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Syrian refugees wait for their turn to receive humanitarian aid at the entrance of an NGO in the area of Wadi Khaled on the Lebanese-Syrian border in northern Lebanon on Feb. 26, 2012.
TRIPOLI, Lebanon – They are just 55 miles away, but for Syrian refugees now in Tripoli, Lebanon, couldn't be more different.
We spent a cold and rainy day in Lebanon's north, crisscrossing from hospitals, to apartments to slums, meeting with Syrians fleeing their country and seeking refuge in Lebanon.
A 27-year-old patient, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he was shot in the leg by a sniper’s bullet. The wound was so severe, he couldn't get the proper treatment inside Baba Amr. Afraid to go to any hospitals inside Syria for fear of being turned over to government forces, he and his brother decided to make the trek to Lebanon. For four days they moved by car from house to house under cover of darkness and the constant barrage of war all around them.
When they crossed the border they were taken by activists to a hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city, but it was too late. The leg was severely infected and doctors had to amputate it at the knee.
For a country that over the years has seen its own share of violence, forcing many of its own citizens to take refuge in Syria, it's new for Lebanese to see Syrian refugees in their country. So much so that international aid workers and activists say Lebanon has been slow to acknowledge and deal with the flow of Syrians across the border into their country.
Part of problem, Syrian activists say, is the attempt by the Lebanese government to remain on the sidelines of the conflict – without conceding that its side effects are beginning to seep in.
More than 7,000 Syrians refugees have fled into Lebanon and registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The majority of them have crossed into the north of Lebanon, activists tell us.
Dangerous trek
Over the past few days, dozens of injured residents of the besieged cities of Baba Amr and Homs have made the dangerous trek across the border. None of those we interviewed agreed to show their faces on camera. All were reluctant to give us their real names fearing their family members still living inside Syria would be hunted down.
Another refugee who called himself Abu Fares saw the war in Syria spreading five months ago and decided to flee the country with his family. Back then, Syrian officials didn't object to single families exiting all together. Now, activists say, Syrian border guards will turn back families that appear to be "fleeing" the country. More families have taken the route of entering the country illegally, making it difficult to keep an accurate number of who has entered Lebanon.
Stringer / Reuters
Syrian refugees take part in a protest to call for international protection for Syria's anti-government protesters and better living conditions for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in front of the Red Cross offices in Tripoli, northern Lebanon on Feb. 26, 2012.
So far, no large refugee camps have been set up inside Lebanon for displaced Syrians – unlike in neighboring Jordan, which has also taken in thousands of refugees.
Instead, what has emerged is an acute housing crisis for the families currently in Lebanon. The majority of families have taken refuge in apartments in rundown buildings, often at exuberant prices.
Abu Fares and his family of nine are living in a small shack in an illegal seaside slum in Tripoli. Without any heat or regular electricity, they have struggled to survive, relying instead on handouts for clothes, blankets and medicine. His heart and back conditions have made it impossible for him to work in the low-paying, labor intensive jobs most Syrians can vie for.
Puddles of water filled the narrow walkways in between the shacks, and makeshift wiring and electric cables crisscrossed the alleys to the small, cramped and humid huts. Despite the hardship, Abu Fares said he has no regrets that he fled Syria and said he has no plans to return until the Assad regime steps down from power.
Not really a welcome mat
For Syrian activists, Lebanon has proven to be a dangerous country to operate. Lebanon’s weak central government has failed to fully embrace other Arab countries and international calls for Assad to step down. Lebanon for now has opted to remain impartial in the conflict, tacitly allowing refugees to come into the country, but not allowing the opposition to openly equip the Free Syrian Army.
Instead, Syrian opposition activists say they are routinely harassed by Lebanese security forces and military intelligence.
More importantly, Syria's strongest Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, has acted as a counter-balance to any major and visible opposition taking root publicly in Lebanon. Hezbollah commands a strong street presence in Lebanon and can easily mobilize large crowds in support of the embattled Syrian president.
Instead, Syrian opposition activists feel more comfortable that their leadership remains in Turkey and abroad. They say Lebanon's past relations with Syria make it easy for Syrian intelligence and pro-Assad operatives to target them. Still, activists are discreetly using Lebanon as a base from which to supply and arm their comrades inside the country.
