Aleppo – Face Activities

Watch President Obama’s last press conference

December 18, 2016 Alphonse Leave a comment

Watch President Obama field questions from reporters on issues of the day, including the war in Syria, the Russian e-mail Hacking scandal investigation (which dominated the press conference) and Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, during his last press conference of his final term in office. President Obama is an excellent speaker and a quick thinker on his feet, so dealing with the press in his confident, no nonsense manner has always been his strong suit.

President Obama had stern words for Putin’s Russia. Though he didn’t directly name Vladimir Putin in the cyber attacks, he strongly implied that the Russian leader had a hand in the hacking leading to the November 18th election upset, saying that the highest levels of Russian government were involved. He also said that he confronted Putin at the Group 20 Summit in China, and told him to “knock it off.”

CNN / Youtube

Genocide in Aleppo, Syria as Assad loyalists retake the city

December 13, 2016 Alphonse Leave a comment

News reports of civilians, including women and children, executed in the streets of Eastern Aleppo as forces loyal to Bashar-al Assad retake the city and move into areas once held by rebel fighters, are horrifying the world, and follow on the heals of desperate pleas from activists that the city is suffering a genocide.

Raw news footage from Aleppo, Syria via USA Today

The U.N. Human Rights Office has relayed reports that at least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, have been killed, while unconfirmed reports from activists place the number much higher. And large swathes of the city itself are in ruins, following heavy bombing. Over the course of the 5-year-long Syrian war, over 500,000 people have been killed, and millions of refugees have been displaced, many of whom have fled their homes to take refuge in other countries.

Claims of genocide are of course extremely serious and must continue to be verified as news reports come in. The execution of civilian noncombatants, including women and children, is clearly an unconscionable war crime that must not be tolerated by the international community. Murdering members of an unarmed civilian population for any reason is unacceptable and must end immediately. Such an outrage clearly violates all standards of international and military law.

The suffering of the Syrian people over the course of this terrible war is tragic, and should move all decent people to action. The international community must redouble its efforts to bring this violent conflict to an end, and punish those guilty of war crimes, no matter what what political or military affiliation they claim.

Learn about Aleppo genocide claims (USA Today)

Photo: Syrian raw news feed via USA Today (screen capture)