Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2016 15:00:31 GMT
I see that the ceasefire that was brokered has broken down already. Buses there to evacuate rebels and their families have left empty  Heartbreaking isn't it. Didn't think it was going to work to be honest. Even the Dr's and medics that are out there are now under threat of being captured and possibly killed for trying to save lives. Assad passed a law years ago ( at the beginning of the Arab Spring uprising) that anyone who attended to any of the protesters/rebels would be arrested. I really don't know what the answer is...think it's gone to far. Russia will do anything to carry on supporting Assad. They're obsessed with stopping anyone else interfering in another country. They seem to think it's also a threat to them because of the western support for Ukraine. Not to mention that, economically, they benefit greatly by the supply of arms to Syria. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 19:43:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2016 15:23:10 GMT
Thanks Merge. Will do this TODAY along w/Doctors w/o Borders. |
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Post by annabella on Dec 14, 2016 15:27:47 GMT
Ok I just went through this list and checked them against Charity Navigator and picked 6 to donate to. Afterwards I realized I forgot to check if my company would have matched my donation, I know my last company did.
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Post by Kymberlee on Dec 14, 2016 16:20:21 GMT
This is why older military members were in favor of Trump. They feel the last 8 years we've been pussyfooting around issues like this; they feel we need to be bold, go in and get shit done. I don't quite know how I feel about it because there's likely to be a lot of collateral damage, but it's not like innocents aren't dying as it is now. They see it as a straight shot--go in and defeat the enemy and be done--but it's not so simple. I personally have appreciated that about president Obama and feel that he "gets it". I have no faith that Trump Will think before acting. What exactly does Russia have to gain by helping Assad besides having a base there? May I ask what you mean by the bolded part? Are you referring to the generals and other high ranking men and women in the military? |
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quiltz
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,086
Location: CANADA
Jun 29, 2014 16:13:28 GMT
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Post by quiltz on Dec 14, 2016 16:20:52 GMT
Canada has taken at least 25,000 refugees. There was a special on the news the other day as it marked the 1st anniversary of the first airplane that came and the Prime Minister and other governmental people there welcoming them. I have helped in collecting items for the families that are now in our community.
Canada has peace-keepers on the ground. They are helping in the communities as well as training the soldiers to fight against ISSI.
Check out CTVNEWS.ca and also W5, as there have been several journalistic segments on the war, people on the ground and the entire issue.
Canada has the population of the size of California and has done so much as far as peacekeeping and helping refugees. I am very disappointed in the way that the USA has been either inactive or passive, don't know which.
Canada has worked with the UN and also with other agencies and has the refugees screened in the middle east (medial, identity, other) prior to them coming to Canada. They are fully investigated before they come to Canada. They arrive here and are given a Social Insurance Number and access to health care, housing, ESL training and as well a community that has prepared well in advance of their arrival.
I know that I am leaving out some stuff as I am not completely well versed in all of it, and yes, there are problems with getting everyone into ESL language training and helping them find jobs HOWEVER, they don't have to worry about bombs being hurled at them, not having food/water and shelter.
Canada has not been perfect at this mission, however, we are learning from our mistakes and oversights. We admit that there have been mistakes and oversights. At least my country is physically doing something to help people in this horrible situation.
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Post by annabella on Dec 14, 2016 18:26:56 GMT
That's great to hear about Canada. Watching the news last night I noticed something I hadn't picked up on before, every single woman was dressed in head to toe black, no level of moderation. I wonder if they will continue to dress so conservatively outside of Aleppo? As I know the women of Damascus are a bit more modern.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 19:43:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2016 19:00:09 GMT
Those in the military are to come up with a military solution to a problem period. That is their job.
What happens after the military solution does its part is not their problem.
Its then up to the Commander-in-Chief to figure out what to do next. Or "then what"?
Its that "then what" that always gets us into trouble. Especially in the Middle East.
