| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| UN: ‘No red lines left to cross in Syria’ |
| 2016-12-02 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] There are no "red lines left to cross in Syria," the UN humanitarian chief said Wednesday, accusing parties to the Syrian conflict who have systematically disregarded the laws of war. ... starting with the use of poison gas, poison gas on civilian targets, targeting hospitals and schools, collective punishments, yeah, if you can think of a law of war that can be broken they broke it. Speaking via video-link from London, Stephen O’Brien told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that was nowhere more apparent than in the besieged city of eastern Aleppo with nearly a quarter of million people trapped inside. "There are no limits or red lines left to cross. The rules of war - sacrosanct notions borne out of generations of costly and painful lessons and set more than 150 year ago in the First Geneva Convention - have been systematically disregarded in Syria," O’Brien said. O’Brien said some 25,000 people, most of them women and kiddies, have been displaced from their homes since Saturday and that it is likely thousands more will flee in the coming days as Syrian forces step up their attack. He said there was no longer any properly functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo, which has been under siege for nearly 150 days and that most of the people trapped inside don't have the means to survive much longer. He called on the Syrian government to allow the UN and its humanitarian partners unrestricted access to deliver food and medical aid. He also urged the Security Council for action. "For the sake of humanity we call on - we plead - with the parties and those with influence to do everything in their power to protect civilians and enable access to the besieged part of eastern Aleppo before it becomes one giant graveyard," he said. Staffan de Mistura told the council that over the last two weeks, government forces have recaptured almost 40 percent of the area in Aleppo previously held by opposition groups forcing thousands to flee. He said his office had received credible reports of opposition groups preventing civilians from fleeing areas under their control. Also, he expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... that many fleeing the city, who are perceived to have links to the opposition, were being detained by government forces. |
| Posted by:Fred |
#6 There is still a nuclear red line. Nope. They crossed that with gas, according to traditional US policy. (But Bush abandoned that one, so we can't hold it against Obama, much.) |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2016-12-02 21:32 |
| #5 There is still a nuclear red line. Just sayin' |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2016-12-02 19:42 |
| #4 Oh my. That was certainly, JHH. :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2016-12-02 16:47 |
| #3 The White House drew its lines in puce Knowing they'd stand for a lasting truce But knowing not they coulda shoulda The color is beloved by the feral hudna Snap, perhaps next time chartreuse? |
| Posted by: JHH 2016-12-02 15:58 |
| #2 I think the White House has a few mauve ones left in stock. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-12-02 11:59 |
| #1 The only red lines left are those written in blood. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-12-02 11:47 |