LF: Syria Catholic Leaders Slam Trump For Attacking Before Proper Investigation Of Perpetrators, Say Christians Will Suffer Most

Title: Syria Catholic Leaders Slam Trump For Attacking Before Proper Investigation Of Perpetrators, Say Christians Will Suffer Most
Source: National Catholic Reporter
URL Source: https://www.ncronline.org/news/worl ... a-criticize-us-missile-strikes
Published: Apr 11, 2017
Author: Catholic News Service
Post Date: 2017-04-11 23:05:23 by Hondo68
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Views: 4117
Comments: 11

Catholic leaders in Syria criticize US missile strikes

Washington -- Two prominent Catholic leaders in Syria criticized the U.S. missile strikes against their nation, wondering why they occurred before investigations into the origins of chemical attacks reported April 4.

But U.S. President Donald Trump said Syrian President Bashar Assad "launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians" and "choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children."

"No child of God should ever suffer such horror," he said April 6, announcing that he had ordered the strike against the air base from which he said the chemical weapons attack was launched.

Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph Younan called the attack an aggression and told Catholic News Service: "It is a shame that the United States administration didn't wait until an honest United Nations investigation was thoroughly made into what is said to be a chemical air strike in Khan Shaykun."

"The agglomerate media and the supremacist policy of the USA just want the killing and destroying conflict in Syria to continue, and this primarily to kill whatever attempt to resolve the bloody crisis," added Younan, who was born in Syria and served for 14 years as bishop of the New Jersey-based Diocese of Our Lady of Deliverance for Syriac Catholics in the United States and Canada.

Bishop Georges Khazen, who serves Latin-rite Catholics in Aleppo, told the Rome-based Fides news agency that he was baffled by "the speed with which it was decided and carried out, without any adequate investigation into the tragic massacre with chemical weapons which took place in Idlib province."

He said the attack "opens new disturbing scenarios for all."

The U.S. launched 59 missiles from the USS Ross and USS Porter in the Mediterranean early April 7 local time. U.S. officials said they targeted Shayrat Air Base's airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas.

In his statement, Trump said, "There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council."

The president said it was vital to U.S. security interests "to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons," and he called on other nations "to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types."

"Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically," Trump said. "As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies."

"We ask for God's wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. We pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who have passed, and we hope that as long as America stands for justice, that peace and harmony will in the end prevail," he said.

Syrian officials called the attack a "blatant aggression," and the General Command of the Syrian army said it "confirms the continuation of the wrong American strategy and restricts the counterterrorist operation that the Syrian army is conducting."

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported nine civilians, including four children, were killed in the U.S. attack. SANA said the civilians died in villages near the airbase and that seven more people were wounded.

It was not clear whether this figure included any of the six dead announced by the Syrian army earlier.

Younan, who said he passed Shayrat Air Base after the strike, en route to celebrate a funeral in Hafar, noted the U.S. was accusing Syria — a U.N. member — of using chemical weapons, but had not investigated the charge.

"The Syrian army was fighting successfully to end the bloody conflict going on for long. It did not need any military intervention that would be condemned by international agencies, such as using chemicals," he said. He added that Christians would suffer the consequences, and the final results of displacement and persecution would not be known for decades.

After the chemical attack was reported, Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo told Fides that although he understood things were not always what they seemed, he could not imagine the Syrian government "is so naive and ignorant to be able to do such 'errors.'"

He said the Syrian government and opposition continued to blame each other for the 2013 chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus.

"Two days ago, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Assad is part of the solution of the Syrian problem. Now he makes statements that say the contrary," Bishop Audo told Fides. "There are interests of regional powers involved in the war. We should always take this into account, especially when certain things are repeated with similar dynamics, and trigger the same reactions and the same effects already experienced in the past."

http://www.patdollard.com/syria-catholic-leaders-slam-trump-for-attacking-before-proper-investigation-of-perpetrators-say-christians-will-suffer-most/#6kRhPSz0fBmfDOHu.99

Jihadi Don launches the Trump Arab Spring offensive against the infidels, Syrian and Russian Christians and the secular Assad Syrian government. (2 images)

As Trump supporters say, "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN." We are taxed to death to create bombs that are planned to murder people around the world. Trump has fallen into the same pit of indecent exposure to promote NEO-CONS.

