Syria

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah but HoTD it's like, just now? Come on.

The Pope has publicly hoped and prayed for the Syrian "crisis" or "uprising" or "civil war" or "humanitarian autrocities" (depending on who's reporting) to be resolved peacefully many times already, to no avail.

I don't have the answers or a strong opinion on what type of international intervention (if any) would be righteous or effective. It's coming up on 2 years in March and the body count is now over 50,000, with half of that estimated to be civilians and the other half comprised of both government and rebel armed forces. It's not split by location or religion primarily, but rather those who support the government and those who oppose it.

Up until early 2011, Syria was relatively stable under the same ruler for over a decade when anti-government protests began and started spreading quickly into a unified movement and army. It's been reported that the government is using some groups classified as "terrorists" to halt the protestors and the rebel army (SNC), and there are also those labeled as "terrorists" within the SNC.

You've got hundreds of thousands of protestors being displaced or taking refuge in Turkey, protestors going missing altogether, etc... You've got Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the Arab League openly condemning the Syrian government's use of violence against protestors, along with the European Union and USA providing non-military support (communications, intelligence, supplies...) to the SNC at some points. Then, you've got Russia, Iran, and Iraqi Shi'ites supporting the Syrian government and reportedly supplying weapons and some troops.

So, yes, it's devastating to see civilians (or any one else) being killed in the midst of this civil war, especially children. But, what would you like to see other countries or international organizations do? Should we intervene and assist the SNC by supplying armed forces (which could well prompt countries supporting Syria's government to intervene similarly on the opposing side), thereby expanding this civil war into an international one? Should we just supply weapons and not send troops? Should we let the Syrians take care of it themselves? Should the UN get more involved in trying to broker peace talks? Who's qualified to lead Syria if the current government gets toppled by international intervention?

Point is, it's not a situation where any outside forces would be wise to just go blazing in, imo. Local negotiations have been attempted and failed since this begun almost 2 years ago. Sadly, neither side seems all that willing to negotiate, imo. What's the appropriate amount of time or number of casualties to justify intervening in a civil war?

What do you think should be done, my friend aussie? I'm kinda just jumping off your post and venting; have stayed silent on this one thus far because it's so frustrating and sad. I don't expect you to answer seriously unless you really have a firm opinion about what should be done.

P.s. not addressing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict here; whole other issue and much longer history...

End of rant... All JMO, according to my understanding of the situation.