Young Syrian Boy Used For War Propaganda

[rcfieldz]

Syria: Little boy in Aleppo a reminder of war's horror - CNN.com


Does America need to get involved in another war? Are there enough things to fix here? Do we need to start shooting and bombing more people?

 

[waltky]

Omran's brother dies of wounds in Aleppo...

Brother of Omran, Syrian boy in haunting picture, dies of wounds
Sunday 21st August, 2016: The older brother of the little Syrian boy who was pictured sitting in an ambulance dazed and covered in blood after an air strike, died Saturday (Aug 20) from wounds sustained in the attack on the family's apartment, a monitoring group said.

"Ali, aged 10, succumbed to his injuries. He was badly wounded in the same bombardment as Omran on Aug 17 in Aleppo," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The haunting images of four-year-old Omran, sitting in an ambulance after the attack, his face, arms and legs caked in blood and dust, have reverberated around the world, becoming a symbol for the suffering of children in Syria's brutal five-year conflict. In video footage from the incident, Omran is seen quietly staring into space before raising his arms to touch his bloodied forehead, then looking at his hand and wiping it on the orange seat.

Omran, his siblings and parents were all plucked from the rubble wounded, but alive, following Wednesday's bombing on the Qaterji neighbourhood in rebel-held east Aleppo. The Aleppo Media Centre, a network of activists in the divided northern city, confirmed Ali's death in a video on Saturday. The images of Omran have sparked a global outcry, much like the photo last September of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi, whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach as his family tried to reach Europe. More than 290,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict broke out, including nearly 15,000 children.

Omran's home city Aleppo has been divided by government control in the west and opposition fighters in the east since 2012. Regime warplanes, backed by Russia's air force since September 2015, bombard the eastern districts while rebel groups fire rockets into the west. Of the estimated 250,000 people still living in the eastern parts of the city, 100,000 are children, according to the UN's children agency UNICEF.

Brother of Omran, Syrian boy in haunting picture, dies of wounds - Channel NewsAsia

See also:

AP EXPLAINS: Why Aleppo is Syria's fiercest battleground
Aug 21,`16 With rebels and government forces each promising to unite the divided city, Aleppo is once again a main battlefield in Syria's devastating civil war. Relentless shelling and airstrikes have killed more than 300 civilians in the city since rebels broke through a government blockade of the opposition-held east on July 31. A photo of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, who was rescued from the rubble of a missile-struck building, sitting alone in an ambulance, confused and covered in debris and blood, has become the haunting image of the unforgiving struggle.

A look at Aleppo:

A SHATTERED HISTORICAL TREASURE

Syria's largest city and once its commercial center, Aleppo was a crossroads of civilization for millennia. It has been occupied by the Greeks, Byzantines and multiple Islamic dynasties. As one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, Aleppo's Old City was added in 1986 to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites. But the civil war has damaged its landmarks, including the 11th century Umayyad Mosque, which had a minaret collapse during fighting in 2012, the 13th century citadel and the medieval marketplace, where fire damaged more than 500 shops in its narrow, vaulted passageways. Some historic sites have been used as bases for fighters. Aleppo was one of the last cities in Syria to join the uprising against President Bashar Assad's government.

THE KEY TO VICTORY

Because of its heritage and its economic potential, it is often said that whoever holds Aleppo wins the war. In fact, rebels hold other pockets around the country, but their defeat in Aleppo would mark a turning point in the conflict and deal a devastating blow to the movement to unseat Assad. But Aleppo also sits just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Turkish border, making it the central theater to the Syrian-Turkish proxy war. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is an open critic of Syria's Assad and has shown strong support toward the rebels. Ankara enjoys wide influence in northern Syria, and most rebels' supplies flow across the shared border. In a national address in June, Assad vowed Aleppo would be Erdogan's "graveyard."

Smoke rises over Saif Al Dawla district, in Aleppo, Syria. With rebels and government forces each promising to unite the divided city, Aleppo is once again a main battlefield in Syria's devastating civil war.​

BREAKING THE SIEGE

Earlier this month, the International Committee for the Red Cross called the battle for Aleppo "one of the most devastating conflicts in modern times." Pro-government forces, supported by overwhelming Russian air power, had managed to encircle rebels and some 300,000 civilians in the city's eastern quarters in July, leading the U.N. to raise concerns of catastrophic suffering if a protracted siege ensued. But a fierce offensive led by thousands of rebels from outside the city broke the blockade on July 31, and fighting has only intensified since then. Both sides are bombarding their opponents indiscriminately, at a tremendous cost to infrastructure and human life.

THE WARRING PARTIES

The main Kurdish militia, known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG, controls several predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods. The main insurgent groups in the city are the Nour el-Din Zenki brigade, the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group and the Al-Qaida-linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front.

News from The Associated Press

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

When Ron Paul was running for president, he made a speech asking America, why much of the third world hates us, with our indiscriminate bombing.

I never supported any of our recent wars and can't imagine what our leaders are doing.

 

[Bush92]

When Ron Paul was running for president, he made a speech asking America, why much of the third world hates us, with our indiscriminate bombing.

I never supported any of our recent wars and can't imagine what our leaders are doing.

You feel they are "caging black men like animals." Sure.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

When Ron Paul was running for president, he made a speech asking America, why much of the third world hates us, with our indiscriminate bombing.

I never supported any of our recent wars and can't imagine what our leaders are doing.

You feel they are "caging black men like animals." Sure.

What do prisons have to do with foreign wars?