Even if the government in Lebanon has been reluctant to take sides in the conflict, it may not be long before the conflict forces Lebanon into a more direct course of action.
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Poor Lebanon...she gets to play host to the rogue militia escaping from Syria. Well they stepped in it now. Lebanon may well be easier pickings than Assad.
Hello folks, when will we discard our Imperialistic mindset? We’ve cause enough trouble around the world. If you can't see that we are the instigators in most of the world's wars and displacement of millions of people who are fleeing our aggression, than you are in denial and are not paying attention. If you don’t think we have been in Syria covertly arming the rebels you are in denial and forgetting about Libya. We need to stay out of other country’s civil disputes. I hope we aren’t going to go against the United Nations vote and unilaterally go into Syria under the pretext that we need to stop the violence like we did in Libya. General Wesley Clark has stated that a Syria invasion has been pre-planned for quite awhile.
General Wesley Clark: "America will take out 7 countries in 5 years"
According to Former NATO supreme allied commander, former presidential candidate and 4 star US General Wesley Clark that they had received a memo that America is going to take out 7 countries in the Middle East starting with Iraq, Libya, Syria Lebanon Sudan and Somalia, seeing what's going on today in Libya but also in Syria where violent protests are ongoing, it is amazing how these things that were planned years ago are being achieved in front of our eyes.
Why is it other countries feel like they have to defend their territory? Could it be that they know we have no problem invading their sovereignty just as we have done to countless other countries. Since World War II, 90% of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians. 1/3 of them children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next target may be, their murders are not collateral damage, they are the nature of modern warfare. They don't hate us because of our freedoms. They hate us because every day we are funding and committing crimes against humanity. The so-called "war on terror" is a cover for our military aggression to gain control of the resources of western Asia.
This is sending the poor of this country to kill the poor of those Muslim countries. This is trading blood for oil. This is genocide, and to most of the world, we are the terrorists. In these times, remaining silent on our responsibility to the world and its future is criminal. And in light of our complicity in the supreme crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing violations of the U.N. Charter in International Law, how dare any American criticize the actions of legitimate resistance to illegal occupation.
We are going into Syria for a couple of reasons (yes we are in Syria with our Drones at a minimum), one, we are trying to dislodge Russia from there because they have a foothold in the Middle East via two military bases in Latakia and Tartus in Syria. Two, Syria is a strong ally of Iran. If we invade Syria we take out a strong ally and maybe incite Iran to assist giving the U.S. the reason they are looking for to attack Iran. The ultimate goal is to surround, weaken and to invade Iran. The petro dollar is at stake as other countries are switching to other forms of currency in buying Iran’s oil.
Since the Russian war in 1828, Iran has never attacked another country. We on the other hand have attacked to name a few:
Libya, Iran, Nicaragua, Haiti, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Honduras, Chile, Congo, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Angola, Columbia, Peru, Panama, Yemen, Pakistan, Grenada, Mexico, etc..
Wake up people we are being herded down the Military Industrial Complex gauntlet again to another false war to enrich the greedy Corporations and distract the American people. Did we not learn anything from the Iraq war where we have killed well over 1 million Iraqi people, lost thousands of American lives and God knows how many hundreds of billions of dollars?
Who do you support, humanity or the greedy elite?
Many of our soldiers don't fight for America, they fight for their lives and their buddies beside them, because we put them in a war zone. They're not defending our freedoms, they're laying the foundation for permanent military bases to defend the freedoms of Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum.
Face it we're Imperialists pure and simple. The elite look down on all of us as expendable chattel.
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy" Henry Kissinger
I’m not asking you to hate war but to love peace. War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
I could not say it better.Well done!
TrustVerify: You lost me at "we have killed well over 1 million Iraqi people."
I'll buy 109,000 that wikileaks unclassified. It was mostly (66,000) their people killing each other in sectarian violence.
The argument still stands that it is better that we be the police in the world than allow other countries to dominate the world.
TrustVerify: We are losing battles against interventions in Syria and Iran.
Saudis, oil companies, lobbyists and their agents are winning as in Iraq.
