollah's Al Manar television.
"It is part of a terrorist wave which the region and Lebanon are witnessing".
Damascus denied involvement in the blast with Syria's information minister Omran al-Zohbi telling state news agency SANA: "these wrong and arbitrary accusations are made in a context of political hatred".
Lebanon violence as Syria tensions simmer
The attack was a grim reminder that the violence that tore Lebanon apart during the civil war is never far away, and comes as a war is raging across the border in Syria.
Much of Beirut went into lockdown following the explosion, with police blocking off roads across the city.
Beirut has been hit by several deadly attacks over the past months, including twin suicide bombings in November that targeted the Iranian embassy and bombings in the bastion of the Shiite movement Hezbollah in the south of the capital over the summer.
"We were opening our store when we heard the blast. It was really loud. We are used to blasts in Lebanon but not in this area. Now we are not safe anywhere," Mohammad, 23, a shop attendant in the stricken area said.
Ziad, a 37-year-old businessman whose office is located near the scene of the attack, said: "Chatah was a really respectful person. He was very nice. I was so shocked he has been killed."
Asked whether he felt safe in the country, which has suffered a string of explosions in recent months, he said: "If I had the chance to take my wife and children somewhere else, I would."
President Michel Sleiman warned in November that Hezbollah's involvement in Syria was a threat to Lebanon's "national unity and civil peace".
Reuters/AFP
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Friday, December 27, 2013
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Ban: Escalation of violence in Syria will not help the peace talks
The UN Secretary-General expressed his concern over the escalation of violence
Ban: Escalation of violence in Syria will not help the peace talks
by Karafillis Giannoulis
27.12.2013 - 08:43
NEWEUROPE
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the escalation of violence in Syria will not contribute to the successful outcome of the Geneva peace talks.
On 26 December, the spokesman of the UN Secretary-General said “the secretary-general is gravely concerned about escalating fighting in Syria in recent days, particularly in Aleppo, where reports indicate that civilians are among hundreds of people killed and injured.” In the statement, Mr. Ban condemned “the continued and indiscriminate use of heavy weapons and mortar shelling against areas with civilian population.” The UN Chief spoke out against the “barrel bomb” – oil drums filled with explosives and shrapnel and dropped by aircraft – campaign by Government forces in Aleppo.
The statement by the UN Secretary General against the escalation of violence in Syria comes few weeks before the start of the Geneva peace talks. The preparations are underway for the international conference in which the Syrian Government and the opposition will officially meet for the first time to discuss peace efforts. The conference will start in Montreux on 22 January 2014 and then continue in Geneva. The goal of the so-called “Geneva II” conference is to achieve a political solution to the conflict through a comprehensive agreement between the Government and the opposition for the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué, adopted on 30 June 2012.
“The secretary-general is particularly concerned that, as efforts to bring the Syrian sides to a negotiating table intensify, further escalation of violence will only serve the agendas of those who see military means as the only way forward, at the expense of the Syrian people who have suffered enough already,” Mr. Ban said in the statement. The UN Secretary General urged everyone involved in the fighting to stop the escalation of violence in Syria and focus “on a peaceful, political solution to the conflict.”
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
27122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Ban: Escalation of violence in Syria will not help the peace talks
by Karafillis Giannoulis
27.12.2013 - 08:43
NEWEUROPE
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the escalation of violence in Syria will not contribute to the successful outcome of the Geneva peace talks.
On 26 December, the spokesman of the UN Secretary-General said “the secretary-general is gravely concerned about escalating fighting in Syria in recent days, particularly in Aleppo, where reports indicate that civilians are among hundreds of people killed and injured.” In the statement, Mr. Ban condemned “the continued and indiscriminate use of heavy weapons and mortar shelling against areas with civilian population.” The UN Chief spoke out against the “barrel bomb” – oil drums filled with explosives and shrapnel and dropped by aircraft – campaign by Government forces in Aleppo.
The statement by the UN Secretary General against the escalation of violence in Syria comes few weeks before the start of the Geneva peace talks. The preparations are underway for the international conference in which the Syrian Government and the opposition will officially meet for the first time to discuss peace efforts. The conference will start in Montreux on 22 January 2014 and then continue in Geneva. The goal of the so-called “Geneva II” conference is to achieve a political solution to the conflict through a comprehensive agreement between the Government and the opposition for the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué, adopted on 30 June 2012.
“The secretary-general is particularly concerned that, as efforts to bring the Syrian sides to a negotiating table intensify, further escalation of violence will only serve the agendas of those who see military means as the only way forward, at the expense of the Syrian people who have suffered enough already,” Mr. Ban said in the statement. The UN Secretary General urged everyone involved in the fighting to stop the escalation of violence in Syria and focus “on a peaceful, political solution to the conflict.”
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
27122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Thursday, December 26, 2013
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Funeral held for British doctor who died in Syria
Funeral held for British doctor who died in Syria
Syrian government says doctor took his own life but family rejects claim
The Associated Press
Posted: Dec 26, 2013 3:37 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 26, 2013 3:37 PM ET
CBC NEWS
Deceased British surgeon Abbas Khan's mother reacts after seeing her son's body, Dec. 21. A funeral was held in London Thursday for Khan, who was arrested after he offered his services as an emergency doctor in Syria and died in prison. (Hasan Shaaban/Reuters)
Mourners gathered at a central London mosque Thursday for the funeral of a British doctor who died while in Syrian government custody.