There is no question it's a living nightmare for the innocents in Syria and that Assad has to go. But "then what" if you get rid of Assad. What would we fill the vacuum with that getting rid Assad will create?
There is also no question Putin needs to be put back in his bottle whether in the Middle East or Eastern Europe. The question is how much are "we" wiling to pay to do it. By "we" I mean the US and our allies. Well at least the allies we have today.
It is unfortunate that trump was elected president for a lot of reasons. But what to do in the Middle East and with Putin is especially troubling with trump and his band of destroyers making the decisions. trump has said on more than one occasion he likes war. In his mind the only solution is a military solution. And who knows if he would ever go up against his buddy Putin. Or even consider it. I mean you know Putin thinks trump is "bright".
Sadly at this time there is not much that can be done for Syria. IMO.
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blue tulip
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by blue tulip on Dec 14, 2016 19:11:33 GMT
I think Obama has been treading too lightly afraid to make a bold move. First Assad needs to be removed from power. A no fly zone would stop Russia from air bombing and killing thousands of people. As long as the Russians are bombing Assad stays in Power. because look how well that worked with saddam and Iraq! we arguably ended up making the problem many times larger by destabilizing the whole area, and having many smaller dictators to deal with instead of one. arguably isis and other terror cells were born of this destabilization.
America doesn't get to just rush in to foreign countries and make our will come to be. should we be doing more, absolutely! I don't know what the solution is either, but the people who are acting like "big bad ol' 'murica just needs to go in there and drop some bombs now that Obama's getting evicted" are seriously short sighted.
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blue tulip
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,049
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Post by blue tulip on Dec 14, 2016 19:13:40 GMT
Those in the military are to come up with a military solution to a problem period. That is their job. What happens after the military solution does its part is not their problem. Its then up to the Commander-in-Chief to figure out what to do next. Or "then what"? Its that "then what" that always gets us into trouble. Especially in the Middle East.
There is no question it's a living nightmare for the innocents in Syria and that Assad has to go. But "then what" if you get rid of Assad. What would we fill the vacuum with that getting rid Assad will create?
There is also no question Putin needs to be put back in his bottle whether in the Middle East or Eastern Europe. The question is how much are "we" wiling to pay to do it. By "we" I mean the US and our allies. Well at least the allies we have today.
It is unfortunate that trump was elected president for a lot of reasons. But what to do in the Middle East and with Putin is especially troubling with trump and his band of destroyers making the decisions. trump has said on more than one occasion he likes war. In his mind the only solution is a military solution. And who knows if he would ever go up against his buddy Putin. Or even consider it. I mean you know Putin thinks trump is "bright". Sadly at this time there is not much that can be done for Syria. IMO. I hadn't read this when I commented, or I would've just done  |
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Post by jonda1974 on Dec 14, 2016 19:15:40 GMT
Scarce resources. That is the underlying source of every conflict. Whether that resource is land, water, love, shelter, power. Never enough to go around. And I am a part of the problem. So are you. We all want lives of comfort, hot water at the tap, warmth, safety. But we haven't figured out a way for all to get the basics - let alone more than that. Instead we seem hell-bent on making the disparities worse and further funneling more and more of the world's wealth to smaller and smaller percentages of the population under the mistaken assumption that to do otherwise is evil "wealth redistribution" or "social engineering." Thank you for raising this issue @iamkristini16. It has been on my mind for days that as I fret over holiday events, food, etc, 4 mo. old children are dying of cold. I don't know what we do. Other than something other than we've done. More donations to Doctors w/o Borders, more agitation for peace and health and safety and less for hatred, war and fear. But, other than that, I've got few ideas. I do think that resources are important, but my understanding about how this got started after reading this article is that it started because people weren't happy with the government. I actually saw a lot of similarities in what started it there to what is happening here and how easy it could be to slip into a violent situation. I think resources are an issue now but not sure what role they played in starting the war. www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/16979186I'm really torn on this too. Originally I was 100% for bringing as many refugees as possible over. However, after seeing what is happening in Europe, and from my understanding Angela Merkel has said they should have avoided bringing the refugees in, it has given me pause as to what to do. Hindsight is 20/20, but we never should have gotten involved in the first place. In any of the "Arab Spring". This lies fully at the feet of Obama and Clinton. They supported the uprisings in Egypt, and even supported a terrorist organization taking governmental power, who had to be overthrown by their military. They armed militants in Egypt, and instigated the uprisings in Libya, arming the insurgents there as well. They also airdropped weapons into Syria which is what armed ISIS to begin their reign of terror. We should have completely stayed out of the situation altogether. We have got to stop being the world police, because now we are in a situation where Russia is involved who is backing Assad, and we are backing the Insurgents, and ISIS is fighting both of us. My personal opinion, is we need to back out. Provide humanitarian aid, but we need to focus on bombing the hell out of ISIS, and not worry about regime change in Syria. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 19:43:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2016 19:35:10 GMT
A problem with taking in massive amounts of refugees to resettle them, is not what happens to the receiving culture, what what happens long term to Syria's culture.
