Syrian Kurdish Exodus

Does anyone have any detailed insight into the goings-on over there?

Unfortunately, the sad truth is that no one does.

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A girl and her sister.

If you can bear to bear witness, here are photos and videos of children, gassed to death by Bashar Assad.



The Chemical Attack & Massacre of Damascus

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Sadly, more people are worried about Ben Affleck getting cast as Batman than they are about this.

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pj, you have absolutely no proof that assad gassed those people.

let's not pretend that anyone in this fight has clean hands.

if they thought it would get the the international community to intervene on their side, the rebels would martyr 10,000. and that's how they would see them as souls sent to allah; sacrificed just as surely as the children to whom they strap semtex.

why are we so reticent now to give the u.n. weapons inspectors time to work?

if i were a conspiracy theorist, i would suggest that the weapons and rockets used in this attack were taken from the libyan embassy compound. but i'm not a conspiracy theorist.

besides, if any of the assads gassed anybody, it was bashar's brother maher.

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Updated On: 8/26/13 at 09:55 PM

I don't know anything about this but I don't trust those Kurds. Noone likes them- you always hear about Kurds being bombed or chased or tossed out. And what is with that name? Who wants to be a Kurd? Change that name and you're most of the way home

if i were a conspiracy theorist, i would suggest that the weapons and rockets used in this attack were taken from the libyan embassy compound. but i'm not a conspiracy theorist.

Assad didn't need chemical weapons from Libya. He's always had a big collection of them.

Using chemical weapons is a win-win for Assad: He kills a few hundred children, it terrifies the population, they stop supporting the opposition, he cracks down on the opposition, and his 3-year-long civil war is over.

He knows that Obama has zero good options, other than moving some warships around and maybe lobbing over a few bombs: If the US does anything, the Arab world will hate it for butting in. If the US does nothing, the Arab world will hate it for allowing the slaughter. If we invade, we are in for another 10-year-long no-win war.

But this gas was his, not the rebels. The rebels would just slit throats.

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"There's a British writer named Usman Butt who seems to have his finger on the pulse of this conflict"

I'm sorry. I really had to stop, and try and breathe after reading this sentence. I had a really crappy day, and this sentence made up for all of it.

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using the gas with the entire world watching stupid. say what you want about bashar, he's not stupid. all it does is bring international intervention in some form. that's guaranteed.

pj, you act like there are no stores of these weapons available for the rebels to access and that's just patently untrue.

i would not put it past his insane brother - who's pissed off he's not in charge - to do something like this, but i still don't rule out the rebels having killed their own.

why can't we wait to see what the un inspectors find? Aalso, why has no one looked into who was shooting at them and lobbing mortor shells at their hotel? if bashar wanted them dead he would not have let them in. someone else is trying to keep them from doing their job.

who takes over if assad's deposed anyway? a similar bunch to those who took over in egypt and got tossed?

the gop is breathtaking bereft of any thought on pretty much any subject and as such should not be taken seriously. sen. "bomb bomb iran" mccain is probably utterly delusional at this point and doesn't even know where he is. the rest are morons as well and have nothing to add to the discussion.

obama hemmed himself in with his own words and now has to deliver something - right or wrong - or look like an international joke.

all we can really do is missile strikes, like during the clinton administration. they will be ineffective at anything more than "sending a message." then we arm the rebels with weapons that will inevitably be turned against us.

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once upon a time, when i was working in community theatre, i designed a set that the staff of the theatre hated, but the director and i loved. i was mercilessly ridiculed over it and the head of the board told me, "if this set does not get savaged in the press i will eat my hat."

when the show opened to rave reviews and unanimous praise for my set he came up to me in the middle of the theatre, took off his hat and started gnawing on it.

i categorically do not believe he ordered it. his brother on the other hand is a possibility. think col. nathan jessup, "you want me lobbing gas at thise islamists. you need me lobbing gas at those islamists."

let's remember our own secretary of state's words on bashar from 2011 (the same john f. kerry who now calls for military strikes and claims that he is sure of things):

"well, i personally believe that -- i mean, this is my belief, okay? but president assad has been very generous with me in terms of the discussions we have had. and when i last went to -- the last several trips to ayria -- i asked president assad to do certain things to build the relationship with the united states and sort of show the good faith that would help us to move the process forward...so my judgment is that syria will move; syria will change, as it embraces a legitimate relationship with the united states and the west and economic opportunity that comes with it and the participation that comes with it.”

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If youre going to talk tough like The Prez rightfully did, you must be prepared to act if the proof is there. Hopefully he has someone better then Colin "there are WMDs, oh wait there arent" Powell advising him. if he doesnt he will look like the biggest joke in the world.

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Updated On: 8/27/13 at 09:33 AM

~ yeah, this whole situation is crazy...

And yet, in my opinion, Assad's behavior is indicative of some kind of involvement. Perhaps it's just his narcism but have you read his reaction and comments to the Russian publications regarding this accusation? He's more obsessed with challenging America, and its allies, than denying his involvement with chemical warfare. Maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's something.

Also, Papa, I completely agree with you. I wish we could let the UN Inspectors just do their job and try to find whatever it is they need to find before we all jump on the intervention bandwagon. Unfortunately, it has become very difficult for the Inspectors to do that. On the first day, snipers of either side kept the Inspectors at bay with warning shots. On the second day, they increased security and decided to cancel the day of inspections due to an uncleared security threat.

How the hell will we ever find out what's going on in Syria if no one lets us? It's ridiculous.