Dr. Abbas Khan, a 32-year-old orthopedic surgeon, died just days before he was apparently due to be released from detention. The circumstances remain in dispute. The Syrian government said he took his own life, but his family in Britain rejects the claim.
The British government has said the Syrian government is responsible.
"My brother, to us, was our star. His star shone on our family," his brother, Shahnawaz Khan, said at the Regent's Park Mosque.
The deceased doctor, whose family roots are in India, was detained in Aleppo in November 2012 after he entered Syria to work in a hospital.
He had been working on the Turkish side of the Syrian border on a humanitarian mission but decided to cross over into Syria to work in an Aleppo hospital. He was taken into custody shortly after entering the country.
His family was told of his death 10 days ago.
Prime Minister David Cameron criticized the Syrian regime for its "despicable" treatment of Khan and its refusal to work with the British government to release him.
"Abbas' death is a sickening and appalling tragedy, and it is right that the Syrian regime should answer for it," Cameron wrote to the Khan family in the letter, which was released Sunday.
Khan's family has criticized the British government for not doing more to secure Khan's release. His distraught mother, Fatima Khan, was comforted by family members after the funeral.
An inquest that may determine the cause of death is scheduled to begin Friday. Evidence including autopsy results will be considered.
Family lawyer Nabeel Sheikh said after the funeral prayers that the family would decide what if any legal action to pursue once the inquest has been concluded.
"The process of the inquest will start tomorrow and will conclude in due course after which we will consider what legal avenues are open to us to conclude this matter, and hopefully find some form of justice if that exists in this case," he said.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/funeral-held-for-british-doctor-who-died-in-syria-1.2476597
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
27122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Syrian government says doctor took his own life but family rejects claim
The Associated Press
Posted: Dec 26, 2013 3:37 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 26, 2013 3:37 PM ET
CBC NEWS
Deceased British surgeon Abbas Khan's mother reacts after seeing her son's body, Dec. 21. A funeral was held in London Thursday for Khan, who was arrested after he offered his services as an emergency doctor in Syria and died in prison. (Hasan Shaaban/Reuters)
Mourners gathered at a central London mosque Thursday for the funeral of a British doctor who died while in Syrian government custody.
Dr. Abbas Khan, a 32-year-old orthopedic surgeon, died just days before he was apparently due to be released from detention. The circumstances remain in dispute. The Syrian government said he took his own life, but his family in Britain rejects the claim.
The British government has said the Syrian government is responsible.
"My brother, to us, was our star. His star shone on our family," his brother, Shahnawaz Khan, said at the Regent's Park Mosque.
The deceased doctor, whose family roots are in India, was detained in Aleppo in November 2012 after he entered Syria to work in a hospital.
He had been working on the Turkish side of the Syrian border on a humanitarian mission but decided to cross over into Syria to work in an Aleppo hospital. He was taken into custody shortly after entering the country.
His family was told of his death 10 days ago.
'Abbas' death is a sickening and appalling tragedy, and it is right that the Syrian regime should answer for it'-
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron
Prime Minister David Cameron criticized the Syrian regime for its "despicable" treatment of Khan and its refusal to work with the British government to release him.
"Abbas' death is a sickening and appalling tragedy, and it is right that the Syrian regime should answer for it," Cameron wrote to the Khan family in the letter, which was released Sunday.
Khan's family has criticized the British government for not doing more to secure Khan's release. His distraught mother, Fatima Khan, was comforted by family members after the funeral.
An inquest that may determine the cause of death is scheduled to begin Friday. Evidence including autopsy results will be considered.
Family lawyer Nabeel Sheikh said after the funeral prayers that the family would decide what if any legal action to pursue once the inquest has been concluded.
"The process of the inquest will start tomorrow and will conclude in due course after which we will consider what legal avenues are open to us to conclude this matter, and hopefully find some form of justice if that exists in this case," he said.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/funeral-held-for-british-doctor-who-died-in-syria-1.2476597
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
27122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
COMMENTARY_ The President Who Lost Iraq
Commentary Magazine
Contentions
The President Who Lost Iraq
Peter Wehner | @Peter_Wehner
12.26.2013 - 11:45 AM
The New York Times reports that the United States is quietly rushing dozens of Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq “to help government forces combat an explosion of violence by a Qaeda-backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western Iraq and neighboring Syria.”
This happens in the context of the deaths of more than 8,000 Iraqis in 2013, the highest level of violence since 2008. The Times’s Michael Gordon and Eric Schmitt write, “Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has become a potent force in northern and western Iraq… The surge in violence stands in sharp contrast to earlier assurances from senior Obama administration officials that Iraq was on the right path, despite the failure of American and Iraqi officials in 2011 to negotiate an agreement for a limited number of United States forces to remain in Iraq.”
This was all so predictable, and all so unnecessary. Thanks to the Anbar Awakening and the surge ordered by President Bush, Iraq by 2008 was relatively stable and al-Qaeda was decimated. The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that was being renegotiated in 2011 was meant to lock in those gains. It would have created a strategic alliance with Iraq that would have kept a residual American troop presence there. Yet the Obama administration botched the negotiations and Mr. Obama simply fled Iraq, leaving that fledgling Arab democracy to the tender mercies of Iran and Islamists in the region. (Read this 2011 column by Charles Krauthammer to see how thoroughly the president has made a hash of things.)
It’s unclear whether America’s “patchwork response,” in the words of the Times, will make any real differences when it comes to pacifying Iraq. And one gets the sense that the outcome doesn’t really matter to Mr. Obama. In his make-believe world, the president actually counts Iraq as a success on his watch.