If we had opposed Iraq wars, we would have been lynched. But luckily, we may be alive this time!
Way off Maximus.
Taking the low number, the number that can be verified is taking the easy way out to minimize the deaths Bush & Cheney caused in their phony war. Stop and think how hard it would be to verify a census type situation in a foreign country whose government doesn't keep accurate records, especially with their own killings carried out by Saddam's stooges. Neighborhoods, towns and parts of large cities dissapear as fighting migrates and escalates, plus mass exodus to other countries completely changes the civilian landscape. The household survey samplings had no measure of accuracy to them, especially when the risky, un-safe neighborhoods were skipped for security reasons (bet the numbers are higher there, ya think?). Muslim tradition calls for the dead to be buried the next day, besides, why take your loved one to an over crowded hospital or maximized mourge that has no more room for bodies.
Take the high estimate (over 1,000,000) and low estimate (109,000) and split the difference, you got 500,000 to 600,000. Don't be a Bushy and ignore what you don't want to admit to. That doesn't make it go away or change the number.
The U.S. has been in some sort of war my entire life. We haven't gained any new territory. Our freedom and safety hasn't improved. More people want to kill us than ever before. It has little to do with them being bad guys and us being good guys. It has much more to do with actions we take outside of our borders.
"…Syria is only the latest in a series of colonialist adventures carried out by the US, with the active support of the European powers. The first Gulf War in 1991 coincided with the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the hands of capitalist elements that emerged from the Stalinist bureaucracy. The US saw this as an historic opportunity to rewind the clock of history all over the world…."
What is at stake in Syria?
By Chris Marsden
1 March 2012
The international media is conspiring to conceal the real aims and intentions of the United States and other major powers towards Syria.
This week a renewed push in the United Nations to condemn the regime of Bashir al-Assad for “crimes against humanity” has been accompanied by a drumbeat of accounts of rising casualties in Homs, including the deaths of journalists. The media barrage excludes any objective analysis of the social and political character of the opposition, its ties to the imperialist powers, or the historical origins of the present crisis. All casualties in a civil war stoked by the US and its allies are automatically attributed to government security forces.
This is a coordinated campaign to manipulate public opinion in support of military intervention in the name of “human rights,” following the script of last year’s bloody exercise in regime-change in Libya. The immediate demand is for the setting up of “humanitarian corridors” protected militarily by the Gulf States, Turkey and NATO, as well as the arming of the opposition.
Working people and youth should reject all attempts to drag them behind another colonial-style intervention by cynically playing on their humanitarian impulses. The destabilization of Syria is not the result of a mass popular upsurge against Assad. Unlike the revolutionary movement that erupted in Egypt, the Syrian opposition has little support in major urban centres such as Damascus and Aleppo, where the installation of a Sunni regime that will persecute Syria’s minorities is feared.
Immediately protests began against Assad’s repressive regime, Washington worked with the regional powers—Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey—to cultivate and arm a right-wing sectarian opposition with the aim of bringing about regime-change. The imperialist-backed opposition is led by Islamists associated with the right-wing Muslim Brotherhood. In alliance with bourgeois figures with long connections to the CIA and various ex-regime forces, they dominate the Syrian National Council and the Free Syrian Army…
…Syria is only the latest in a series of colonialist adventures carried out by the US, with the active support of the European powers. The first Gulf War in 1991 coincided with the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the hands of capitalist elements that emerged from the Stalinist bureaucracy. The US saw this as an historic opportunity to rewind the clock of history all over the world….
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/pers-m01.shtml
While at some points in history it seems like we should police areas of the world I believe that is only a short term solution, that leads to long term dissatisfaction in those nations. Besides my beliefe that it violates our constitution, I think it is usually a bad idea regardless.
I am not talking about situations where we are asked to be involved by by an ally, but when we act alone. I am not so sure about acting in unison with other nations either, unless war is declared on us first. So many foriegners hate our nation for this very thing....
Then you must consider that our government does many things against our best interests quite often. Can any American say we want to take out 7 countries governments? Is this really constitutional? Is it in our best interests? Or maybe its in the best interests of the globalist agenda, corporatocracy, the CIA, and we get stuck with the dirty work, the bill, and the resentment. We have no buisness building a global empire that is ruining our soverignty, and economy.