The majority of the wealthy/educated left Syria several years ago. What was left then was the less educated and low income who didn't have the money to leave. They also don't have the knowledge, skills or money to be a valuable asset in the rebuilding process. Those who have left, resettled into a new life are not going to want to uproot again to return to Syria.
That leaves a vacuum of land ownership with Russia looking to expand.
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Post by annabella on Dec 14, 2016 19:39:10 GMT
I think Obama has been treading too lightly afraid to make a bold move. First Assad needs to be removed from power. A no fly zone would stop Russia from air bombing and killing thousands of people. As long as the Russians are bombing Assad stays in Power. because look how well that worked with saddam and Iraq! we arguably ended up making the problem many times larger by destabilizing the whole area, and having many smaller dictators to deal with instead of one. arguably isis and other terror cells were born of this destabilization.
America doesn't get to just rush in to foreign countries and make our will come to be. should we be doing more, absolutely! I don't know what the solution is either, but the people who are acting like "big bad ol' 'murica just needs to go in there and drop some bombs now that Obama's getting evicted" are seriously short sighted.
I agree with you, Saddam, the mad man, kept everyone in check. Iraqis don't respond to democracy, they need a heavy hand and Saddam for all his faults provided stability in such a large ethnically diverse country. Libya same thing is now a hot bed too. But I just feel that Assad is the one leading the war in Aleppo. I'm curious what will be in 10-20 years, will the whole city be re-built? Will it be a ghost town? Would anyone want to return after living in the West? I just ran across this interview with Assad's wife, always wondered what's going through her head, not much really. |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Dec 16, 2016 2:22:01 GMT
because look how well that worked with saddam and Iraq! we arguably ended up making the problem many times larger by destabilizing the whole area, and having many smaller dictators to deal with instead of one. arguably isis and other terror cells were born of this destabilization.
America doesn't get to just rush in to foreign countries and make our will come to be. should we be doing more, absolutely! I don't know what the solution is either, but the people who are acting like "big bad ol' 'murica just needs to go in there and drop some bombs now that Obama's getting evicted" are seriously short sighted.