As we have seen in Syria, Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, when the president loses interest in foreign events, he simply deems them to be successes. If they don’t interest him, they shouldn’t interest us. So civil wars, mass death, the collapse of central governments, the weakening of pro-American regimes, and the rise of militant Islamic forces are perfectly acceptable. As long as we avert our eyes from what’s happening, all will be right with the world. Or so Mr. Obama seems to believe.
He’s wrong about this, as he is wrong about so many other things. After hard-earned and heroic gains, Barack Obama is the president who lost Iraq.
Read more: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/12/26/the-president-who-lost-iraq/
_______________
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
27122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
The President Who Lost Iraq
Peter Wehner | @Peter_Wehner
12.26.2013 - 11:45 AM
The New York Times reports that the United States is quietly rushing dozens of Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq “to help government forces combat an explosion of violence by a Qaeda-backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western Iraq and neighboring Syria.”
This happens in the context of the deaths of more than 8,000 Iraqis in 2013, the highest level of violence since 2008. The Times’s Michael Gordon and Eric Schmitt write, “Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has become a potent force in northern and western Iraq… The surge in violence stands in sharp contrast to earlier assurances from senior Obama administration officials that Iraq was on the right path, despite the failure of American and Iraqi officials in 2011 to negotiate an agreement for a limited number of United States forces to remain in Iraq.”
This was all so predictable, and all so unnecessary. Thanks to the Anbar Awakening and the surge ordered by President Bush, Iraq by 2008 was relatively stable and al-Qaeda was decimated. The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that was being renegotiated in 2011 was meant to lock in those gains. It would have created a strategic alliance with Iraq that would have kept a residual American troop presence there. Yet the Obama administration botched the negotiations and Mr. Obama simply fled Iraq, leaving that fledgling Arab democracy to the tender mercies of Iran and Islamists in the region. (Read this 2011 column by Charles Krauthammer to see how thoroughly the president has made a hash of things.)
It’s unclear whether America’s “patchwork response,” in the words of the Times, will make any real differences when it comes to pacifying Iraq. And one gets the sense that the outcome doesn’t really matter to Mr. Obama. In his make-believe world, the president actually counts Iraq as a success on his watch.
As we have seen in Syria, Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, when the president loses interest in foreign events, he simply deems them to be successes. If they don’t interest him, they shouldn’t interest us. So civil wars, mass death, the collapse of central governments, the weakening of pro-American regimes, and the rise of militant Islamic forces are perfectly acceptable. As long as we avert our eyes from what’s happening, all will be right with the world. Or so Mr. Obama seems to believe.
He’s wrong about this, as he is wrong about so many other things. After hard-earned and heroic gains, Barack Obama is the president who lost Iraq.
Read more: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/12/26/the-president-who-lost-iraq/
_______________
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
27122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Death toll in Aleppo air strikes passes 400
Death toll in Aleppo air strikes passes 400
December 26, 2013 - 10:10:10 am
thepeninsulaqatar.com
DAMASCUS: The death toll from a 10-day Syrian regime air offensive on Aleppo rebels passed 400 yesterday, as Pope Francis called on Christmas Day for aid access to the war-torn country.
But even as the European Union and Arab League condemned the campaign in Syria’s second city, a Russian company signed a major oil and gas exploration deal with the Damascus government.
Aleppo has been divided into regime and rebel-held enclaves since a massive opposition offensive in the northern city in July last year.
The air force has been bombarding the rebel-held areas using TNT-packed barrels since December 15, in an offensive the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said has left 410 people dead, including 117 children, as of Tuesday night. Also among those killed were 34 women, 30 rebel fighters and nine jihadists.
The Britain-based Observatory, which uses a network of contacts inside Syria to track the conflict, said the air force pressed the assault into an 11th day yesterday.
Human Rights Watch has labelled as “unlawful” the relentless aerial campaign by President Bashar Al Assad’s regime, especially the use of the massively destructive barrel bombs in civilian areas. The United States has also condemned the assault, and on Wednesday the Arab League and the European Union joined the chorus of criticism.
“The High Representative (Catherine Ashton) is deeply concerned with reports of an escalating bombing campaign,” said the EU. “She condemns the unabated use of air strikes by the Syrian government on civilian areas.”
Arab League chief Nabil Al Arabi called on “the Syrian army to stop the air bombings” of Aleppo, condemning the killing of “hundreds of innocent civilians”.
Arabi also called on the UN Security Council “to take responsibility” to end the conflict.
The opposition National Coalition has said it will boycott a peace conference slated for January if the Aleppo bombing does not cease. A security source in Damascus has defended the campaign as necessary to “save Aleppo”.
“We do not target any area unless we are 100 percent sure that the ones there are terrorists,” the source said, using the regime term for rebels.
“The bodies you see on television are the bodies of terrorists and mercenaries, most of whom travelled into Syria from abroad.”
AFP
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
December 26, 2013 - 10:10:10 am
thepeninsulaqatar.com
DAMASCUS: The death toll from a 10-day Syrian regime air offensive on Aleppo rebels passed 400 yesterday, as Pope Francis called on Christmas Day for aid access to the war-torn country.
But even as the European Union and Arab League condemned the campaign in Syria’s second city, a Russian company signed a major oil and gas exploration deal with the Damascus government.
Aleppo has been divided into regime and rebel-held enclaves since a massive opposition offensive in the northern city in July last year.
The air force has been bombarding the rebel-held areas using TNT-packed barrels since December 15, in an offensive the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said has left 410 people dead, including 117 children, as of Tuesday night. Also among those killed were 34 women, 30 rebel fighters and nine jihadists.