About the time we are finnished destroying the seventh nation, our national debt interest will be greater than our revenue, and our economy will collapse. Who will be the winner then? And what will we have gained? But if you dissagree, do not worry! We are sure to march right on, killing and maiming our children , for the bennefit of the 1% who view us all as cattle.
Are we really setting up new free governments? Really? Or are we proping up more Dictators and repressive regiems just so they side with our trading policies? It wont be too much longer, and people will be fleeing the USA. We sure could use all those rescources spent on war, to get our nation fixed up again....
TrustVerify,very well said and i wish you can reach out to more people
Suppose there is international intervention and somebody screams that "Quran is burnt", what will infidels do?
Where are brave Sunni Saudis and their Arab League forces who intervened in Bahrain?
This conflict needs to end. Assad needs to go one way or another. Hopefully those who assist him in any way will face harsh judgement as well.
As if Hezbollah Syrians and Iranians hijacking the Lebanese government is not enough, the Lebanese were fine until they flooded their country.
These refugees though are different, they have lost much already. Some have been beaten, shot, have lost loved ones, or have been otherwise terrorized. I wish them all a speedy and safe return to their homes and homeland when Assad falls. Nobody deserves to go through this much.
Arab League, I say this. Ignore the world opinion, and kick his butt !!!
ya sonar do these inncont people look very nice where are the men buddy you get fooled with this look just like you did in iraq these people are alquida . ask them what they did to the christian in syria how they masscar them you only belive what our dumb media want to see and they get thier info. from the same alquida group based in london . so please buddy the arab league are th saudies and the gulf states go see what kind of democracy they have. and ask them about 9/11 they yet have to answer us about the 19 saudies and the one from egypt . it was not the syrian or the iranians .so do not go and mix stuff up . you want to fight them you go and fight do not send our troops to do their dirty job . we have lost enough innocent people in our country.
It's kinda like the US goes around highjacking governments like in Honduras (2110), Lebanon (2006), Afghanistan (2001), and (as we speak) Egypt (2012) where the CIA's spooks 'working under the cover of NGO's' (NED, USAID and others) are currently being prosecuted for trying to 'highjack' the new Egyptain govermenment (even 'before it is formed') to get Israel its favorite 'ally' back that used to help Israel terrorize the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Hezboallah is not Iranian or Syrian it is Lebanese! 100% from its leadership on down - and it was the only force that made Israel leave Lebanon - Israel like most oppressive regimes prefer a peaceful occupation as they are getting with the PA - hence settlements continue - Hezboallah made it VERY inconvenient to hold that land.
And make no mistake the majority of Muslim in Lebanon are Shia - and they don't like the syrian terrorist in Lebanon because they KNOW how they are treated the Shia AND the Christians in Syria ---- so they should get out of Lebanon. Hence MOST Christians, Shia and other minorities side with Assad.
sonar, I agree with everything ... but the "ignore world opinion"part. World opinion does support Assad to be removed and a Syrian leadership that does not kill it's own citizens. It is only Russian, China, Iran and a few other countries with similar values and fears ... that are willing to let the killing & bloodshed to go on.
It would be my hope that the other Arab countries would united and attempt to stop this, even with military force being used. Who knows how that would work out; but I think most of the world would understand and support their effort.
Assad will not go. He will be right there after eliminating rebels like his father.
It is the Sunni Saudi and their Sunni Arab league bigoted desert mindset beastly rulers who need to go!
Some can jump sky high as during Iraq wars or as in Afghanistan.
Just remember, Korea and Vietnam!
The Lebanese situation is very complicated.There is a balance in the country between the large Christian and Shia communities and the smaller Sunni population.The Shia and many of the Christians support the Syrian government.The Shia because Assad is Shia,and has supported them in the past.The Christians because they are afraid if the radical Sunni take power in Syria,the large Christian minority in Syria would be persecuted and hundreds of thousands flee to Lebanon.The Sunni Lebanese,many of them support the rebels.So the Lebanese have to walk a fine line in this situation.
