Syria’s Foreign Minister Compares Civil War to September 11. Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said his country is fighting “terrorists from 83 countries,” comparing his country to the U.S. in the heat of 9/11.
“The people of New York have witnessed the devastations of terrorism, and were burned with the fire of extremism and bloodshed, the same way we are suffering now in Syria,” he said. The U.S. barked back, calling the statement “as disingenuous as it is offensive,” The New York Times reports. For more see the full video of Muallem’s remarks or the selection of clips in Russia Today.
Mass Graves Found in Damascus Area. In Beirut’s Daily Star, Lauren Williams writes on mass graves discovered in Damascus.
“Syrian government forces are digging mass grave sites to bury thousands of people killed in detention,” according to the report, which cited the Violations Documentation Center. “Using satellite imagery, along with testimony from civilian witnesses, former detainees and defected prison officers, the Violations and Documentation Center has identified two sites it believes are being used to bury thousands of regime detainees in the Damascus area,” Williams wrote.
“In the report, the VDC cited testimony from former detainees and prison officers, who said they witnessed the deaths of large numbers of detainees and heard of their transfer to the sites near existing cemeteries in Najha and Bahdaliya, to the southeast of Damascus.”
The plight of Syria’s detainees is often overshadowed by the news of fighting on the ground and high-level diplomacy abroad. In June, Human Rights Watch documented cases of detention and sexual abuse, reported by female detainees.
Chronic Disease: Syria’s Other Killer. CNN’s Global Public Square reports on chronic disease in Syria, as lack of medical care claims the lives of “double the number of Syrians killed by combat operations.”
“For many thousands of Syrians who struggle to access medical treatment in a war with no end in sight, everyday medical conditions have now become a matter of life or death,” writes Jerusha Merugen of the Council on Foreign Relations. “As many as 200,000 Syrians have died from chronic conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory and heart conditions, as a result of lack of access to drugs and treatment.” In a testament to the state of services on the ground, Dr. Oussama Rifai told Syria Deeply about the kidney crisis in Aleppo, as he works to stem the dire need for dialysis treatment.
This “stands in contrast to the situation prior to the conflict, when many Syrians received consistent care for these illnesses, with such treatment accounting for a significant portion of Syria’s health services,” Merugen wrote.
Iraq and Syria: Cross-Infection In a more sophisticated comparison than we normally see, drawing parallels between Iraq and Syria, the Guardian’s Martin Chulov poses this question: “as the civil war degenerates into a multisided conflict, the question is now put: could what happened in Anbar in 2007 be repeated in Syria in 2013? Could the model of Sunni tribal leaders in Iraq who helped drive al-Qaida out…be used as a template for the same thing in northern Syria?”
The inquiry is timely, and vitally important, as “groups fighting to establish Islamic state in Syria are increasingly dragging the wider region into chaos.”
A recent report from IHS Jane’s determined that almost half of the roughly 100,000 rebel fighters are jihadists or hardline Islamists, a factor accelerated by the continued flow of foreign fighters into Syria.
Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team:
The Independent: UN Security Council Demands Aid Access
BBC: Chemical Arms Inspectors Head to Damascus
The Daily Star/Opinion: The West Has a Second Chance in Syria
The Globe and Mail: Syria – The New Magnet for Self-Styled Jihadists
Reuters: Russia Doubts Mid-November Date for Syria Talks