The Britain-based Observatory, which uses a network of contacts inside Syria to track the conflict, said the air force pressed the assault into an 11th day yesterday.
Human Rights Watch has labelled as “unlawful” the relentless aerial campaign by President Bashar Al Assad’s regime, especially the use of the massively destructive barrel bombs in civilian areas. The United States has also condemned the assault, and on Wednesday the Arab League and the European Union joined the chorus of criticism.
“The High Representative (Catherine Ashton) is deeply concerned with reports of an escalating bombing campaign,” said the EU. “She condemns the unabated use of air strikes by the Syrian government on civilian areas.”
Arab League chief Nabil Al Arabi called on “the Syrian army to stop the air bombings” of Aleppo, condemning the killing of “hundreds of innocent civilians”.
Arabi also called on the UN Security Council “to take responsibility” to end the conflict.
The opposition National Coalition has said it will boycott a peace conference slated for January if the Aleppo bombing does not cease. A security source in Damascus has defended the campaign as necessary to “save Aleppo”.
“We do not target any area unless we are 100 percent sure that the ones there are terrorists,” the source said, using the regime term for rebels.
“The bodies you see on television are the bodies of terrorists and mercenaries, most of whom travelled into Syria from abroad.”
AFP
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
OPINION_ Trudy Rubin: US must get tough on Syria
Trudy Rubin: US must get tough on Syria
December 26, 2013
The Gulf Today
The three young Syrian women had managed to escape from the rebel-held section of Aleppo for a few days’ rest across the border in Turkey. Asma, 26, a university graduate in English literature, has been volunteering for the past two years as a nurse in a field hospital, treating civilian victims of the war, which has divided Aleppo into conflict zones held by the rebels and the regime.
Salam, 30, and Islam, 28, sisters who were teachers before the war, are volunteers in an orphanage that shelters 650 children who lost parents in the fighting. “These children are only a fraction of the number of war orphans,” Salam told me. It was hard to believe that these fresh-faced, smiling women, their faces framed by head scarves, had lived for years under bombardments.
But just after they arrived in Gaziantep, the Assad regime began dropping “barrel bombs” filled with hundreds of pounds of explosives and shrapnel on apartment buildings in their neighbourhood, killing hundreds of civilians and wounding hundreds more. The three were planning to rush back into the mayhem.
“There are not enough doctors or nurses or supplies,” Asma explained as we sat over a simple lunch of bread, cheese and cucumbers in the apartment of friends who had escaped from Aleppo. “They are operating in the corridors, cutting off limbs without anesthetic.” A school had been hit, and many of the new victims were children.
No surprise. Bashar Al Assad’s war against his own people is a deliberate war against civilians and children. The greatest humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century thus far is unfolding in Syria. The war crimes committed by Assad rival anything seen in Darfur or Bosnia.
Yet the international community has failed to take steps that could slow or halt these war crimes. And the Obama administration has unwittingly helped Assad continue slaughtering civilians. This has to stop.
According to the Oxford Research Group, at least 11,000 of the more than 113,000 known dead were younger than 18; of those child victims, more than 70 per cent were killed by bombs or artillery shells. There were also 764 cases of summary execution of children and 389 of sniper fire with clear evidence that children were targeted. (Indeed, the entire Syrian revolt was sparked in late 2011 by the arrest and torture of a group of children for writing anti-Assad graffiti on a wall.)
Indiscriminate bombing and shelling have been Assad’s weapons of choice for depopulating whole urban neighbourhoods and towns under rebel control. The result is that nearly one-third of Syria’s 23 million people are either refugees in neighbouring countries or internally displaced, living in schools, in mosques, or on the ground.
As winter sets in, Assad is preventing food and medicine from reaching 250,000 starving civilians in besieged areas surrounded by regime forces. As I heard from doctors in Gaziantep, the dictator is abetting a growing polio epidemic, which is on the verge of exploding in the rebel-held north; regime policy ensures that the most endangered children lack access to the vaccine.
UN investigators have alleged that the Syrian government has carried out “a campaign of terror” against civilians that includes widespread abductions and disappearances. The top UN human rights official, Navi Pillay, says evidence links Assad to crimes against humanity, including horrendous torture and rapes in regime prisons. (Yes, some opposition groups have also committed war crimes, but they amount to a tiny fraction of the regime’s atrocities.)
Yet Assad is sitting pretty in the run-up to peace talks with the opposition, to be held in Switzerland on Jan. 22. His Russian backers blocked a UN Security Council statement last week that would have condemned the barrel-bomb attacks. Their veto makes it impossible to refer Assad to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Obama’s decision to forgo a strike on the regime’s military sites in favor of a deal to destroy its chemical weapons gave the dictator a green light to slaughter civilians by other methods. As Assad ups the killing before peace talks, Obama’s only card is to ask Moscow to rein him in.
If Russia (and Iran) will not force Assad to cease his slaughter of civilians and declare a humanitarian truce before the beginning of peace talks, the talks are pointless. Unless the administration stands by this precondition, it will be complicit in Assad’s crimes.
Americans may be indifferent to the slaughter of Syrian civilians because they view the war as too confusing to grasp. But if they had the chance to talk to Asma, Salam, Islam and all the brave Syrian civilian activists I met in Gaziantep, they would understand the essence of this fight. These young people have exposed themselves to mortal danger to save civilian lives.
