And suddenly, absolutely everything in life seems so trivial

[and the NEW]

"What struck me the most were his little sneakers, certainly lovingly put on by his parents that morning as they dressed him for their dangerous journey "

[salvador]

Incredibly sad.

One publication here (maybe Karl Rove) blamed Obama for Syria's collapse as if that boy's blood was on Obama's hands.

Crazy.

[Spyder]

Heart wrenching.

Sal, we did meddle in the Syrian unrest.

[salvador]

Obama promised that if Assad used chemical weapons on his own people (rebels) that we would retaliate. But when Assad did use the chemical weapons we chose not to carry through with the threat which, many believe, was catastrophic for both Syria and for US foreign policy in the region.

Hillary has since said that she would have bombed Syria and aided the rebels from the moment Obama's red line was crossed. Back then the rebels weren't just radical islamists but actually consisted of the general population (farmers/ect) who weren't necessarily tied to any political/radical Islam movement like ISIS.

America has been bombing ISIS targets in Syria for about a year, but they have taken over huge parts of the country.

I have no idea how the US could have been a meaningful influence in Syria. A civil war was inevitable because Syria, just like Iraq, is just another religious/historical mess in the Middle East where the religious minority Shias have brutally oppressed the majority Sunnis for decades (Sunnis are about 74% of the population and Shias are about 13% and Assad is a Shia). ISIS is Sunni and so ISIS is now the big rebel group in Syria and semi-welcome against Assad.

In Iraq the minority Sunnis (under Saddam) had brutally oppressed the majority Shias. After Saddam fell, the Shias in Iraq were getting even with the Sunnis for all the brutal oppression - payback time. And now ISIS is a Sunni organization trying to regain Sunni power in Iraq - which is semi-welcome for all the Sunnis who lost power when Saddam fell.

It would be easy to argue that ISIS is a direct result of the US tampering with Iraq and disrupting the balance of power. It's all Sunni-Shia shit and artificial borders. And the winners in the middle east are always the most brutal. ISIS is just the latest version of the winning team.

[Spyder]

It's like a couple of high school gangs fighting in the parking lot, and the good 'ol US of A decides to throw a gun with six bullets in the middle to see what happens.

[lloyd mayflower]

Fuck politics lads.... one paper over here said it best, the little boy who shamed the world.

Its not often I am particularly moved by this type of stuff.... but that truly was a photo that cuts right down to your humanity. Disgusting.

[Fitz]

"You were not a migrant. You were not a refugee. You were a 3yr old little boy wanting to play safely, away from the threats of violence and war."

[and the NEW]

(09-04-2015 12:53 PM)lloyd mayflower Wrote:  Fuck politics lads.... one paper over here said it best, the little boy who shamed the world.

Its not often I am particularly moved by this type of stuff.... but that truly was a photo that cuts right down to your humanity. Disgusting.

That sums up exactly my thoughts. I am infact, never moved by this stuff. But this picture and quote cut straight through me.

[Snoop]

[and the NEW]

Turns out this kids family had been living in Turkey for a long time, and his Dad was actually the people smuggler! WTF.

Funny thing is, it makes zero difference, the picture simply reflects what is happening to these refugees, most of which we never even hear about or see.