Of Syria, Gaza and Genocide – real and imagined

To this date, any attempt at describing Assad’s war against the majority Sunni population in major swaths of the country as genocide is met with such pushback by all sorts of people, even though in certain towns and villages, the massacres did lead to the elimination of the local Sunni population, through massacres that did not spear women and children, and ethnic cleansing. Moreover, eliminating the local Sunni population was clearly the intention here. So, legally speaking, there is a case for the claim that the pro-Assad militias are guilty of “acts of genocide.” ISIS seems intent on perpetrating such acts as well.

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Of idealism and indifference! – A call for an open debate

Thousands of Syrian refugees crossing into Iraq on August 15, 2013. (photo credit: AP/HO)

We should be idealistic, yes, but not stupid, realistic, yes, but not indifferent.

Can we stop genocide without recourse to violence, or at least the threat of it? Do psychopaths who embark on mass methodical killings leave us much of a choice when it comes to the methods that we need to deploy to stop them? How do we deal with psychopaths whose very strategy is meant to defeat the nonviolence ethos by upping the levels of violence to the maximum allowed by the instruments of deaths under their disposal, by deploying it methodically, and by targeting the very figures and voices who are leading the nonviolent movement? How do we deal with psychopaths who are so committed to drawing blood from their nonviolent opponents they regularly plant well-armed agents of violence within their ranks?

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Samantha Power in Practice

Rebecca Hamilton | Samantha Power in Practice | Foreign Affairs.

Try as you may and must, you still cannot sugarcoat betrayal and hypocrisy. Samantha Powers agreed to join the ranks of an administration that was clearly dead-set on betraying the very ideals which she preached, and she did so with her eyes wide open. Now she and her her supporters are trying to find ways to distance her from the mess. But not even a trip to the Moon will put enough distance at the stage. She might still remain politically viable, (after all if Assad can why can’t she?), but in the realm of ideals she advocated, chalk her as a hypocrite, with little possibility for self-redemption, if any.

Notes on Current Developments – January 23, 2014

As talks in Geneva open with Vitriol, Accusations and Acrimony, according to local activists and certain revelations via social media, ISIS, Al-Nusra and the Islamic Front have reportedly reached a deal allowing for the establishment of a joint administration of all rebel-held territories in the country. The agreement calls for the establishment of High Sharia Commission to supervise the conduct of military operations, assess the legality of agreements reached with members of the international community, provide services in local communities, launch economic development projects, and manage local sharia courts focused on resolving local disputes. If this development is indeed true, then, it comes to underscore the complete disassociation of the political process currently unfolding in Geneva from the realities on the ground.

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