This war is about a dictator who will go to any lengths to retain power, and who has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe that destabilises the whole region. Assad’s reign of terror has fueled a rise of radicalisation that will threaten the entire Middle East – and the West.
Peace talks in Geneva are unlikely to end the war, but at least they might stop Assad’s assault on civilians. If Obama cannot persuade the Russians to force Assad to permit the delivery of food to the starving and vaccine to the children, the US delegation should stay home.
MCT
_________
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
December 26, 2013
The Gulf Today
The three young Syrian women had managed to escape from the rebel-held section of Aleppo for a few days’ rest across the border in Turkey. Asma, 26, a university graduate in English literature, has been volunteering for the past two years as a nurse in a field hospital, treating civilian victims of the war, which has divided Aleppo into conflict zones held by the rebels and the regime.
Salam, 30, and Islam, 28, sisters who were teachers before the war, are volunteers in an orphanage that shelters 650 children who lost parents in the fighting. “These children are only a fraction of the number of war orphans,” Salam told me. It was hard to believe that these fresh-faced, smiling women, their faces framed by head scarves, had lived for years under bombardments.
But just after they arrived in Gaziantep, the Assad regime began dropping “barrel bombs” filled with hundreds of pounds of explosives and shrapnel on apartment buildings in their neighbourhood, killing hundreds of civilians and wounding hundreds more. The three were planning to rush back into the mayhem.
“There are not enough doctors or nurses or supplies,” Asma explained as we sat over a simple lunch of bread, cheese and cucumbers in the apartment of friends who had escaped from Aleppo. “They are operating in the corridors, cutting off limbs without anesthetic.” A school had been hit, and many of the new victims were children.
No surprise. Bashar Al Assad’s war against his own people is a deliberate war against civilians and children. The greatest humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century thus far is unfolding in Syria. The war crimes committed by Assad rival anything seen in Darfur or Bosnia.
Yet the international community has failed to take steps that could slow or halt these war crimes. And the Obama administration has unwittingly helped Assad continue slaughtering civilians. This has to stop.
According to the Oxford Research Group, at least 11,000 of the more than 113,000 known dead were younger than 18; of those child victims, more than 70 per cent were killed by bombs or artillery shells. There were also 764 cases of summary execution of children and 389 of sniper fire with clear evidence that children were targeted. (Indeed, the entire Syrian revolt was sparked in late 2011 by the arrest and torture of a group of children for writing anti-Assad graffiti on a wall.)
Indiscriminate bombing and shelling have been Assad’s weapons of choice for depopulating whole urban neighbourhoods and towns under rebel control. The result is that nearly one-third of Syria’s 23 million people are either refugees in neighbouring countries or internally displaced, living in schools, in mosques, or on the ground.
As winter sets in, Assad is preventing food and medicine from reaching 250,000 starving civilians in besieged areas surrounded by regime forces. As I heard from doctors in Gaziantep, the dictator is abetting a growing polio epidemic, which is on the verge of exploding in the rebel-held north; regime policy ensures that the most endangered children lack access to the vaccine.
UN investigators have alleged that the Syrian government has carried out “a campaign of terror” against civilians that includes widespread abductions and disappearances. The top UN human rights official, Navi Pillay, says evidence links Assad to crimes against humanity, including horrendous torture and rapes in regime prisons. (Yes, some opposition groups have also committed war crimes, but they amount to a tiny fraction of the regime’s atrocities.)
Yet Assad is sitting pretty in the run-up to peace talks with the opposition, to be held in Switzerland on Jan. 22. His Russian backers blocked a UN Security Council statement last week that would have condemned the barrel-bomb attacks. Their veto makes it impossible to refer Assad to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Obama’s decision to forgo a strike on the regime’s military sites in favor of a deal to destroy its chemical weapons gave the dictator a green light to slaughter civilians by other methods. As Assad ups the killing before peace talks, Obama’s only card is to ask Moscow to rein him in.
If Russia (and Iran) will not force Assad to cease his slaughter of civilians and declare a humanitarian truce before the beginning of peace talks, the talks are pointless. Unless the administration stands by this precondition, it will be complicit in Assad’s crimes.
Americans may be indifferent to the slaughter of Syrian civilians because they view the war as too confusing to grasp. But if they had the chance to talk to Asma, Salam, Islam and all the brave Syrian civilian activists I met in Gaziantep, they would understand the essence of this fight. These young people have exposed themselves to mortal danger to save civilian lives.
This war is about a dictator who will go to any lengths to retain power, and who has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe that destabilises the whole region. Assad’s reign of terror has fueled a rise of radicalisation that will threaten the entire Middle East – and the West.
Peace talks in Geneva are unlikely to end the war, but at least they might stop Assad’s assault on civilians. If Obama cannot persuade the Russians to force Assad to permit the delivery of food to the starving and vaccine to the children, the US delegation should stay home.
MCT
_________
No surprise. Bashar Al Assad’s war against his own people is a deliberate war against civilians and children. The greatest humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century thus far is unfolding in Syria. The war crimes committed by Assad rival anything seen in Darfur or Bosnia.
Yet the international community has failed to take steps that could slow or halt these war crimes. And the Obama administration has unwittingly helped Assad continue slaughtering civilians. This has to stop.
