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| Syria and foreign intervention | Syria and foreign intervention |
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| It ill behoves the US to accuse another country of aiding and abetting the massacre of women and children (Houla massacre: US accuses Iran of 'bragging' about its military aid to Syria, 30 May). | It ill behoves the US to accuse another country of aiding and abetting the massacre of women and children (Houla massacre: US accuses Iran of 'bragging' about its military aid to Syria, 30 May). |
| The US (and the UK) didn't just aid the killing of women and children in the bombardments of Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya (and in the genocidal sanctions against the Iraqi population), but was actually directly responsible for it (The US drone campaign is fuelling, not fighting, terror, 30 May). And the particular mode of child-killing which is firmly ascribed to the Syrian regime in the Houla atrocity – via artillery fire into civilian areas – is a particularly brutal means of warfare which was actively supported by the US (and the UK) in Libya as well as in Iraq. | The US (and the UK) didn't just aid the killing of women and children in the bombardments of Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya (and in the genocidal sanctions against the Iraqi population), but was actually directly responsible for it (The US drone campaign is fuelling, not fighting, terror, 30 May). And the particular mode of child-killing which is firmly ascribed to the Syrian regime in the Houla atrocity – via artillery fire into civilian areas – is a particularly brutal means of warfare which was actively supported by the US (and the UK) in Libya as well as in Iraq. |
| If we care about children killed by munitions – whether the munitions are delivered via plane or ship, helicopter or car, artillery or suicide bomber – then we care about all of them: not just those that are politically serviceable, and not just those that some "other side" kill. There has to date been absolute silence in the public sphere of western countries concerning the children killed by Nato's bombs and allies in Libya; and on Monday a member of the public who dared to point out some home truths about this country's attack on Iraq (Report, 29 May), was arrested for – of all things – a suspected breach of the peace. Peter McKenna Liverpool | If we care about children killed by munitions – whether the munitions are delivered via plane or ship, helicopter or car, artillery or suicide bomber – then we care about all of them: not just those that are politically serviceable, and not just those that some "other side" kill. There has to date been absolute silence in the public sphere of western countries concerning the children killed by Nato's bombs and allies in Libya; and on Monday a member of the public who dared to point out some home truths about this country's attack on Iraq (Report, 29 May), was arrested for – of all things – a suspected breach of the peace. Peter McKenna Liverpool |
| • The abominable crime perpetrated by Assad's forces against innocent civilians, including children, defies commonsense (Editorial, 29 May). It stands as testament to the human depravity to which the Baathist regime has sunk. However, what is more appalling is the ineptitude of the international community in failing to act decisively in the face of state-sponsored terror. Western powers cannot stand idly by. They should practise what they preach: fighting terror wherever it rears its ugly head. Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob London | • The abominable crime perpetrated by Assad's forces against innocent civilians, including children, defies commonsense (Editorial, 29 May). It stands as testament to the human depravity to which the Baathist regime has sunk. However, what is more appalling is the ineptitude of the international community in failing to act decisively in the face of state-sponsored terror. Western powers cannot stand idly by. They should practise what they preach: fighting terror wherever it rears its ugly head. Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob London |
| • In your report on Amnesty International's indignation about the UN security council's ineffectiveness to bring the violence in Syria to a halt (Report, 24 May), it is important to consider that suggestions such as an indictment from the International Criminal Court (ICC) could be counterproductive. | • In your report on Amnesty International's indignation about the UN security council's ineffectiveness to bring the violence in Syria to a halt (Report, 24 May), it is important to consider that suggestions such as an indictment from the International Criminal Court (ICC) could be counterproductive. |
| Although there is evidence of Assad's crimes against humanity, seeking a public indictment from the ICC could increase the suffering he is causing by cornering him into a scenario where clinging on to power by any means necessary could become his only option. Besides, as long as Assad remains in power and his violent crackdown keeps creating victims, the co-ordination between humanitarian agencies and Assad's government is going to be necessary to provide relief to those in distress. | Although there is evidence of Assad's crimes against humanity, seeking a public indictment from the ICC could increase the suffering he is causing by cornering him into a scenario where clinging on to power by any means necessary could become his only option. Besides, as long as Assad remains in power and his violent crackdown keeps creating victims, the co-ordination between humanitarian agencies and Assad's government is going to be necessary to provide relief to those in distress. |
| The moral case for bringing Assad before justice is unobjectionable, but breaking the council's deadlock sustained by Russia and China is going to require not only outrage but a plan that takes into account these permanent members' diplomatic sensitivities; the geopolitical stakes of an international intervention; the political, geographical and ethnic complexities of Syria; and preliminary humanitarian assistance and post-conflict resolution strategies, depending on the possible scenarios. | The moral case for bringing Assad before justice is unobjectionable, but breaking the council's deadlock sustained by Russia and China is going to require not only outrage but a plan that takes into account these permanent members' diplomatic sensitivities; the geopolitical stakes of an international intervention; the political, geographical and ethnic complexities of Syria; and preliminary humanitarian assistance and post-conflict resolution strategies, depending on the possible scenarios. |
| Justice and peace are self-reinforcing, but in some cases the first must give way to the second to protect the vulnerable. It is not a matter of choosing peace over the justice, but of sequencing them in a way that allows the international community to alleviate suffering and save lives to the largest extent possible. Rodrigo Bueno Lacy Intern, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict | Justice and peace are self-reinforcing, but in some cases the first must give way to the second to protect the vulnerable. It is not a matter of choosing peace over the justice, but of sequencing them in a way that allows the international community to alleviate suffering and save lives to the largest extent possible. Rodrigo Bueno Lacy Intern, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict |
| • Given the tragic killings in Syria over the weekend I am surprised that there has not been a single letter of condemnation in your letters pages. The Muslim world, so quick to demonstrate on the streets and to burn US and Israeli flags for any violation of its religious freedoms and human rights, seems to have lost its voice. | • Given the tragic killings in Syria over the weekend I am surprised that there has not been a single letter of condemnation in your letters pages. The Muslim world, so quick to demonstrate on the streets and to burn US and Israeli flags for any violation of its religious freedoms and human rights, seems to have lost its voice. |
| For me the demonstrator who stood with her mouth taped over during the performance of Shylock by the Israeli theatre company Habima (Protesters steal the show at muted Israeli Merchant, 30 May) was a symbol not of the alleged suffering of the Palestinian people, but of the relative silence of the Muslim community in the face of the ongoing slaughter of their co-religionists in Syria. Simon Broomer London | For me the demonstrator who stood with her mouth taped over during the performance of Shylock by the Israeli theatre company Habima (Protesters steal the show at muted Israeli Merchant, 30 May) was a symbol not of the alleged suffering of the Palestinian people, but of the relative silence of the Muslim community in the face of the ongoing slaughter of their co-religionists in Syria. Simon Broomer London |
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