Marble Composition

Hama

Being a history buff, and an amateur one at best, the name of a city in Syria triggered my memory from the last post: Hama. Fascinating stuff:

Islamists and other opposition activists proclaimed Hama a "liberated city" and urged Syria to rise up against the "infidel". Brotherhood fighters swept the city of Ba'thists, breaking into the homes of government employees and suspected supporters of the regime, killing about 50. The goal of the attack on Hama was to cease the rebellious activities of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. The assault began on February 2 with extensive shelling of the town of 350,000 inhabitants.
[...]
According to Amnesty International, the Syrian military bombed the old streets of the city from the air to facilitate the introduction of military forces and tanks through the narrow streets, where homes were crushed by tanks during the first four days of fighting. They also claim that the Syrian military pumped poison gas into buildings where insurgents were said to be hiding.

Between 10,000 and 40,000 people were killed in the assault on the city. This is the exact strategy our friends on the right have been advocating since the start of the insurgency in Iraq. In short: Kill Them All.

I rather loathe historical and geological comparisons, but let's have some fun anyway. This would be the equivalent of leveling the city of Colorado Springs, CO, here in the U.S. By the the government no less.

posted by FuzzFinger @ 6/19/2007 03:33:00 PM