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Over 400 killed in 10-day air blitz of Syria's Aleppo: NGO
Over 400 killed in 10-day air blitz of Syria's Aleppo: NGO
AFP
By AFP | AFP – 23 minutes ago
AFP/Fouad Hallak/AFP - Rescuers climb on the rubble of a destroyed building following an airstrike in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 24, 2013
A 10-day air offensive by Syria's regime against rebel areas of divided Aleppo city and nearby villages has killed more than 400 people, including 117 children, a monitor said Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that by Tuesday night the toll since December 15 from air strikes and a bombing campaign using barrels packed with TNT stood at 410. Also among the dead were 34 women, 30 rebel fighters and nine jihadists.
The Britain-based group said that the air force pressed its assault into an 11th day on Wednesday, with fresh raids on the opposition-held districts of Sakhur and Jabal Badro in eastern Aleppo city.
However it had no immediate information on further casualties.
Aleppo has been divided into regime and rebel-held enclaves since the opposition launched a massive offensive in July last year.
Rights groups have blasted the regime's relentless air raids against Aleppo and its dropping of massively destructive barrel bombs in civilian areas.
Human Rights Watch has described the use of such weapons as "indiscriminate and therefore unlawful".
The United States too has condemned the regime's aerial assault on civilian areas of Aleppo, accusing the military of using barrel bombs and SCUD missiles "indiscriminately".
On Wednesday, the Arab League and the European Union joined the chorus of criticism against the regime's offensive.
"The High Representative (Catherine Ashton) is deeply concerned with reports of an escalating bombing campaign in the city of Aleppo," the EU said in a statement.
"She condemns the unabated use of air strikes by the Syrian government on civilian areas."
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi meanwhile called on "the Syrian army to stop the air bombings" on Aleppo, condemning the killing of "hundreds of innocent civilians, especially women and children."
Arabi also called on the UN Security Council "to take responsibility" to end the conflict raging in Syria.
The opposition National Coalition has said it will boycott peace talks slated for January if the bombing of Aleppo does not cease.
A security source in Damascus on Tuesday defended the military's operations as necessary to "save Aleppo".
"We do not target any area unless we are 100 percent sure that the ones there are terrorists," the source said, using the regime's term for the rebels.
"The bodies you see on television are the bodies of terrorists and mercenaries, most of whom travelled into Syria from abroad."
Syria hit back at the US on Tuesday, describing it as a "one-eyed pirate" for condemning the aerial assault but "ignoring the crimes committed by the terrorists".
Meanwhile, fighting raged on Wednesday in the Aleppo province area of Naqarin, pitting rebels and jihadists on one side against the army backed by Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah fighters and the paramilitary National Defence Force.
The regime's ground forces were backed by helicopters. which dropped barrel bombs on rebel-held areas, the Observatory said.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
AFP
By AFP | AFP – 23 minutes ago
AFP/Fouad Hallak/AFP - Rescuers climb on the rubble of a destroyed building following an airstrike in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 24, 2013
A 10-day air offensive by Syria's regime against rebel areas of divided Aleppo city and nearby villages has killed more than 400 people, including 117 children, a monitor said Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that by Tuesday night the toll since December 15 from air strikes and a bombing campaign using barrels packed with TNT stood at 410. Also among the dead were 34 women, 30 rebel fighters and nine jihadists.
The Britain-based group said that the air force pressed its assault into an 11th day on Wednesday, with fresh raids on the opposition-held districts of Sakhur and Jabal Badro in eastern Aleppo city.
However it had no immediate information on further casualties.
Aleppo has been divided into regime and rebel-held enclaves since the opposition launched a massive offensive in July last year.
Rights groups have blasted the regime's relentless air raids against Aleppo and its dropping of massively destructive barrel bombs in civilian areas.
Human Rights Watch has described the use of such weapons as "indiscriminate and therefore unlawful".
The United States too has condemned the regime's aerial assault on civilian areas of Aleppo, accusing the military of using barrel bombs and SCUD missiles "indiscriminately".
On Wednesday, the Arab League and the European Union joined the chorus of criticism against the regime's offensive.
"The High Representative (Catherine Ashton) is deeply concerned with reports of an escalating bombing campaign in the city of Aleppo," the EU said in a statement.
"She condemns the unabated use of air strikes by the Syrian government on civilian areas."
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi meanwhile called on "the Syrian army to stop the air bombings" on Aleppo, condemning the killing of "hundreds of innocent civilians, especially women and children."
Arabi also called on the UN Security Council "to take responsibility" to end the conflict raging in Syria.
The opposition National Coalition has said it will boycott peace talks slated for January if the bombing of Aleppo does not cease.
A security source in Damascus on Tuesday defended the military's operations as necessary to "save Aleppo".
"We do not target any area unless we are 100 percent sure that the ones there are terrorists," the source said, using the regime's term for the rebels.
"The bodies you see on television are the bodies of terrorists and mercenaries, most of whom travelled into Syria from abroad."
Syria hit back at the US on Tuesday, describing it as a "one-eyed pirate" for condemning the aerial assault but "ignoring the crimes committed by the terrorists".
Meanwhile, fighting raged on Wednesday in the Aleppo province area of Naqarin, pitting rebels and jihadists on one side against the army backed by Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah fighters and the paramilitary National Defence Force.
The regime's ground forces were backed by helicopters. which dropped barrel bombs on rebel-held areas, the Observatory said.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Syria Signs Oil Exploration Deal With Russian Firm
Syria Signs Oil Exploration Deal With Russian Firm
BEIRUT December 25, 2013 (AP)
abc NEWS
Syria's state news agency says the oil ministry has signed a deal with Russian oil and gas company Soyuzneftegaz to explore in the Mediterranean Sea.
SANA's report Wednesday did not say where the deal was signed, though it said the exploration will take place off the Syrian coast.
