Russian raids in Syria may include war crimes: Amnesty

[AngryCanadian]

If you Americans want to be respected you have to earn it. Dropping bombs and regime changes will not give you respect.

 

[twomp]

If you Americans want to be respected you have to earn it. Dropping bombs and regime changes will not give you respect.

I don't know about that. Canadians sure do respect us. In fact, Canada can't seem to get off our nuts.

 

[FindLiberty]

OK, shplain this AMAZING claim please:

 

[alucard13mm]

To me, any action in defense of a nation against foreign aggressors cannot be considered a crime, just as the same way a man killing another man in self defense is not a crime. Burn, gas, dowse the enemy with chemicals, perform experiments on their fighters etc etc etc. Nothing done to them should be considered a crime.

Also consider that the faster the Syrians with their Russian counterpart defeat this invasive force, the sooner innocent civilians stop dying from war related causes. Sadly civilians will always die in a war where the battle ground is in civilian areas. Nothing we can do about that

Yep. Go all out and finish the war in a month and accept there will be a lot of casualties. Or hanky panky around and drag it out for 10 years.

 

[Zippyjuan]

But they are Russia propaganda and also unreliable.

Yet CNN, CBC, BBC are Western propaganda and to you they are reablie? lol yeah i can see where your logic from. RussiaToday has being more honest about Syria and Russia compared to the West.

When it comes to logic you fail at it.

So one source (RT) is correct and the other source is wrong yet both report the same thing- the random bombing of civilians in Syria by the Syrian government with barrel bombs. Are they both lying or are they both telling the truth? Can't be one wrong and one right if they both make the same claim.

In February 2014 Russia voted in favor of UN resolution 2139 which called for an end to using barrel bombs (and other bombing of civilians) but they have continued as Russia has increased their presence and military actions in Syria.

http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/{65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9}/s_res_2139.pdf

2. Demands that all parties immediately put an end to all forms of violence,
irrespective of where it comes from, cease and desist from all violations of
international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights, and
reaffirm their obligations under international humanitarian law and international
human rights law, and stresses that some of these violations may amount to war
crimes and crimes against humanity;
3. Demands that all parties immediately cease all attacks against civilians,
as well as the indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including
shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs, and methods of
warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering,
and recalls in this regard the obligation to respect and ensure respect for
international humanitarian law in all circumstances, and further recalls, in particular,
the obligation to distinguish between civilian populations and combatants, and the
prohibition against indiscriminate attacks, and attacks against civilians and civilian
objects as such;

Both sides in the war have been committing atrocities. Such is unfortunately the nature of war. But to pretend that Russia is somehow fighting a "clean" war with no civilian casualties is deceiving ones self. Nor do I claim the US has not committed atrocities in their wars as well.

 

[luctor-et-emergo]

So one source (RT) is correct and the other source is wrong yet both report the same thing- the random bombing of civilians in Syria by the Syrian government with barrel bombs.

In February 2014 Russia voted in favor of UN resolution 2139 which called for an end to using barrel bombs (and other bombing of civilians) but they have continued as Russia has increased their presence and military actions in Syria.

http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/{65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9}/s_res_2139.pdf



Both sides in the war have been committing atrocities. Such is unfortunately the nature of war. But to pretend that Russia is somehow fighting a "clean" war with no civilian casualties is deceiving ones self. Nor do I claim the US has not committed atrocities in their wars as well.

What's the difference between a barrel bomb and a 'conventional' bomb ?

Shouldn't the dispute be over where bombs are dropped instead of what types of bombs ?

 

[Zippyjuan]

Morality aside of which is "worse" (they both are designed to kill), barrel bombs are more weapons of terror than of war. They are very inaccurate and they are designed to hurt and maim and scare more than to kill. They are used more against civilians than against organized military opponents.

 

[luctor-et-emergo]

Morality aside of which is "worse" (they both are designed to kill),

We can agree on that.

barrel bombs are more weapons of terror than of war.

I think they are mostly used because of a lack of other weapons.

They are very inaccurate and they are designed to hurt and maim and scare more than to kill.

I disagree that they are very inaccurate. Accuracy with bombing runs is more dependent on intelligence than anything else. I'd also argue that a 'barrel bomb' dropped from 1000ft from a helicopter is probably more accurate than a more conventional unguided bomb thrown from a high speed attack aircraft.

Well I always thought the objective in war was to demoralize the enemy, wound them so you take more people out of the fight as they have to care for their fellow soldiers. Seems like a perfect weapon the way you describe it.

They are used more against civilians than against organized military opponents.

There are no organized military opponents in the Syrian opposition. It's a bunch of rebels at best who I suspect have no problem at all with using civilians as cover. Now Assad denies explicitly targeting civilians. I can't verify that as true but I don't see what he would gain from it, really. I do see what the other side could gain by spreading that as a rumor. Just as a side note, lets suppose those terrorists are hiding among civilians, if Assad drops a bomb on them he's a war criminal, if Israel does the same they're justified ?

 

[Zippyjuan]

Just as a side note, lets suppose those terrorists are hiding among civilians, if Assad drops a bomb on them he's a war criminal, if Israel does the same they're justified ?

No, they aren't justified.