I agree with you, Saddam, the mad man, kept everyone in check. Iraqis don't respond to democracy, they need a heavy hand and Saddam for all his faults provided stability in such a large ethnically diverse country. Libya same thing is now a hot bed too. But I just feel that Assad is the one leading the war in Aleppo. I'm curious what will be in 10-20 years, will the whole city be re-built? Will it be a ghost town? Would anyone want to return after living in the West? I just ran across this interview with Assad's wife, always wondered what's going through her head, not much really. Looking at the city now it seems like there really isn't much to fight for or to go back to. How do they go about rebuilding if it is a poor country with few resources? |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Dec 16, 2016 2:35:26 GMT
I think those older people don't really understand the issues that are going on. They see it as a straight shot--go in and defeat the enemy and be done--but it's not so simple. I personally have appreciated that about president Obama and feel that he "gets it". I have no faith that Trump Will think before acting. What exactly does Russia have to gain by helping Assad besides having a base there? May I ask what you mean by the bolded part? Are you referring to the generals and other high ranking men and women in the military? When I read what Scorpeao wrote, I assumed people who had been in the military long ago (perhaps during times where the enemy and objective were more straightforward) and were now "older". |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Dec 16, 2016 2:38:32 GMT
Canada has taken at least 25,000 refugees. There was a special on the news the other day as it marked the 1st anniversary of the first airplane that came and the Prime Minister and other governmental people there welcoming them. I have helped in collecting items for the families that are now in our community. Canada has peace-keepers on the ground. They are helping in the communities as well as training the soldiers to fight against ISSI. Check out CTVNEWS.ca and also W5, as there have been several journalistic segments on the war, people on the ground and the entire issue. Canada has the population of the size of California and has done so much as far as peacekeeping and helping refugees. I am very disappointed in the way that the USA has been either inactive or passive, don't know which. Canada has worked with the UN and also with other agencies and has the refugees screened in the middle east (medial, identity, other) prior to them coming to Canada. They are fully investigated before they come to Canada. They arrive here and are given a Social Insurance Number and access to health care, housing, ESL training and as well a community that has prepared well in advance of their arrival. I know that I am leaving out some stuff as I am not completely well versed in all of it, and yes, there are problems with getting everyone into ESL language training and helping them find jobs HOWEVER, they don't have to worry about bombs being hurled at them, not having food/water and shelter. Canada has not been perfect at this mission, however, we are learning from our mistakes and oversights. We admit that there have been mistakes and oversights. At least my country is physically doing something to help people in this horrible situation. Last I knew, the US was taking refugees as well. There was a big stink about it on social media quite awhile ago and I honestly am not sure where we are at with getting the refugees here. I assume that they are/did come but maybe it wasn't made as public as it was in Canada. I know they don't make announcements every time refugees come into the country here, as that would be quite often and from many countries. |
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scrapaddie
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,090
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Post by scrapaddie on Dec 16, 2016 2:45:31 GMT
I think Obama has been treading too lightly afraid to make a bold move. First Assad needs to be removed from power. A no fly zone would stop Russia from air bombing and killing thousands of people. As long as the Russians are bombing Assad stays in Power. This is why Putin wanted Trump. Trump won't do anything and Putin will do what he wants there, including keeping a government in power that kills women and children fleeing for safety. As if WE haven't done that! |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Dec 16, 2016 5:52:36 GMT
This article talks about the refugees that the US has taken in. We have reached the 10,000 that president Obama pledged for 2016. I think we could do more, especially when the article gives numbers of refugees we have taken in the past from places like Vietnam and Cuba. Sadly, I think that the number of refugees will be drastically cut for the next few years given Donald Trump's attitudes towards immigrants and Muslims. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/30/us/syrian-refugees-in-the-united-states.html?_r=0 |
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Post by gailoh on Dec 16, 2016 12:17:54 GMT
I was watching the news last night...I can't understand anyone killing their own people like this...or the why of it...so sad and heartbreaking
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:43:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2016 12:28:13 GMT