Earlier this year, Syrian Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas discussed with the ambassadors of China and Russia the possibility of exploring for oil and gas off Syria's Mediterranean coast.
Most of Syria's oil and gas fields in the country's east are under opposition control and the country's oil exports almost have stopped.
Israel is already developing recent discoveries of massive offshore deposits and Lebanon has also spoken of trying to develop offshore fields.
Russia is one of President Bashar Assad's strongest international backers.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
BEIRUT December 25, 2013 (AP)
abc NEWS
Syria's state news agency says the oil ministry has signed a deal with Russian oil and gas company Soyuzneftegaz to explore in the Mediterranean Sea.
SANA's report Wednesday did not say where the deal was signed, though it said the exploration will take place off the Syrian coast.
Earlier this year, Syrian Oil Minister Suleiman Abbas discussed with the ambassadors of China and Russia the possibility of exploring for oil and gas off Syria's Mediterranean coast.
Most of Syria's oil and gas fields in the country's east are under opposition control and the country's oil exports almost have stopped.
Israel is already developing recent discoveries of massive offshore deposits and Lebanon has also spoken of trying to develop offshore fields.
Russia is one of President Bashar Assad's strongest international backers.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Pope's Christmas Message: Hope for a Better World
Pope's Christmas Message: Hope for a Better World
He Singles Syria, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Iraq
Associated Press
Dec. 25, 2013 7:39 a.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal
Pope Francis during his traditional Christmas "Urbi et Orbi" blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Wednesday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
VATICAN CITY—In his speech on Christmas Day, Pope Francis said he hopes for a better world, including successful Middle East negotiations in the land of Jesus' birth, peace for Syria and several war-torn African countries, and dignity for refugees fleeing misery and conflict.
Pope Francis spoke from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to some 70,000 cheering tourists, pilgrims and Romans in the square below. He said he was joining all those hoping "for a better world."
Among places ravaged by conflict, Pope Francis singled out Syria, which saw its third Christmas during civil war, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Iraq.
The pope prayed that Jesus, the "prince of peace," would "bless the land where you chose to come into the world and grant a favorable outcome to the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Heal the wounds of the beloved country of Iraq, once more struck by frequent acts of violence."
Pope Francis then explained his concept of peace.
"True peace is not a balancing of opposing forces. It's not a lovely facade which conceals conflicts and divisions," the pope said in his first Christmas message since being elected pontiff in March. "Peace calls for daily commitment," he said, reading the pages of his speech which were ruffled by a chilly wind.
With a reference to attacks on Christians in Africa and parts of the Middle East, Pope Francis prayed that God "protect all who are persecuted in your name."
Recalling the hundreds of migrants who drowned trying to reach European shores, he also prayed that refugees receive hope, consolation and assistance.
In the Mideast, pilgrims celebrated Christmas Day in the ancient Bethlehem church where tradition holds Jesus was born, as candles illuminated the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filled its overflowing halls.
This year's turnout has been the largest in years in Bethlehem, and the celebrations have been marked by careful optimism amid ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Leaders expressed hope that the coming year would finally bring the Palestinians an independent state of their own.
The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, led a prayer for some 1,000 worshipers as bells rang and tourists from around the world flocked to the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.
"The whole world now is looking at Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus," Twal said in his annual address. "The Holy Land is where Jesus was born in the grotto and we have to reflect this bright picture of Jesus by representing the morals of Jesus, the message of Jesus—the message of love and reconciliation."
Bethlehem lies 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.
Following a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000, the numbers of visitors to Bethlehem had plunged, including for Christmas.
But thanks to a period of relative calm, they have been steadily climbing in recent years—and while still below the record levels of the 1990s, got an extra push this year following the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Iskandar Salameh, an 18-year-old Palestinian, said the Christmas spirit was uniting those gathered Wednesday.
"We all feel that Jesus is with us today," he said.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
He Singles Syria, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Iraq
Associated Press
Dec. 25, 2013 7:39 a.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal
Pope Francis during his traditional Christmas "Urbi et Orbi" blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Wednesday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
VATICAN CITY—In his speech on Christmas Day, Pope Francis said he hopes for a better world, including successful Middle East negotiations in the land of Jesus' birth, peace for Syria and several war-torn African countries, and dignity for refugees fleeing misery and conflict.
Pope Francis spoke from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to some 70,000 cheering tourists, pilgrims and Romans in the square below. He said he was joining all those hoping "for a better world."
Among places ravaged by conflict, Pope Francis singled out Syria, which saw its third Christmas during civil war, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Iraq.
The pope prayed that Jesus, the "prince of peace," would "bless the land where you chose to come into the world and grant a favorable outcome to the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Heal the wounds of the beloved country of Iraq, once more struck by frequent acts of violence."
Pope Francis then explained his concept of peace.
"True peace is not a balancing of opposing forces. It's not a lovely facade which conceals conflicts and divisions," the pope said in his first Christmas message since being elected pontiff in March. "Peace calls for daily commitment," he said, reading the pages of his speech which were ruffled by a chilly wind.
With a reference to attacks on Christians in Africa and parts of the Middle East, Pope Francis prayed that God "protect all who are persecuted in your name."
Recalling the hundreds of migrants who drowned trying to reach European shores, he also prayed that refugees receive hope, consolation and assistance.
In the Mideast, pilgrims celebrated Christmas Day in the ancient Bethlehem church where tradition holds Jesus was born, as candles illuminated the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filled its overflowing halls.