Hondo, our next window of opportunity to change the nation is in few years from now. Can we? I don't know. But we must resist these evil charlatans that tater votes for every chance he gets!

BOYCOTT PAYPAL AND CLOSE YOUR PP ACCOUNTS NOW! ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO SO,TOO!

Why is democracy held in such high esteem when itâ€™s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)

American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them.

Like the United Nations investigation of chemical weapons used in Ghouta in 2013 and the results it produced …

The Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, was in Geneva for two days for a side-event of the UN Human Rights Council. The Mission of the Holy See and Caritas Internationalis –a confederation of over 160 Catholic member organisations doing humanitarian work — had invited him on a peace campaign.

The ancient city of Aleppo has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. It has seen intense fighting in recent days --parts of the city have been sieged by armed opposition groups—and its possible recapture is of much significance to the Syrian government.

Speaking at a press conference at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Audo, who is also the head of Caritas Syria, said that in five years of war, the city of Aleppo has been emptied out of Christians with only 40,000 remaining out of the original 1,60,000 Syrian Christians. A total of one million Syrians have left the country out of the original 1.5 million. The Islamic State has killed thousands of Christians. In February, Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox church head, Patriarch Kirill, had issued a historic statement where they decried the flushing out of Christians from the Middle East—a region considered the cradle of the faith. The Christians in Aleppo now live mostly in areas under government control.

In a counterview to the mainstream narrative about Syria, Audo, said that the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was not be blamed for the war, that more than 80 percent of the Christians would support Assad if he were to run for re-elections, and more than 50 percent of the overall population, including Sunnis, would vote for Assad.

“Even the Sunnis would choose Bashar al-Assad” to drive away extremists he said. And the “demonisation” of Assad was a pure propaganda by the West, he added.

Bishop of Aleppo says Syrian President Basshar Al-Assad is being demonised by the West. AFP Bishop of Aleppo says Syrian President Basshar Al-Assad is being demonised by the West. AFP The future of Assad has been a key sticking point at the peace talks in Geneva with the "main" opposition party backed by Saudi Arabia and the West saying that Assad must go before any kind of talks on a transitional government while the Syrian government delegation has said that Assad is a “red line” that cannot be crossed.

Audo blamed the extremists and external interference for the mess in Syria. He further said that the Russians were fighting extremists and the Islamic State and that the people “were in a safe moment” during the Russian fight against the armed groups. Speaking to an American journalist, he said that the US must respect the Syrian people and not impose solutions from the outside for “economic and strategic” interests. "I think... this war is not coming from inside Syria... I think all is organised from outside to destroy Syria," he added.

How has life changed in the last five years? Could you please tell us something about the daily lives of the people in Aleppo?

We can say that (we were a) normal city with lot of possibilities, lot of rich families, restaurants, universities, schools and we became a poor country with (poverty) everywhere. I (am) used to repeat(ing) that the rich families left Syria for Lebanon, Europe and Canada. The middle class became poor and the poor miserable. I walk on the streets and look to the people and to the faces and discover how they are sick, becoming poor, and tired without desire of living, only to have some vegetables, some bread, just to not die. This is our situation, unfortunately, in Aleppo (and) not only in Aleppo but we can say in all (of) Syria, this is the result of the war.

Our daily life in Aleppo is very paradoxical. As you (can) imagine from far, war, destruction, bombng from time to time is a reality. Where we are living is under the official army –the west part of the city. So in one way, (we have) a lot of the difficult (ies) without water, without job, without electricity, without fuel —we had a very hard winter. Terrible, really. This is one reality. The second one, we do all we can to continue (living normal lives)—to have organisations (organizing things such as) manifestations (demonstrations), theatre, prayers, scout groups—very Aleppo mentality, always trying to be together and to fight. There are schools, there are universities, there are exams and at the same time, from time to time (there is) bombing, victims, injured (people). This is our life in Aleppo, more than in Damascus or in other cities.

Was there tension between religious communities, particularly Christians and Muslims, before the civil war started?

No, no. Generally (speaking), in Aleppo, we have the tradition of living together. There is a respect for (the) other. There is an art of living together. Everyone knows who he is (but) at the same time (there is) a lot of friendship between Christians and Muslims. It is a tradition in Syria, even now. Even the armed people tried to put the idea of confessional war, even between Christians and Muslims.

