"We no longer have hope for anything other than a quick death"
February 20, 2020 10:37 PM   Subscribe

'It looks like judgment day': inside Syria's final battle (FT) - "Trapped between a closed border and advancing forces, opponents of the Assad regime face a humanitarian crisis."

'I Feel Like This Is the End': A Million Fleeing Syrians Trapped by Assad's Final Push (WSJ) - "A million people are fleeing the bombardment of northwest Syria in a military campaign that threatens to trigger 'the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century.'"
  • AFP: "Syrian father, protecting daughter from trauma, turns sounds of war into a game."
  • NYT: "It is the largest exodus in Syria's civil war. Here's what it looks like."
  • CNN: "These people are begging the world to listen to their plight."
  • BBC: "Hundreds of thousands flee as airstrikes continue."
Syria war: Turkish operation in Idlib 'only a matter of time' - "Turkey's president has said it is 'only a matter of time' before it launches an operation to stop a Syrian army assault on opposition-held Idlib province."

Dozens reported dead in Syria as Turkey-backed forces launch assault in Idlib - "Turkish-backed militants have clashed with Syrian government forces in Idlib as they tried to push into the area. Responding Russian airstrikes killed at least two soldiers."

Flare-up in fighting in northwest Syria pulls in Russian, Turkish forces - "Turkish forces and Syrian rebels fought government troops in northwest Syria on Thursday and Russian warplanes struck back in a sharp escalation of an intense battle over the last rebel bastions, Russian and Turkish officials said."
posted by kliuless (6 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
This blood is on us
posted by growabrain at 1:06 AM on February 21, 2020 [8 favorites]


This is sickening.

I just can't fathom the cruelty.
What makes human beings do this. I can imagine a psychopath doing this but there are thousands cooperating.
posted by M. at 1:26 AM on February 21, 2020 [3 favorites]


This blood is on us

Which “us,” though? There is a lot of blame to go around, none of which stops the slaughter.
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:38 AM on February 21, 2020


As all of the above are from western news media (Thanks for the post kliuless)
Al Jazeera - Battle for Idlib and
Middle East Eye - Syria War
posted by adamvasco at 10:06 AM on February 21, 2020 [2 favorites]


I've been following this guy ("the catkeeper of Aleppo") for years now. He stayed in Aleppo proper until the last possible moment, driving ambulances and feeding cats. Then he moved to Idlib and opened an animal sanctuary/kindergarten. Now Idlib is unlivable and the catkeeper has moved to higher ground up by the Turkish border. But there isn't enough space in that borderland for all the displaced people. This war continues to be totally fucking heartbreaking.
posted by hungrytiger at 5:58 PM on February 21, 2020 [3 favorites]


the US shouldve intervened in this war after the chemical weapons attacks. of course, had it done so, the situation would still be a mess and commentators would no doubt be calling it another endless war that americans have no business in. but i think odds are good it would be better than this, in the sense that fewer civilians would be prey to this regime. there are no good outcomes, only the least worst. absent going back in time and stopping colonialism from fucking up the mideast in the first place, least worst is the best that can be hoped for.
posted by wibari at 8:57 PM on February 21, 2020


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