A Syrian Massacre

I've taken my time in deciding when to start this blog entry. I, like many millions of others, have been appalled and frankly sickened by the images that began appearing on the Internet following the latest massacre in Syria. I pretty much knew what to expect as I had seen many images from the Kosovo Crisis in the early 90s and I thought I was hardened enough to deal with the new evidence. I couldn't have been more wrong. The images were far worse than anything I had seen before, and my reaction was severe. On reflection, this is probably due to the fact that the images I saw from a shattered Yugloslavia were of charred remains, almost impossible to identify as being human. The images I've seen over the last few days are quite different. They are clearly identifiable. The young faces tell their ages to be under 10 years of age, and many under the age of 5. My son is 5 years of age. To think of the fear and terror these poor children suffered, it makes me feel physically sick. I look at my son and I cry to imagine what those poor souls have witnessed.
It would be all too easy to forget what has happened and I suspect that in a week from now, minds will be focused on other things such as the Jubilee celebrations and the run up to the Olympic Games.
Something must be done. Diplomacy has clearly failed and the harsh words and inaction by the UN give the Syrian regime and their supporters free license to continue murdering the innocent.
I chose to see the images and the videos. I wanted to see what had happened, what had really happened and not the stuff we are fed by our homegrown media. I wanted to see the raw footage taken by people who were really there, recorded for the most part on camera phones.
What I have seen has made me question my faith in a God. For it is difficult for me to understand how any God could possibly allow such horrors to occur, and to children so innocent and so beautiful. It is beyond humanity to imagine the fear these poor souls endured. This has to end and the Assad Regime must be brought to justice at the Hague. The time for talking is over.

Optimism

Firstly, I am glad that I can type. I am glad that I can spell and that I have the confidence to put my thoughts into words. I've been able to do this since I was very young. I had a typewriter from a very young age and very quickly learnt how to use it. By the time I reached my mid-teens, I had an electronic typewriter and soon after that a very basic (by today's standards) word processor. For all my life, I have never been too far from a keyboard and to do so would most probably cause me to have another breakdown. The keyboard is my output and a vessel by which my thoughts pour like water onto a page. A lot of what I type, particularly here in my blog, I don't talk about openly. People around me tend to go about their lives either oblivious to what's going on around them or prefer to keep their thoughts or worries to themselves. This is fine, they have more important things to think about. I don't request an audience. I consider myself fortunate if anyone else finds my thoughts the remotest bit interesting. My blog is my way of recording my thoughts, and I hope that sometime in the future, by way of it, my son will better understand his father.

I was asked recently whether I am optimistic, about anything. I quickly replied that I am not. In fact I see no future beyond the next day. Of course the reason for this primarily is my financial situation and not knowing where we will be in a month or two from now. But in general, I do find myself fearing for the future - especially for my son and other young people. On the one side, there is the worsening economic situation and the worry as to whether there will be jobs for everyone or whether people who are lucky enough to work can afford housing. On the other side, there is what I see as a worrying escalation in conflict around the world and where the current disputes might lead.
I do think it is inevitable that we will see some form of military escalation in Iran and possibly Syria. I of course would prefer a diplomatic outcome but with each day that passes I think this becomes less likely. The involvement of China and Russia and their opposition to a military response in Iran or Syria will I think send us down one of two paths. The first would be for the Western forces to back down faced with a possible Chinese or Russian military standoff or for the West to attack Iran and intervene in Syria and face the consequences. Some would argue that Russia is in fact supporting the Syrian regime's attack on its own people as they continue to supply arms in the face of mounting condemnation. The estimated $1 billion trade in arms is simply too valuable to Russia and they would not stand by and see this taken away from them.
As for China, there are already rumblings on the Internet that they are preparing for possible military conflict and despite knowing relatively little about their precise capabilities, it would be wrong to assume that their response would be anything but massive.
And then there's Israel and their apparent threat to be preparing an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities to take place in the coming months assuming the US don't do it first.
All of this makes for a very dangerous situation. The cost of oil has risen in recent days due to the embargo on Iranian crude oil exports and Iran's refusal to supply EU member states. The prospect of rising fuel costs on top of a weakening economic situation could have dire consequences here in the UK pushing living standards to a critical level.
I've always been very pessimistic, but the situation as I see it is one that is fast nearing crisis proportions. Unless a last minute solution can be found to the situation in Iran and Syria, then I fully expect to see a new Middle East conflict by the end of this year. The outcome of this conflict will depend ultimately on whether or not it could be contained. My guess is that it would not.
The coming months will be critical in deciding the path taken. Of course we have very little or no influence whatsoever on the outcome. We can only hope and pray that common sense will prevail coupled with a realisation that any fire lit in the Middle East would spread way beyond the borders of Iran and Syria.
2012 will certainly be a decisive year, whatever happens.

