Ken Berwitz
Arresting images ofdesperation on the West\’s doorstep have brought Syria,for the moment, back to worldwide attention: refugees cramming into trainstations and climbing border fences; drowned Syrian toddlers washing up onbeaches, a girl in polka dots, a boy in tiny shoes.It was never anysecret that a rising tide of Syrian refugees would sooner or later burst the seamsof the Middle East and head for Europe. Yet little was done inWestern capitals to stop or mitigate the slow-motion disaster that wasbefalling Syrian civilians and sending them on the run.
“The migrant crisis inEurope is essentially self-inflicted,” said Lina Khatib, a research associateat the University of London and until recently the head of the Carnegie MiddleEast Center in Beirut. “Had European countries sought serious solutions topolitical conflicts like the one in Syria, and dedicated enough time andresources to humanitarian assistance abroad, Europe would not be in thisposition today.”
And where does the blame lie for this terror-inspired migration, that threatens to permanently alter European culture?
Why it has nothing to do with Syria at all. It is not the fault of bashar al-assad, who, like his father, is a mass murderer. It is not the fault of ISIS, which is killing everyone who does not strictly adhere to its form of Islam, usually in the most brutal, barbaric ways it can come up with. It is not the fault, more generally, of radical Islam, which pervades Syria and so many other countries which have their own terrorist and refugee problems.
No, no, no. As Ms. Barnard assures us, it has nothing to do with any of that.
It is the west/ The west, which did not “stop or mitigate the slow-motion disaster that was befalling Syrian civilians”.
WE\’RE the culprits. WE are responsible for Syrians mass murdering other Syrians by the hundreds of thousands (upwards of 250,000 – 300,000 so far, with no letup in sight). WE are responsible for radical islamics killing everyone they can find to kill.
Does the west share a part of the blame? Yes it does. And you can start with President Barack “there is a red line that can\’t be crossed” Obama, whose threats against al-assad and ISIS….oh, excuse me, ISIL, that\’s what the really smart people like Mr. Obama call it…have all the weight of a chicken feather.
But the other 99% of the blame is on the people who are actually doing it. That conclusion is not the result of clever, intuitive, New York Timesian thinking, it is basic common sense.
You can use the link I\’ve provided and read the rest of Ms. Barnard\’s article if you care to. But, if you\’re asking me – as someone who did read it – you\’re wasting your time. It is pretty much more of the same.
The only thing missing is an attack on Israel for causing the whole problem.
Maybe in Ms. Barnard\’s next article…….