Those in the military are to come up with a military solution to a problem period. That is their job. What happens after the military solution does its part is not their problem. Its then up to the Commander-in-Chief to figure out what to do next. Or "then what"? Its that "then what" that always gets us into trouble. Especially in the Middle East. There is no question it's a living nightmare for the innocents in Syria and that Assad has to go. But "then what" if you get rid of Assad. What would we fill the vacuum with that getting rid Assad will create? There is also no question Putin needs to be put back in his bottle whether in the Middle East or Eastern Europe. The question is how much are "we" wiling to pay to do it. By "we" I mean the US and our allies. Well at least the allies we have today. It is unfortunate that trump was elected president for a lot of reasons. But what to do in the Middle East and with Putin is especially troubling with trump and his band of destroyers making the decisions. trump has said on more than one occasion he likes war. In his mind the only solution is a military solution. And who knows if he would ever go up against his buddy Putin. Or even consider it. I mean you know Putin thinks trump is "bright". Sadly at this time there is not much that can be done for Syria. IMO. I agree. How many time does it take to learn this lesson? Did it work in Vietnam? Did it work in Korea? Did it work in the Middle East? Sometimes, the smart thing to do is to very quietly work from inside the system to effect change. But hey - this has always been a key difference between the doves and the hawks. |
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Post by anxiousmom on Dec 16, 2016 12:40:02 GMT
I was watching the news last night...I can't understand anyone killing their own people like this...or the why of it...so sad and heartbreaking. I am a total news junkie. It is well known in my family...but I went to lunch with my mom a couple of days ago and told her that for the first time in a long while I had to turn off the news. She was shocked enough that her mouth literally fell open. But I just could not take the news out of Aleppo any more. The video from the orphans was too much and the straw that broke the camel's back. Intellectually, I know that someone deliberately chose to pull at the collective heartstrings of the world, the fact that someone thought that they needed to was beyond what I can take right now. I still get the news from twitter, and this morning I see that the exodus has been stopped again. We say 'never again' but we (the global we) sat back and watched events unfold in Rwanda, we are watching genocide again. I KNOW that it is complicated. I KNOW that there are no easy answers. But I also KNOW that I simply can not watch anymore the faces of the civilians caught in the middle die. |
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quiltz
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,086
Location: CANADA
Jun 29, 2014 16:13:28 GMT
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Post by quiltz on Dec 16, 2016 17:37:56 GMT
I was watching the news last night...I can't understand anyone killing their own people like this...or the why of it...so sad and heartbreaking. I am a total news junkie. It is well known in my family...but I went to lunch with my mom a couple of days ago and told her that for the first time in a long whileI had to turn off the news. She was shocked enough that her mouth literally fell open. But I just could not take the news out of Aleppo any more. The video from the orphans was too much and the straw that broke the camel's back. Intellectually, I know that someone deliberately chose to pull at the collective heartstrings of the world, the fact that someone thought that they needed to was beyond what I can take right now. I still get the news from twitter, and this morning I see that the exodus has been stopped again. We say 'never again' but we (the global we) sat back and watched events unfold in Rwanda, we are watching genocide again. I KNOW that it is complicated. I KNOW that there are no easy answers. But I also KNOW that I simply can not watch anymore the faces of the civilians caught in the middle die. I was privileged to be in a discussion group with Romeo Dallaire. He is an extraordinary person who has experienced the absolute worst that man can do to man. The situation in Syria is - no words can describe. I was part of this group as my mom's dad was taken in the Stolen regine. There has also been a young Syrian girl who has been tweeting but as of a few days ago, has gone dark. @iamkristine116 Canada is very transparent with the Syrian Refuge crisis as well as every single person who has died in the Peacekeeping mission in the middle east. Each person, even journalists, who have died have been given a full repatriation at Trenton AF Base, & driven down the 401 (major hyway), now known as the Highway of Heros. People gather at the overpasses and show their respects to the fallen, in sacrifice of their country. Unfortunately, America keeps many repatrians very quiet. Definitely not front page news. There was a change in Federal Government last fall. The new Liberal Party government/administration continuued with r the former admin & even increased the #of people & funding. There are still some private groups who want to sponsor a family, however, there is a backlog in the vetting process overseas. I am proud of Canada's role, peacekeeping missions, providing help in the refugee camps and the efforts for family re-unification. McLeans magazine has great information & stories. Nothing is hyped up or hyperbole. I prefer the journalist style in Canada. Facts are checked and in the majority (can't say 100%) is true, factual news. CBC =BBC as in the same public funded news stations. |
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