‘Grisly Reports’ Out of Syria Tell of Torture, Summary Executions in Homs

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

‘Grisly reports’ out of Syria tell of torture, summary executions in Homs

By Reuters
Friday, March 2, 2012 20:03 EST
 
BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had received “grisly reports” that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs after rebel fighters had fled.

Ban’s comments came as a wounded British photographer, who escaped Homs earlier this week, said he had witnessed Syrian troops carrying out a massacre in the city’s Baba Amro district, which had become a symbol of a year-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Opposition activists told Reuters Syrian troops, who had bombarded the district for weeks, had started hunting down and killing insurgents who had stayed to cover a rebel retreat on Thursday.

The rebel withdrawal was seen as a major setback for the armed revolt, that began with largely peaceful protests inspired by the “Arab Spring,” but escalated after a bloody government crackdown.

MORE[p]

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/02/grisly-reports-out-of-syria-tell-of-torture-summary-executions-in-homs

[MACARD]

1. wish i could say i was suprised

just run of the mill activities for a dictator still my heart goes out to the Arab Spring, and shall it spread and see the whole middle east revolt.

[yardwork]

3. Horrible.

[David__77]

4. Combatants killed in an armed conflict? Who knew?

I guess when they picked up guns and bombs, they expected the army to simply lay down their arms.

[Hissyspit]

6. So the dead children I saw on the live feeds are combatants?

[David__77]

7. I don't know what you're talking about.

Whose "live feed?" Where? When? Did it show the manner of their alleged death? Who killed them? Did the "live feed" show who this was?

[Hissyspit]

8. There are or were many live streams from Homs on the Internet.

Children are never combatants.

[geek tragedy]

10. Read. The. Article.

Your support of Team Assad is duly noted.

[David__77]

13. Yeah yeah... you're like those who said anti-war people were "pro-Saddam."

No such thing.

[geek tragedy]

9. Blaming the victims of war crimes. Stay classy. Nt

[Fool Count]

16. Victims? Those are ruthless islamist killers who cared nothing about innocent

civilian population of Homs when they took it over and commenced their campaign of murder
and thuggery there. I hope Assad gets as many of those jihadist scum as possible.

[bitchkitty]

11. Damn!

Are you trying to be a heartless asshole, or does it come naturally?

[Posteritatis]

12. He sides with the government by default in situations such as these. (nt)

[David__77]

14. No, not true.

The people of Syria have every right to engage in armed struggle against their government. That's a sovereign popular right - the same one the Founding Fathers upheld. But there are consequences to doing so. And the FSA was hiding among civilians; in any counterinsurgency in such a situation, the state would move with the means available, or surrender. The logic of some of the "human rights" organizations is that the only thing for Syria's government to do is unconditionally surrender to the insurgents. That is inane.

And, it is quite true that this applies not only to Syria, but any other state facing an insurgency.

I agree with the opposition NCB that Syrians can decide for themselves, and that intervention from outside must be opposed.

[David__77]

15. There were no tears when the Libyan rebels were summarily executing pro-government conscripts.

War is violence and bloodshed - the most authoritarian thing on earth. The opposition refuses ceasefire or talks, so they will get war instead.

[fujiyama]

5. It seems to be getting worse in Syria everyday

I wish there was something other countries could do, but between the sensitivity of the situation with Iran, and the fact that Russia and China won't even go as far as condemn Assad's actions, well we shouldn't expect anything to get better.

Personally I just don't get our often arbitrary and capricious involvement in civil wars and bloodshed in other countries. Personally I don't prefer the US getting involved in these conflicts at all (not because I don't care about people getting slaughtered but because these are ultimately regional conflicts that need to be decided by themselves), but it must be asked why we should topple some ruthless dictators like Saddam and Quadaffi, while others like Assad continually get away with their crimes. Morally, I just cannot figure out how that's right. What's the cutoff for massacres? Hasn't Assad killed well over 5,000 people already? How many had Quadaffi killed before NATO involvement?

We don't need to be as cold as China and Russia, who basically support Assad's butchery, but we need to find a more consistent moral voice ourselves.

[Fool Count]

17. The "moral voice" that you need to find is the one that tells you to stay the hell away

from invading other countries and killing foreign people. Trust me, it is not that hard - most
other countries manage it somehow without feeling terribly bad about it. You should try it too.