Sorry Uncle Bob, but the Sunnis make up the majority of the Syrian population at 74%, Christians 9% and Shia 12%. Of course you are right about the Christians supporting Assad since he has run the country under secular laws instead of religious.
Assad is not Shia. Both Alawis and Shias believe Ali was a holy saint. And that is all what they have in common. In everything else Shias are actually more similar to Sunnis than to Alawis.
yes uncle bob go see what the muslim brotherhood did to the christian . everywhere in syria egypt libya saudia arabia you check even when we went to the gulf war our pres. bush had to go off shore to pray . assad gave the christian in syria their freedom and protected them from these alquida groups you do not what you talking about till you live there the problem that assad have that he does not bow down to isreal and thats a no no when it comes to some of our polticians . sorry but thats the truth syria never attacked or helped in any attacks against us, unlike our friends the saudies and gulf states . you read and you will find out till this day who supply alqiudq with money and arms. not syria nor iran
Does what applies to Syria and Assad apply to Bahrain too?
Assad should not leave a single rebel! al-Qaida is supporting the rebels.
Hezbollah in Lebanon should attack the rebels and tear them to pieces.
Next targets should be all the Sunni barbaric and beastly rulers like Kuwait, UAE, Saudi beastly ones (ruler, 5000 princes and princesses) and others who have interfered in Syria, Iraq and Iran.
These refugees are mostly the Sunnis from the Homs area of Syria.They have been wahabized for years by Saudi Arabia to fight against their own government headed by the non-Sunni Assads.Now that Basha Assad's military has " cleansed'the Homs area these refugees have run away to Lebanon.Their religious sponsor Saudi Arabia is one one of the richest countries in the world.So,since these Syrian civilians have been indoctrinated by the Saudi Arabia and incited against their own government the Saudsi should take good care of them in Lebanon without any help from international agencies.
And one sees that two retired senators who were involved in the 9/11 investigation have just filed a brief with the court requesting that the Saudi involvement in 9/11 be investigated. They state that the US government was altogether too eager to exonorate Saudi.
Regretable as it is, these scenes are no different but very much smaller in scale than those associated with the Iraq war, in which millions of civilians were displaced and fled to neighbouring states.
1.4m of them murdered by the US - don't forget, Pilgrim!
the cries, moans of the Dungeon of Hell ( SYRIA) is mind boggling..i can't believe the apathy of ALL of this..i need to Rest & pray NOT to have Nightmares over this..ASSAD IS A BEAST WITHOUT CONSCIENCE !!!......
Nothing like the uninformed making serious life/death decisions based on the lies and half-truths being strategically placed among the American 'sheeple' by the US Jewish owned media huh Babe's? I suppose that US/Jewish owned and operated media with all of its lies and half-truths about the Libyan 'situation' (and now the Syrian situation) has done well in the heads of the American 'useful idiots,' huh da-ling? Interesting, when the murderous IDF Jews of IsraHELL are murdering innocent Palestinian civilian men, women and children and demolishing (sometimes with the screaming dying people still inside) their homes, the US media reports on the price of tea in China and the uninformed (you) sleep much better, huh? :(
Nor HEZBOLLAH or the current GOVERNMENT in Lebanon represent the Lebanese people. The government is still controlled by Hezbollah and Syria... I don't speak for all the Lebanese but I don't think we ever asked to be part of ANY war. Contrary to believes and the media, the truth is we didn't/don't have any problem with Israel or any other country, we kindly opened our borders to Palestinians and Syrians refugees, but they took advantage of our weakness of course. It's like, I welcome you to my house and the next day you claim it as yours, you make a big mess, you ask me to pay for repairs and you never leave. Deja vu, anybody?
What happened to us Phoenicians? What happened to Lebanon when tourists from all over the world felt like they were in Switzerland or Italy. Well "@!$%#" happened. So for all the dudes in or surrounding Lebanon, leave us alone... Please? In return will give you some Zaatar as munchies for the ride home. :)
You make some excellent points, however I doubt that ANY government in Lebanon would represent the Lebanese people, Lebanon is so fractured politically that unity is very unlikely, even if we all eat tabbouleh and zaatar :) We all love the idea and dream of a true united and free Lebanon, unfortunately it is very unlikely. In this Syrian conflict we can only stand an watch and accept refugees with open arms, because we are warm and kind-hearted citizens, so if you feel that you are from Phoenician or Arab descent is irrelevant, we all feel that we are Lebanese primero and want to be left alone.
