Hostilities Spreading...
The violence that took place in Tremseh on Sunday did not represent a massacre. And yes, according to Syrian foreign ministry official Jihad Makdissi, the military was involved. They were responding to a situation where the military had been attacked by terrorists. It was terrorists who were killed, not villagers, not women, not children. Only armed men. The military operation that was launched on Sunday targeted armed fighters who had taken control of Tremseh."Pools of blood and brain matter were observed in a number of homes", a United Nations statement after the massacre took place, stated. The Syrian government has denied it used helicopters and heavy artillery against civilians in the village. That United Nations observers, denied entry to the village confines, described what they had witnessed, inclusive of heavy artillery and helicopter gunships firing on the village is of course an unfortunate invention.
The International Red Cross has issued a statement of its own. Declaring the conflict a civil war, reaching a conclusion that other agencies have long since come to. Another team of United Nations observers made a second investigative visit to Tremseh. Describing Syrian troops going door-to-door in the village, checking the identification of the residents. Some were killed outright, others were taken into custody.
But they were, as stated by the Syrian foreign ministry, all grown men. And purportedly, all armed. How hostile is hatred and the threat of overturning the regime? According to Ministerial spokesperson Makdissi, 37 gunmen and two civilians had been killed. Nothing close to the 200 total that the opposition figures have claimed.
Humanitarian law under the rules of war recognizes the right of all parties in a conflict to appropriate force to achieve their aims.
"Hostilities have spread throughout the country. International humanitarian law applies to all areas where hostilities are taking place", clarified ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan. The UN observers found pools of blood, spent bullets, mortars and artillery shells. Dozens of bodies buried in a mass grave, or burned crisply, making identification difficult-to-impossible. Some corpses were thrown into a nearby river.
And the evidence gathered does give some element of credence to the story told by the foreign ministry spokesperson. Rather than the outright shelling of civilians claimed by the opposition, what occurred in Tremseh may represent a battle resulting from the army responding to an attack by the opposition. To add to the chaos, activists and villagers may have attempted to defend the village.
But dead is dead. And irreconcilable hatred is just that.
Labels: Conflict, Human Relations, Political Realities, Societal Failures, Syria
posted by Pieface @ Monday, July 16, 2012
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