A Helpless Watcher & RIP Whitney Houston

When I think about the current world situation, I feel helpless. The only other time I really felt like this was during the Yugoslavia conflict and civil war in 1991-95. Back then, the tragedy was worsened by the fact that countries of the UN stood back and did nothing. The killing of innocent men, women and children became an all too common sight on our TV screens and it soon became apparent that genocide was taking place practically on our doorstep. As now, much of what we saw on TV and through the media was filtered for mass consumption. But if you ventured further beyond the censored version of events, as I did, the real horror of what was happening could be found. The then young Internet showed photographs of charred remains of those who had become herded into rooms and set alight. I recall also photographs of those trying in vain to escape deliberately targeted in supposedly safe convoys, their charred bodies still sat in the mangled frames of the vehicles. I'll never forget the audio and video clips that found their way onto the Internet, or the patchy broadcasts from radio stations and their cries for help in between bombing raids. For this was a truly horrific time in our recent history and one for which those who governed at the time should be ashamed and accountable for their inaction.
This leads me to the present situation and Syria where the events witnessed all too close to home have a real danger of being repeated. Once again, we find ourselves looking on in sympathy as those opposed to a brutal regime are targeted along with the innocent, old and young. I am amazed that given the conflicts that have taken place on recent history, we have clearly learnt nothing. We have a United Nations which is powerless to act to prevent innocent people from being killed. Surely where there is indisputable proof of such atrocities, this should be justification alone for some form of intervention. Apparently not. So faced with no other option, the majority it seems simply turn a blind eye to what's going on. Is this how things should be? Simply ignore what is going on and hope it all goes away? Of course there is more to it than that and things are never that simple. There are players in this game who have a vested interest (and money) in what's going on. Russia have a significant base in Syria and continue to fund and provide arms to the regime. The biggest fear it seems is the reluctance to upset them, for we all know where this could lead. So we watch on helpless placing our faith in negotiators and hoping for a common sense outcome. The more I try to convince myself of this, the more I think about Yugoslavia and our collective impotence to do anything about it.

It seems that shocking news is becoming more common and I say this we have lost another music icon, Whitney Houston. This follows the death in the UK last year of another artist of the genre, Amy Winehouse. Of course there is much speculation as to the cause of her early death, but addiction is likely to have contributed. We'll learn more during the coming days, but whatever the cause, this is a tragic and shocking loss.

A Blanket of Whiteness

The snow has finally arrived here and by the Wash here in Lincolnshire, we have woken to a deep covering. We shouldn't be surprised though it's not that common to have heavy snow here, it has been forecast for days and the scenes of freezing white conditions in Europe and the East should have been warning enough.

It was particularly interesting to find that my conservatory has a leak...

In the news, the continuing and worsening violence in Syria is making the headlines and particularly the veto by Russia and China to a UN resolution to denounce President Assad and support the overthrow of his regime. Not surprisingly, the decision has provoked outrage and further soured already tense relations. I suspect this issue will run and run for some time to come.

If the weather hadn't been so bad, we would have visited my parents today with our Little Man. They haven't seen him for more than two weeks now and have lamented the fact. The roads really don't look safe enough to drive so it looks like we'll be staying here.

On the job front, nothing has yet transpired and we continue to struggle on. I've received no response to any of the recent applications I've made. I did yesterday apply for a new role that's appeared very locally. It's for an IT Assistant and the role appears to be pretty basic, but that doesn't bother me at all. The fact that it's so local really appeals to me. I won't be holding my breath though.

A Dangerous Game

I was criticised for being pessimistic last week. I have a very bleak view of the future and this is compounded by the financial mess affecting many parts of the world and the stresses being placed on our lives.
I now find myself concerned at events in the world that could lead us into new conflicts and confrontations. For it seems to me that we could be heading into a very dangerous game of brinkmanship brought about mainly by the actions of the US. The 'game' I refer to is the placing of a missile defence shield close to the border with Russia. The US claim this shield is to counter any offensive missile strike from rogue states in the Middle East or from North Korea. Russia do not believe this to be the sole reason and rightly suspect that it is targeting them. In an attempt to calm their fears, a request for participation in the project has been rejected and further to this, an assurance from the US that the system will not be used to target Russia has not been given. So just what exactly are the US playing at? Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the former Soviet Union, we have enjoyed relative security amidst mutual assurances, smiles and cordial meetings.So why seek to destroy this and plunge us into a new cold war? It makes no sense.
I don't believe I'm a loan voice. There have been murmurings across the Internet and in the press, expressing fear that we are on a path to confrontation. Many suggest that opposition to intervention in Syria or Iran will trigger either China or Russia to step in. If this were to happen then the outcome would be cataclysmic.
So who's calling the shots? Some suggest the European Missile Defense Shield is Pentagon driven, others that it is an arms industry hell bent of profiteering from a new arms race. I suspect that money is involved somewhere along the line - it normally is. Someone out there keen to make millions from making two superpowers push each other to the brink. Or am I just being overly pessimistic and bleak? Possibly... but I don't think it will be long before the threats turn into actions and make it from the columns to the front page.
We can only hope that common sense prevails. This will be a game with no winners.