Totally agree. That's why my parents left decades ago. I probably sounded patriotic in my first message (I'm not), but I'm tired of hypocrite politicians leading us like bunch of idiots. Yeah, I feel bad for the refugees even though we had a bad history, should never blame the people.
They can take our land but they can never take our tabbouleh! :)
who does represent the Lebanese people ? if the government does not ?
Last time I read that the goverment represent a coalition of 61% of the people at least.
and by the way Mr. Phoenician Man, the Phoenicians has vanished since 3000 years ago, and everyone in that area is the result of a melting pot of different ethnic group and nationalities that co-existed for the last several millenniums, and just to name few thru history starting from B.C. the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Hittites, the Aramaic's, the Egyptian Pharaohs, the Greeks, the Romans and A.D. it was the Arabs then the crusaders who some have stayed behind and it is evident from the people of the area who has green and blue eyes and light features and after that the ottomans which they brought many minorities to settle in the land from Turks to Kurds to charkasians to Armenians and Albanians etc...
at the turn of the 20 th century there were 64 minorities in the area, and all lived in harmony with each other from all religions and sects and those demographics did not change until the SYKES-PICOT in 1919 and then the hatred and the exodus of some minorities started. and over 6 million Christians from Iraq/Syria/Lebanon/Palestine has vanished to emigration to the west and Israel was created in 1948 and the number of Jews went from 75,000 in early 1900's to 1.5 mil in 1948 and nowdays over 5.3 mil. so in reality the 20th century resulted in replacing christians with jews in the near east.
it is easier to have the clash of civilization between Islam and the christian west represented by Israel in the area, so all the plans lately have been to get all the Christians in Syria and Lebanon to migrate to the west via the assistance of the many countries like they have done in Iraq and continue to do so ,and so is the minority alawite sect that has been in power in Syria for 44 years, sure it has been a dictatorship regime however it has been the most secular in the region, and that is not welcomed and it is creating an unbalance in the mix and time to get rid of them and replace them with salafist/muslim brotherhood/Alqaeda or whoever they wish to call them or call themselves.
sorry, I am not trying to give you a history lesson here, however it is reality and Iran/Syria and maybe Lebanon coalition is there and now supported by Russia and china recently, it is a result of geopolitics and strategic alliances are formed from between the west which have a brutal coalition as well.
so the bottom line that area will never rest and will never see any real progress until justice is done for all parties concerned and everyone from the outside stop meddling with their affairs.
justtoobserve,
Very good history info and the sad thing is there is a big effort in the middle east to move away from secular states to deepening the roots of religion and widen the gap between the people thus weakening these countries.
so in a region where most religions originated and like you said all lived in harmony now we see how religion is dividing the country and instead of seeing more unity to save the country hatred is building and more damage is being done
Good history info I agree!
But the reality is, even if Phoenicians vanished 3000 years ago or more for me that's what makes us different from the rest of the Arab countries (same thing a Native American would say in 2000 years from now or so). There have been a lot of mixed cultures since centuries, both my parents have European descent, what I'm saying is that we don't feel we belong with the Arab countries.We have little in common (other than the language - and even that is not totally true) with our neighbors.
I was born there and I remember bits and pieces of the war in the late 80's, and living through that and hearing stories about all the previous wars from my parents it's just horrible. If you follow politics in Lebanon, you'll see it's not always about religions, it's mostly about power and control.
I don't see a bright future for that piece of land, until they start cleaning on the inside and building a wall similar to the Great Wall of China, that would certainly help the people eat their tabbouleh in peace, while enjoying a nice day at the beach!
What a disgusting world we live in...how can we even consider calling ourselves civilized?
The Israelis and Arabs living next door to Syria should be asking themselves this -not us. America needs to stay out of it. We're broke. Let the rich brats in charge over there send THEIR kids to die for Syria. Young American soldiers don't belong over there. Period.
We are civilized, they aren't. America first for once, let's heal ourselves.
