OP here - sorry my ital and bolding didn't work well but I was trying to highlight the NON political statements included. There was one political sentence compared to the rest.

I feel helpless to do anything about Syria so I tend to avoid reading about it. It was hard enough with Libya when Gaddafi was threatening to go door-to-door slaughtering the opposition. Wanted the US to intervene and didn't want the US to intervene. Didn't know what was right. Don't know why I worried about it so much since it was out of my hands.

OP, your post is a reminder that I need to keep reading about Syria even if I can't do anything about it. We need to at least not turn the other way.

Anonymous wrote:What in god's name can we do? I watched the most traumatizing coverage from this afternoon that left me in tears - out of character for me. It's beyond horrifying, what's happening over there. I normally donate through Oxfam but are they on the ground there? Is any aid getting through? What is happening? the lack of UN embargo? There are sanctions but it seems China and Russia are undermining us? I don't want to veer to political here lest this get relegated to political forum[i] - I want to know what we can do to help those poor people living in terror. I will spare you the video I saw. It took me all day to get over it, but essentially they're targeting hospitals, public places, families. It's breathtaking in its horror. As a mother, I can't stop thinking about it and wondering how I can help those innocent, suffering humans.

Really, strictly political? Just because I mentioned government actions? Next time I post a subject I care about and want a broad audience, I will be sure not to mention ANYTHING political. I posted because I wanted to know how to get help through to the people on the ground. This is not political this is a human interest thing. While there are political elements, I'm not interested so much in a political discussion on our values and getting involved, although obviously that is very relevant. More than anything else, I want to know how to help people in syria. I expressly said I didnt want to get too politial. This is a human issue. I want people to see it and discuss it and tell me how they and I can help.

Anonymous wrote:What does Jeff have to do with where the OP started this thread?

I moved the thread here from Off-Topic. The original message is very political. I'm surprised OP thinks otherwise.

What does Jeff have to do with where the OP started this thread?

Really Jeff? Political discussion? This is a humanitarian discussion. Do you put requests for bone marrow donations into the political discussion too? Well, oh well. I guess the thread can languish here.

It is a total sh*tshow, to be sure. A year ago NATO gave aircover and airstrikes to the Lybian rebels, but it's a year later, Syria is bigger and more complex and europe and the US don't have the will or the cash to help out militarily. So now its a bunch of meaningless diplomacy and hope that the government falls sooner, not later.

Red Cross/Red Crescent?

What in god's name can we do? I watched the most traumatizing coverage from this afternoon that left me in tears - out of character for me. It's beyond horrifying, what's happening over there. I normally donate through Oxfam but are they on the ground there? Is any aid getting through? What is happening? the lack of UN embargo? There are sanctions but it seems China and Russia are undermining us? I don't want to veer to political here lest this get relegated to political forum - I want to know what we can do to help those poor people living in terror. I will spare you the video I saw. It took me all day to get over it, but essentially they're targeting hospitals, public places, families. It's breathtaking in its horror. As a mother, I can't stop thinking about it and wondering how I can help those innocent, suffering humans.