Starvation in Madaya as U.S. Pols Look Away

[Boiler 46,253]

Seems like we are all agreed on no invasion.

[Rob L 3,811]

Seems like we are all agreed on no invasion.

oops too late, you break it you buy it

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Some would say we should have thought that out when we Invaded Iraq

Super.. Assuming snide remarks wont actually solve the problem the question remains: What do you suggest the world do with the current situation?

[ExPatty 502]

So you did a good job of documenting the Assad is an @$$%0L3 ( not a news flash) but you did not document why leaders in the west shouldn't be stepping up their game

You did not document what stepping up their game looks like. Specifically what do you want them to do?

[Boiler 46,253]

oops too late, you break it you buy it

Is this a reference to the French Canadians? They have not been part of France for a very long time.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

So often reading these threads reminds me of this particular Pat Condell rant..

[Rob L 3,811]

You did not document what stepping up their game looks like. Specifically what do you want them to do?

It looks like progress is being made:

Food trucks reach those starving in Syrian cities

Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

1 hour ago

More

AFP/Getty Images

Aid convoys carrying food, medicine and blankets, leave the Syrian capital Damascus as they head to the besieged town of Madaya on Monday.

Trucks with food supplies reached starving residents Monday in a Syrian city and two towns caught between warring factions in the country's civil war.

Graphic images publicized of skin-and-bone children led to a breakthrough by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross in gaining access to the mountain city of Madaya, north of Damascus, and the towns of Foah and Kafraya, farther north in Syria's embattled Idlib province. Tens of thousands of people are in need of food and supplies, according to the organizations.

The Red Cross and the U.N. tweeted photos of aid trucks entering Madaya on Monday evening. The Red Cross said there were 40,000 people in Madaya and 20,000 in the smaller towns in need of help. There were reports of people living on grass and two dozen deaths from starvation as winter closed in. Doctors Without Borders said at least 250 people in Madaya are suffering from severe malnutrition.

Madaya and the two towns have been under siege by rebel forces fighting the Syrian government of President Bashir Assad.

His troops and allied forces from Hezbollah, an Shiite militant group based in Lebanon, have blocked access to the areas since summer.

"The operation has started. It is likely to last a few days. This is a very positive development. But it must not be just a one-off distribution," said Marianne Gasser, head of the Red Cross delegation to Syria. "To relieve the suffering of these tens of thousands of people, there has to be regular access to these areas."

"One convoy will not solve the problem," Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, told reporters Monday. "There is a tremendous amount of suffering in these besieged areas."

Dujarric said an estimated 4.5 million Syrians live in embattled or hard-to-reach areas, and the best way to assist them is a negotiated settlement of the 4-year-old civil war.

[Boiler 46,253]

Peace Prize for Obama?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

It looks like progress is being made:

This is nothing new, the convoy has been waiting to get in for a while.. You never answered the question, What should we be doing????

[Boiler 46,253]

You never answered the question, What should we be doing????

Apart from posting on VJ?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

From CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/11/middleeast/syria-madaya-starvation/

The U.N. source told CNN that an equivalent amount of aid would also enter the regime-loyal towns of Foua and Kefraya, in the northern province of Idlib, which were enduring a similar plight while under siege by rebels. The aid trucks were scheduled to progress through both areas throughout the night, the source said.

So there is part of the payout to Assad - whatever we give the one side we have to give to the other.. How long until we are labeled enablers and both sides decide that since we gave aid to the other side that we now owe them for the long haul?

I was also hoping to see some photos of the aid being handed out - the original photos that caused all the outrage have been proven to be fake (one was from 2009, the other a girl in Lebanon in makeup - two of the CNN photos up right now for this story are fake).. I am sure it is real, I would like to know the extent - the photos provided by the UN so far today are distant shots of a truck..

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Apart from posting on VJ?

We as in the west - or the U.S. if that's where the anger is directed towards.

I read this.. Two areas, one controlled by rebels, other other Assad supporters. They each have the others side cut off from supplies and both are starving. What did we buy by feeding them instead of letting them work out an obvious compromise with each other?

[Boiler 46,253]

We as in the west - or the U.S. if that's where the anger is directed towards.

I read this.. Two areas, one controlled by rebels, other other Assad supporters. They each have the others side cut off from supplies and both are starving. What did we buy by feeding them instead of letting them work out an obvious compromise with each other?

Feel good about ourselves?

[Rob L 3,811]

This is nothing new, the convoy has been waiting to get in for a while.. You never answered the question, What should we be doing????

This is new, the convoy and the starving folks have been pawns in a game, I am open to any ethical solution that ensures folks don't starve

We as in the west - or the U.S. if that's where the anger is directed towards.

I read this.. Two areas, one controlled by rebels, other other Assad supporters. They each have the others side cut off from supplies and both are starving. What did we buy by feeding them instead of letting them work out an obvious compromise with each other?

If I were the father of a child who got to eat tonight, I would say everything.

[Rob L 3,811]

Feel good about ourselves?

Sometimes guilt is a justifiable motivator to get things done.