@Casual US Taxpayer: so your sole reason to stay away is financial? And you pretend to be civilized? Who? The kids who shoot others at school? The pornographic plague? The gang-infested cities? The child molesters? Domestic abuses? Civil? Please....
You got a pair on you calling America "civilized".....after all the crap our citizens and politicians do. America doesn't exist in a bubble, though it feels like it at times.
Sorry Karim, America first (warts and all). At least our media doesn't hide our problems- unlike just about every filthy stinking cesspit over there in the sand kingdoms.
America first-bring our boys home-those people over there hate us, it's quite obvious. Let them kill each other off.
Where is NATO when you really really need them? Apparently no where to be found and add to that where is Johnny McCain - certainly he can find some new best friends over there and NBC can broadcast clips of rebels running around with squirt guns begging for real weapons - Well maybe it is still coming, just much slower than the Libya response.
Where are the Arabs and Israelis in all this? Can't they help for once?
Who do you think has been inciting all the hell in Syria - and then bringing in the Libyan 'rebel's once more to do their dirty work? The United Snakes (US/Israel) of course!
Oh, how sweet it is to see the United Snakes (US/Israel) 'rebel's' getting their butts kicked. Many of these scumbag terrorist thugs were the same ones the United Snakes 'sic'd' on Gaddafi and then destroyed Libya forever with the murder, maiming, raping, looting and torture that still continues up until today (So much for 'saving the libyan people by the bankrupt US/NATO 'oil thieves', huh folks?). Now, we have the 'same game' playing itself out in Syria. 'Assad is murdering his people!!!!' (((screams))) US/UN Ambassador Susan Rice (Israel's right hand b*tch at the UN <Still sitting on the Goldstone report (3 years later as she runs cover for the genocidal Jews> with her 10X sized butt sitting on the report so the UNSC cannnot go after the Jewish killers in the IDF in IsraHELL over their Operation Cast Lead war crimes). Meanwhile, Lebanon should lock these 'rebel' war criminals and turn them over to Hezbollah for a short trial and quick hanging with the cremation bill being sent to the United Snakes - Ole!!
Yeah, because all the children getting sniped at the moment are terrorists.....
thanks for the Halp Obama!!!
lol...halp me halp me
ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE ARAB LEAGUE!
Maybe they can move from country to country?
Like that everybody can get a piece of US Foreign Aide!
PS - NOW Who said these Arab Muslims were a backward little people?!
that is smart move for the rebelds, move to lebanon and stay quiet or will be more troubles...
Watch the Lebanese start mowing them down and then get a fat check from Assad. One of their long time sponsors.
The People in this Country were filmed Dancing In The Streets when we got hit on 9-11 in the U.S. I say F--k Them. If they don't want to die they Should Run Faster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No Help for these Animals!!!!!!!
You are letting your emotions get the better of you. Not every was cheering after 9/11. Hell, I would bet less then half were.
Hey Tech- man 20 i have no emotions for these animals then or now
Laker-man, it's our enemy killing our enemy. Let's send ammo to both sides.
WOW! That broad in the headgear top and center of the photo is butt UGLY! Mustache and all;-)
Just don't come to the USA,we have to many freeloading illeagal immigrants here now.Maybe we can send some of them to Syria or any muslim country that will take them.
Waylon the Optimist.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!
"Refugees" or otherwise, all these rebels (and their opposition) are insane maniacs. Good that Obama needs to start a war to win the election.
No matter who wins in Syria, it will be a bloodbath. If the opposition to Assad succeeds, Alawites and Christians will become the new refugees, massacred, and wounded.
Notice the photograph of the women and children demonstrating in front of the red cross building in Tripoli. The sign in English says "stop the killing". The writing on the white paper hat on the boy's head says, in Arabic, "Death to..." (the last word isn't fully readable).
For those commenters who want to bring Israel into this: Israel has nothing to do with this, one way or another. None of the sides in the conflict is friendly towards Israel, which has nothing to gain no matter what the outcome.
Israel is conected to this through Iran. Al Qaida attacking Iran will Unite Shia but at the same time it will kill a lot of them. This is both good and bad for Israel. Iran too.