This year's turnout has been the largest in years in Bethlehem, and the celebrations have been marked by careful optimism amid ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Leaders expressed hope that the coming year would finally bring the Palestinians an independent state of their own.
The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, led a prayer for some 1,000 worshipers as bells rang and tourists from around the world flocked to the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.
"The whole world now is looking at Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus," Twal said in his annual address. "The Holy Land is where Jesus was born in the grotto and we have to reflect this bright picture of Jesus by representing the morals of Jesus, the message of Jesus—the message of love and reconciliation."
Bethlehem lies 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.
Following a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000, the numbers of visitors to Bethlehem had plunged, including for Christmas.
But thanks to a period of relative calm, they have been steadily climbing in recent years—and while still below the record levels of the 1990s, got an extra push this year following the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Iskandar Salameh, an 18-year-old Palestinian, said the Christmas spirit was uniting those gathered Wednesday.
"We all feel that Jesus is with us today," he said.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
26122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
WORLDVIEW_ What makes Syria’s ‘barrel bombs’ so scary - The Washington Post
What makes Syria’s ‘barrel bombs’ so scary
By Max Fisher
December 24 at 1:31 pm
Syrians search for survivors under the rubble of a house destroyed by a barrel bomb. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images)
In some ways, the Syrian regime's latest tool of terror, barrel bombs, are nothing special. The oil drums filled with explosives and metal shrapnel such as nails and then dropped on rebel-controlled areas differ from conventional bombs mostly in that they're cruder. It's not clear that barrel bombs are any more lethal or destructive than conventional bombs, and they may in fact be less so.
An analysis by munitions expert Richard M. Lloyd estimates that barrel bombs are effective only 25 percent of the time, and even then they're so poorly designed that a person standing 40 feet away only has a three percent chance of getting hit. Eliot Higgins, perhaps the foremost observer of weapons use in Syria who is not employed by a major intelligence agency, has decried media hype around the barrel bombs: "It's like calling it a 'barrel bomb' makes it some special extra powerful bomb, when it's basically a piece of crap," he wrote on Twitter.
But there is something legitimately scary about the weapon's do-it-yourself ethos and its new systematic deployment against the neighborhoods of Aleppo. It speaks to the regime's single-minded focus on finding new ways to kill, its narrow and obsessive pursuit of mayhem and destruction as seemingly official strategy in the conflict that has run for nearly three years now.
The barrel bombs are disturbing because they affirm what has been increasingly clear throughout the Syrian war: The Bashar al-Assad regime is interested in no path forward other than by killing, something at which it is sufficiently competent to avoid losing the war, but not perhaps to win outright. It might seem perverse to see the Assad regime's lack of skill at warfare as a downside, but that has helped to turn the conflict that began as popular protests into a stalemate, a long and drawn-out fight that could last another decade. The barrel bombs speak to Assad's inability to win the battle outright, as well as his unwillingness to consider any other strategy than indiscriminate killing, a combination that suggests many more years of horrific conflict in a country that has already seen enough to scar it for a generation.
Max Fisher is the Post's foreign affairs blogger. He has a master's degree in security studies from Johns Hopkins University. Sign up for his daily newsletter here. Also, follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
*** VIEW COMMENTS (3)
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/12/24/what-makes-syrias-barrel-bombs-so-scary/?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e
__________
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
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conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
25122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
By Max Fisher
December 24 at 1:31 pm
Syrians search for survivors under the rubble of a house destroyed by a barrel bomb. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images)
In some ways, the Syrian regime's latest tool of terror, barrel bombs, are nothing special. The oil drums filled with explosives and metal shrapnel such as nails and then dropped on rebel-controlled areas differ from conventional bombs mostly in that they're cruder. It's not clear that barrel bombs are any more lethal or destructive than conventional bombs, and they may in fact be less so.
An analysis by munitions expert Richard M. Lloyd estimates that barrel bombs are effective only 25 percent of the time, and even then they're so poorly designed that a person standing 40 feet away only has a three percent chance of getting hit. Eliot Higgins, perhaps the foremost observer of weapons use in Syria who is not employed by a major intelligence agency, has decried media hype around the barrel bombs: "It's like calling it a 'barrel bomb' makes it some special extra powerful bomb, when it's basically a piece of crap," he wrote on Twitter.
But there is something legitimately scary about the weapon's do-it-yourself ethos and its new systematic deployment against the neighborhoods of Aleppo. It speaks to the regime's single-minded focus on finding new ways to kill, its narrow and obsessive pursuit of mayhem and destruction as seemingly official strategy in the conflict that has run for nearly three years now.
The barrel bombs are disturbing because they affirm what has been increasingly clear throughout the Syrian war: The Bashar al-Assad regime is interested in no path forward other than by killing, something at which it is sufficiently competent to avoid losing the war, but not perhaps to win outright. It might seem perverse to see the Assad regime's lack of skill at warfare as a downside, but that has helped to turn the conflict that began as popular protests into a stalemate, a long and drawn-out fight that could last another decade. The barrel bombs speak to Assad's inability to win the battle outright, as well as his unwillingness to consider any other strategy than indiscriminate killing, a combination that suggests many more years of horrific conflict in a country that has already seen enough to scar it for a generation.
Max Fisher is the Post's foreign affairs blogger. He has a master's degree in security studies from Johns Hopkins University. Sign up for his daily newsletter here. Also, follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
*** VIEW COMMENTS (3)
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/12/24/what-makes-syrias-barrel-bombs-so-scary/?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e
__________
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
25122013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
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