Meanwhile, in Mosul

[alanjjohnstone]

I just came across another example of double-standards being applied.Having insisted and authorised earlier evacuations of combatants, their families and other civilians caught up in the siege on earlier occasions and in fact condemning Syria/Russia for thwarting such operations, the US have bombed the route that buses were being used to remove ISIL from their Lebanon bases to stop it. I can only presume the reason being is that this retreat of ISIL was being organised by Hezbollah without the permission of the Pentagon who would prefer Lebanon to stay occupied by ISIL.The US supposed opposition does not reflect their previous position of transporting the enemy to "safe-havens"http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41095619

[ALB]

When announcing yet another troop surge in Afghanistan Trump say they were going there not to "nation-build" but to "kill terrorists".It has long be obvious that this is their policy in Syria and too bad if they also kill the family members of terrorists and innocent by-standers. They think that Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army should have simply killed the ISIS terrorists rather than transport them.I'm sure there'll be some something in the Geneva Convention against this but then this convention is just a scrap of paper anyway.

[alanjjohnstone]

Once more the media turns its sights on the Syrian/Russian attack on Ghouta, yet turns a blind eye to the equally devastating attacks on Afrin. Patrick Cockburn reports.http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-afrin-crisis-turkish-forces-civilians-deaths-eastern-ghouta-assad-a8247206.html

Quote:

If any of these images were coming out of Eastern Ghouta, they would be leading every television newscast and dominating the front pages. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, would be holding up pictures of dead and dying children. But because these events are happening in Afrin and not in Eastern Ghouta, in the same country but 200 miles apart, they are almost entirely ignored by both media and foreign politicians…The greatest difference between the two situations is that the atrocities in Damascus are publicised by the media across the world, while in the Kurdish case they are regarded as scarcely worth a mention…I have been struck since 2011 by the unbalanced way in which the Syrian war has been reported by the media. Vast attention was given to the sufferings inflicted on the people of East Aleppo in 2016 under attack by Syrian government and Russian air strikes, but very little notice was taken of the almost complete destruction of Isis-held Raqqa, with massive civilian casualties, at the hands of the US-led coalition.I used to attribute such uneven coverage of the war to the greater skill and resources of the Syrian opposition in recording and publicising atrocities committed by the Syrian government and its allies. Isis had no interest in the fate of civilians under its control. But in Afrin there is no shortage of film of the suffering of civilians, but it simply is not widely broadcast or printed. In many respects, the role of the international media in the Syrian war has been as partial and misleading as the warring parties inside the country or their foreign sponsors without.

[ALB]

This would be an interesting development if it actually happens:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/civilians-organise-human-shield-protect-kurdish-afrin-180311163553611.htm

[alanjjohnstone]

I recall bus-loads of volunteer human shields went to Iraq just before 2003 invasion. I don't think it hindered "Shock and Awe" …and come to think of it, i don't recall any media coverage about their fate, for that matter.But i think this is a better suggestion than all those calls for a new "International Brigade" from the so-called anarchists and leftist to protect Rojava 

[alanjjohnstone]

We are constantly reminded of the genuine tragedy of  beseiged Ghouta but as been mentioned , little crtism is aimed at those  prepared to resist to the last innocent's life.Compare with Afrin and the Kurdish resistance.

Quote:

The commanders of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) were evidently convinced that Afrin was indefensible and pulled out because they had no alternative. If this was the case, then they were wise not to fight to the finish in a battle they were bound to lose with heavy loss of life… the YPG are determined and experienced soldiers but they have no air defence or heavy weapons and knew they could not win.

[Young Master Smeet]

Hre we go.  Same thing happened in Serbia: press full of "smart missiles" "humane mission" "precision" during the attacks,a nd afterwards: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43965032

Quote:

Other coalition members have alerted the UK to times when civilians may have been harmed, a BBC investigation found.The MoD says "everything possible" is done to minimise the risk to civilians.But it has also been discovered that some RAF bombs have malfunctioned and strayed off target.

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