Can Assad stop Al Qaida without Iranian troops. We couldn't stop them but we try to fight politically correct wars. Assad doesn't seem to care about PC. He is just going to kill Every Sunni male over 12 that he can until they submit.
Leroy, you seem to have a good handle on the situation with Assad, and I agree with what you say above. But, why do you think al-Qaida would attack Iran? Iran wouldn't hesitate to crush them (no PC concerns there!). And they have nothing to gain--they're not going to conquer Iran, nor will they make the Shi'ites there convert to Sunnism.
Al qaida Is backed by saudi Arabia. A Sunni led country. Sunnis outnumber Shiites like 6 to one on the whole planet. Pakistan it is 10 to one. Sunnis are killing them faster than they can bury them Shiites are on the run everywhere.
Secretary of State Hilliary Clinton was quoted as saying, in effect, "Assad will go eventually" and another blogger
asked how would you definite eventually, and I would define eventually as happening, not in the future because
of a quote from President Reagan and I quote "I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will
always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life." Inspired by a rerun of
"Big Bang" this evening also "He will find out eventually" which in that scene, my husband thought "down the
road" which inspired me "On the road again".
It wouldn't bother me a bit if we never help another Muslim nation over throw their government. Some one needs to tell Afghans what they are doing to the rest of their Muslim friends. We don't need this Sht!
For anyone who has forgotten the details, the (1990-1991) Iraq model went like this: vast US government
employed PR agency, Hill and Knowlton (“we create value by shaping conversations: we start them, we
amplify them, we change them. We can connect seamlessly with all of your audiences...”)produced a fifteen
year old girl called “Nayirah”, a “Kuwaiti with first hand knowledge of ... her tortured land.” “I
volunteered (tears) at the Al Addan Hospital .. I saw the Iraqi soldiers ..with guns, they took fifteen
babies out of incubators, left them on the cold floor and took the incubators.”
The first Syria incubator baby story surfaced last August. “Syrian government troops”, had cut the
electricity. It was quickly exposed as beyond questionable.(vii) Another one came up on 8th February
(viii) with numbers varying from eighteen poor mites, to a subsequent eighty. With both tales, as
the Iraq version, no distraught parents, extended family, were found, no funeral gatherings, then the
stories, too, quietly vanished. Coincidentally, the current Speaker of the eighty eight Member Arab Inter-Parliamentary union, which backs intervention in Syria, is Kuwaiti, Ali Al-Salem Al-Dekbas,
calling for all Syria’s Ambassadors to be expelled,
confrontation with Russia over her stance - and in remarkable US-speak, for swift intervention, to stop
the Syrian government “killing (their own) people.” (Reuters, 4th February 2012.)The new Executive
Director of Amnesty international USA, is Suzanne Nossel, formerly Hillary Clinton’s Deputy
Assistant for International Organization Affairs, at the State Department. She has also previously worked for Human Rights Watch.She: “... has launched several campaigns against Iran, Libya and Syria.”(viii)October 10th 1990, Amnesty presented evidence against Iraq with Hill and Knowlton at the Congressional
Human Rights Caucus on Capitol Hill. Amnesty international trustingly endorsed the incubator story.
Apparently never investigating who “Nayirah” was, and in a charged situation, whether propaganda might
not be rampant.
“Amnesty US Executive Director, John Healey, compounded the incubator baby story in testimony to the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 8th.January 1991. The carpet-bombing of Iraq began nine days
later.”(v) Amnesty, enjoined by Human Rights Watch, are amongst the most enthusiastic champions of
Syrian intervention and onward to Armageddon. Glen Ford writes all you ever need to know.(vi)
In 1999, an agreement was signed between the USA and Kuwait for a permanent US force to be stationed
there, in twelve facilities (there are a further eight “spares”, seemingly not currently in use.) The agreement for the bases, incidentally, was named: “Operation Desert Spring.”(x) Here is a further coincidence. In March 2010, Libya was voted, near unanimously, on to the UN Human Rights Committee, after
a glowing Report on human rights progress. After a ferocious campaign by Geneva based UN Watch(xi) not
only were they expelled from it, but nineteen months later, their country lay in ruins, their leader lynched and most of his family dead.