Update: The least we can do:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/syria...
Edit: To be 100% clear, I'm by no means sympathizing. Rather, I believe that understanding an adversary's motivations can help resolve a conflict.
I know nothing about the complex situation in Syria and Iraq but I always guessed that ISIL in Syria was more about Iraqi post-Sunni Awakening fallout after being locked out of governing by al-Maliki. Like if you look at a map of ISIL in Iraq you see the area they have is the area that was hostile to Iraqi Occupation in 2007 and the leader of ISIL is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi who was an insurgent from Fallujah. They just took advantage of the problems in Syria and used that as a spring board into Iraq.
The reason the fight against ISIL is going so slow in Iraq is the same reason it was such a tough fight in 2007. They're fighting the Iraqis who live there, it's not a Syrian invasion force.
So why would someone from Damascus be joining ISIL over this problem?
https://kanvaasi.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/bors151112-1500...
Compared to those who are now known for bombing a hospital? You can easily paint any side as the total bad guy when you look at just how much abuse does happen. It doesn't much matter who is worst when everyone is so dirty that you can get enough dirt to validate any feelings one has.
For example, consider the problem with dancing boys in Afghanistan and how the Taliban fought against it while the US protected the practice. Defining the 'bad guy' becomes a bit more difficult, no?
That said, I agree with omarish in this respect: my own feeling of helplessness upon reading this article is probably akin in some ways to the feeling that drives people to take up arms with ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The important distinction, though, is that the source of the outrage that drives ISIS fighters to act is precisely the opposite of what one ought to be outraged about. (Or, at any rate, pretty much the opposite of what actually outrages me.)
they do have. A lot. For Islamic true believers. The same way like Inquisition, with all the tortures and burning at stake, was for Christians. Blind devotion to religion may do that to you.
>that we're overlooking?
of course we don't see these redeeming qualities. Or more precisely - we do see these qualities, only we see them as condemning where is they see exactly the same qualities as redeeming.
I don't know any muslims personally, but I doubt that a majority of muslims, at least in the western world, believe ISIS has redeeming qualities. Is that true? Like what are those qualities that peaceful practitioners of Islam can redeem all those rapes and murders? Have you seen the Vice documentaries of kurdish fighting ISIS? ISIS are insane. They murder everyone. Even their own members: non-arabic speaking ISIS converts are used for suicide attacks. Tell me what redeems this behavior, wait I already know, nothing redeems this. Absolutely nothing in the mind of anyone who abhors violence and wishes for peace. You know, sane people.
Even other terrorists say ISIS goes to far. Hamas has spoken out against ISIS!
We likely won't know without talking to the people who make the choice to join them. For the Taliban case, I only learned of this recently because it was so largely ignored. In a few decades who knows what we may know about ISIS that we don't currently know.
What I do know is so often pictures have been painted as black and white which are in reality many shades of grade and that due to this I am hesitant to believe this case really in black and white.
We dropped bombs on Iraq for non-existant WMDs, and invaded Afghanistan over a CIA agent that was living in Pakistan, yet we won't do anything to an out of control government bent on destroying what little society it has left and is a legitimate threat to national security.
Fuck that.
More realistically, though, I perceive ISIS as a greater threat to US national security. As an example, the TSA is already getting more ornery with airport security in response to the Russian airplane downed over Egypt for which ISIS has taken responsibility. And ISIS only claims responsibility as revenge against Russian intervention in Syria, intervention on behalf of the government of Syria.
If Syria is a threat, it's a lot less pressing than the threat posed by the militants fighting Syria.
In other words, from geopolitical and war strategy standpoints, Syria is currently one of the more important countries in the world, to the US.
Also, we are not going to war in Syria. The Russian government has been quite clear that they are allies of Assad.
I'm also curious how war is compatible with "spreading the ideal of free speech". If anything, war is usually associated with the curtailing of free speech, and is when sedition is most actively persecuted.
Probably the same way the US spread the ideal of freedom to the Middle East.
The State Department has never been skittish about getting into bed with violent islamic fundamentalists, and doesn't care about the success (Or the lack thereof) of the last round of military "fixes." It also doesn't seem to recall how this situation played out in Afghanistan... Circa 1980.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-b...
[2] http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/25/443577215/...
I think you are too emotionally close to the issue because of the specific subject matter this activist fought for. No, I would not condone a war just for stuff like this, I don't want American's to die anymore then I want Bassel Khartabil to die.
Of course, writing someone is useless most of the time, but within the powers we all have is also the power to create awareness for a situation of massive injustice.
I don't know how these decisions are actually made, but I would think there'd be at least one government with one military team that would willingly rescue him.
If anyone is in the military, what's the feeling when these kinds of things happen? It seems like there should be brave people volunteering for those kinds of rescue missions where someone really needs their help.
According to Amnesty the letter writing campaign matters, because the government knows they can't hide what they are doing (and even though Assad is especially horrible, his regime must try to hide this, otherwise why sentence him in secret?) when sacks of mail starts to flow in from the entire world.
meh... why not? everyone else seems to be doing it.