Armed people, extremists—they are not worth(y) (of) the name of opposition. They are armed people, manipulated to a big project of destruction. They tried a lot to create this ambience of confessional fighting but they didn’t succeed because the reality of Syria is different.

Do you think the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad should have a role in post- conflict Syria?

He is ready to implement the Syrian constitution. This kind of demonisation, or as we say in French, diabolisition, is not just. He is a doctor, he is well- educated. We have to put him in a context, in a history. There are a lot of (political) interests and he is in the middle of all those interests. We have to understand the situation to have the right answer. It’s propaganda, orchestration. The war is more than 50 percent propaganda—a psychological war, it is used a lot by the strong (dominant) media of the world.

He was a normal man trying to do the best for the country—lot of effort at the level of education, construction, infrastructure. He was a normal president. But we have to put him in the context of the Middle East (situation). And this big fighting between Shias and Sunnis and they use (d) Syria to destroy, at their level, at the international level. (At the) international level, economic and military interests (were the reasons for the war in Syria).

Not because he is (an) Alwaite so (it means that) he is a demon, he is the devil. This (is) big (false) propaganda in the west –he is a dictator, he is killing women.

But the independent UN Commission of Inquiry has said that the government has also committed crimes against humanity? This is not any government saying but a group of independent experts…

How to speak about atrocities of the government and not to speak about atrocities of thousands of armed people pushed from outside to destroy Syria. From inside, there is some self-defence. Perhaps, they (the government) use violence and bombing but we have to put it in this context, it is self-defence.

Was there a huge escalation in fighting in Aleppo after the Russians started the airstrikes?

Not in Aleppo. Outside Aleppo, they attacked Daesh (Arabic acronym for the Islamic State), those armed groups to push them far out from Aleppo who were always threatening by attacks.

A bishop from the Syrian province of Aleppo says the majority of the Arab country’s Christian community supports President Bashar al-Assad in any future election.

The Chaldean Catholic bishop, Antoine Audo, said on Wednesday that about 80 percent of Syria’s Christian population would support Assad if he stood for reelection.

Speaking to reporters in Switzerland’s city of Geneva, Audo criticized “propaganda” against the Syrian leader, insisting that there was no persecution of Christians by the government.

He further said that ongoing deadly conflict in the country aimed to “destabilize the Syrian society and transform the war into a confessional war."

The bishop added that other minorities and communities in the country also supported Assad in his fight against “the extremists.”

Audo stated that different terrorist groups including the Daesh militants fighting the government in Damascus posed a serious threat to Syrian Christians, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the country.

According to Audo, the country’s 1.5 million Christian population before the start of the foreign-backed militancy in 2011 now stands at about 500,000, “due to insecurity.”

He said only around 40,000 of Aleppo’s once 160,000 Christian population remained in the province, adding that the community faced great dangers day to day.

The Christian figure also noted that Damascus has served as a model for peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims and that the current situation has been "imported."

The comments come as UN-brokered indirect negotiations between the Damascus government and the foreign-backed opposition, aimed at resolving the five-year conflict, resumed in Geneva on March 14. The first round stalled on February 3 after the opposition refused to continue the talks.

The Syrian foreign-backed opposition has been insisting on the removal of Assad as a precondition for the establishment of a transitional government.

The foreign-sponsored crisis in Syria flared in March 2011. The conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people and displaced almost half of Syria’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders, according to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research; Press TV reported.

"Syria must resist,” he insisted, and “will resist” because 80 percent of the people are behind the government, as are all the Christians."

Bishop Audo accused the media, including the BBC and Al Jazeera, of biased reporting, unfairly criticising the Syrian regime.

President Assad, he argues, has popular support in his action against those who “seek destabilisation and Islamisation”.

Why should what someone who is in love with Assad and whom Assad carries around in his hip pocket say….“bear repeating?”

Why do you think that the WH is lying? Sean Spicer says that Trump's goal is to destabilize Syria, and I believe him. He inadvertently let the truth slip out to the infidels.

The Obama Trump Islamic Caliphate's goal of establishing Sharia Law and $50 Wahhabi Lettuce, will be defeated by the Freedom Caucus and millions of other patriotic American Christians!

Catholic leaders in Syria criticize US missile strikes

The D&R terrorists hate us because we're free, to vote second party

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul

Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.