> 200,000 people killed in the four-and-a-half-year Syrian Civil War.

September 14, 2015 7:52 AM

Death in Syria by Karen Yourish, K.K. Rebecca Lai and Derek Watkins [New York Times]

“With each passing day there are fewer safe places in Syria,” Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, chairman of the United Nations panel investigating human rights abuses in Syria, wrote in a recent report. “Everyday decisions — whether to visit a neighbor, to go out to buy bread— have become, potentially, decisions about life and death.”

posted by Fizz (14 comments total)

One of the camps in Jordan for Syrian refugees (click to embiggen) :(
posted by growabrain at 8:19 AM on September 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Most recent Charlie Hebdo cover translates as "Welcome to the migrants, so close to the goal...promotional offer: kids menu 2 for the price of 1". Wow.
posted by gman at 8:23 AM on September 14, 2015

growabrain, Is there a source for that photograph? Not because I doubt the legitimacy of the photo, I'm just wondering if there are more. That is a heart-breaking photo. As difficult as it would be to see more, that kind of photo-journalism is significant.
posted by Fizz at 8:24 AM on September 14, 2015

This is why you don't let the government think it has the right to assassinate its citizens without a trial. All bets are off when the state turns against its own people.
posted by Talez at 8:30 AM on September 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Fizz, I believe that is Zaatari refugee camp - googling brings up lots of images of it, and there's even a Twitter account.
posted by sobarel at 8:31 AM on September 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Google image brings an article from 2013 Welcome to Camp Zaatari - damn that is depressing
posted by growabrain at 8:33 AM on September 14, 2015

As tragedies shock Europe, a bigger refugee crisis looms in the Middle East
posted by bukvich at 8:46 AM on September 14, 2015

I'm glad the refugee issue is getting press, but I wish there was more ongoing coverage like this of the damn war. I remember when the Syrian protests turned to uprising, and the sense of hope turned into horror as Assad followed in his fathers footsteps and brought down the hammer. Since then, other than the Isis angle, there has not been much about the war itself. What exactly are Russis and Iran doing, or hoping to do there?
posted by jetsetsc at 8:57 AM on September 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

From May 2014: 'So many ways to die in Syria now': Neil Gaiman visits a refugee camp in Jordan
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:03 AM on September 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

What exactly are Russis and Iran doing, or hoping to do there?

Pretty straight forward. Supporting a long time ally from whom they rent a warm water port and to whom they sell considerable arms; supporting their Shiite coreligionists against some utterly bat-shit nuts Sunni adversaries and their supporters.

As I understand it.

Also, standing up against American/Western arrogance in world affairs.
posted by IndigoJones at 11:24 AM on September 14, 2015

2012:

IF THE SITUATION UNRAVELS THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A DECLARED OR UNDECLARED SALAFIST PRINCIPALITY IN EASTERN SYRIA (HASAKA AND DER ZOR), AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SUPPORTING POWERS [THE WEST, GULF COUNTRIES, AND TURKEY] TO THE OPPOSITION WANT, IN ORDER TO ISOLATE THE SYRIAN REGIME, WHICH IS CONSIDERED THE STRATEGIC DEPTH OF THE SHIA EXPANSION (IRAQ AND IRAN).

posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 6:17 PM on September 14, 2015

Also, standing up against American/Western arrogance in world affairs.

I don't really see how being equally as arrogant and belligerent as America and the West counts as standing up to something. It's not like Russia isn't a massive power constantly meddling in world affairs. You may have heard of Ukraine?

I think they're more accurately said to be trying to drive a wedge between the US (who does not like this) and Europe (who are pretty much willing to see any end to this so long as the refugees slow down).
posted by neonrev at 8:37 PM on September 14, 2015

A better question is why the US believes the fall of Assad is so vital to its national interest that it is willing to let ISIS or Al Nursa take over Syria. Or why anyone thinks that letting either pack of Salafist fanatics take over a country with a significant Alawite, Shiite, and Christian minorities will do anything at all to end the refugee crisis.
posted by Grimgrin at 8:49 PM on September 14, 2015

Jacobin: The War on Syria

In May 2014, the Syria Centre for Policy Research in Damascus released a report on the economic and social conditions in Syria. Its findings were staggering. More than half the country’s population lives in extreme poverty. Most school-age children no longer attend school, and 45 percent of its public hospitals are out of service.

By the time the report was published, almost 3 percent of the Syrian population had already been wounded or killed in the conflict. The carnage has only increased since.

As the human toll of the Syrian catastrophe spirals ever higher, one detail on which everyone can agree is that the situation is an ongoing tragedy. And the specter of humanitarian crisis has compelled every stripe of policymaker and pundit to call for some form of action — the need to do something.

But far too often the demand to “do something” sidesteps what has already been done — there is a foundational assumption that the ruin and bloodshed of this terrible war have been produced by inaction.

posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:22 AM on September 15, 2015