Category Archives: Britain

Britain, Middle East, Russia, Syria, United Nations, United States

Can the West still stand by following new evidence from Syria?

SYRIA

The evidence stemming from the organised mass murder by the Assad regime in Syria have led to international war crime experts using phrases that are loaded with historical weight and meaning. One such term now being used is ‘concentration camp’. Such terms should never be used lightly.

Photographic evidence smuggled out by a Syrian military policeman, who has since defected to opposition forces, adds to the chronicled death of some 11,000 people, many of whom appeared to have been tortured before they died.

The former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone, Sir Desmond de Silva, has described many of these photographs as being reminiscent of Nazi death camps such as Auschwitz and Belsen. Such comparisons should not be made without a great deal of sober reflection.

That war crimes experts now feel able to use these terms to describe the slaughter in Syria should give the world pause for thought. Such an assessment and use of rhetoric suggests everyone with a stake in the Syrian conflict – particularly those countries in the Middle East adding proxy support to the Assad regime – need to take a step back and reassess their positions on a conflict that has been going on for almost three years.

Wholesale slaughter in Syria should not come as a surprise. In July last year, the United Nations had already spoken of a death toll exceeding 100,000. However, if 11,000 bodies showing signs of torture turn up in just one area, it suggests that the figure declared by the UN may be a massive underestimation.

Following detailed examination we now have a greater understanding of the nature of many of these deaths. Not all have been casualties of fighting, or those caught up in the collateral damage caused by the indiscriminate shelling of civilian neighbourhoods. Experts are now learning that many were the result of systematic imprisonment and murder on an almost industrial scale.

Assad tested the West’s resolve last year with the use of chemical weapons against a rebel neighbourhood in Aleppo. Possible military repercussions against the Syrian government stalled when MPs in the House of Commons refused to endorse the use of limited force by the British military. Partly as a result, the United States backed away too from its plans in striking at the Syrian regime. The way was then left open for Vladimir Putin of Russia to find a way in brokering a deal that would involve the dismantling of the regime’s inventory and stockpiles of chemical weapons, with Assad remaining in power. But in light of this new evidence, is this diplomatic stalemate still a tenable option?

These revelations were timed to coincide with last week’s peace talks on Syria that were held in Geneva. Some interested parties have said that a ‘peace settlement’ might simply entrench the Assad regime and allow its barbarism to continue unchecked.  Following military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the West is rightly cautious about further military adventures in the Middle East that might involve ‘boots on the ground’. But with a new light now adding a new dimension to the horrors of the Syrian conflict, can the West really stand idly by? Being quiescent witnesses to a new holocaust requires action the West has so far been unprepared for.

 

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Britain, Health, Medical, Science

The effects of sunshine could cut the risk of having a heart attack…

CARDIAC HEALTH

Scientists have found that a little sunshine could be good for your heart.

Even a short, sharp blast from a tanning lamp can cause blood pressure to fall, a study has shown.

The results suggest that well-meaning advice to avoid the sun to protect against skin cancer may in fact be raising the odds of heart problems.

With high blood pressure trebling the chance of heart attacks and strokes, researchers believe the benefits of sunlight may outweigh the risks of skin cancer.

The study carried out by researchers at Edinburgh and Southampton Universities exposed the skin of 24 healthy young men to a sun lamp for 20 minutes and measured their blood pressure.

Diastolic pressure (the lower of the two figures in a blood pressure reading) dropped significantly and remained low for at least 30 minutes after the lamp was switched off. Studies into sunlight usually credit Vitamin D with any health benefits, but in this case a different compound was found to be at work.

It is thought the UVA rays emitted by the lamp triggered the release of a compound called nitric oxide from the skin. This then travelled to the blood vessels and relaxed them, causing blood pressure to fall.

The researchers first wrote in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and stated that even a small drop in blood pressure can cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The findings could be significant as they could help explain why rates of heart disease go up during the winter months and why cardiac health is worse in countries further from the equator.

Professor Martin Feelisch, from the Faculty of experimental medicine at Southampton University, said it would be important to check to establish whether the benefits are not just limited to a quick blast of UV light in a laboratory but whether they persist in the real world too.

If the sun’s rays do prove to be beneficial for the heart, health advice given on tanning is likely to be reviewed.

Despite the concern about skin cancer, heart disease is a far bigger killer. In Britain, skin cancer kills 2,800 people a year while heart disease and strokes claim more than 160,000 lives annually and every seven minutes someone in the UK dies from a heart attack.

Professor Feelisch said that fear of skin cancer has left some people scared of the sun. Others may not be getting enough sunlight because they spend their work and leisure time indoors.

He added:

… Avoiding excess sunlight exposure is critical to prevent skin cancer but not being exposed to it at all out of fear, or as a result of a certain lifestyle, could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

… We are concerned that well-meaning advice to reduce comparatively low numbers of deaths from skin cancer may inadvertently increase the risk of death from heart disease and stroke.

Meanwhile, sunshine can also ease the early stages of multiple sclerosis, a separate study found.

MS is a neurological condition affecting around 100,000 people in the UK, causing problems with vision, balance and the bladder.

Research by Harvard School of Public Health found that boosting vitamin D could reduce the severity of MS.

Alberto Ascherio, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard, said:

… Because low vitamin D levels are common and can be easily and safely increased, these findings may contribute to better outcomes for MS patients.

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Britain, Foreign Affairs, Government, Syria, United Nations

Syrian refugees in need of much better support…

Intro: With Syria’s troubled neighbours being forced to cope with unprecedented levels of refugees crossing their borders, the time has come for the West to do more

The sheer scale and numbers of people fleeing Syria’s civil war is an exodus that requires repeating.

Estimates of refugee movements vary, perhaps for obvious reasons, but many more than two million people have left the country since the conflict began.

Many in the West often assume that it is our countries that routinely absorb the largest numbers of refugees, but a glimpse of the facts reveals a far different reality. Undoubtedly, it is Syria’s closet neighbours that have borne the greatest burden – countries that, politically, already have enough problems to deal with.

Consider Lebanon, for example. It has taken more than 800,000 refugees displaced as a result of the civil war, a figure that is almost a fifth of its entire population. In relative terms, that’s the equivalent of the UK experiencing 12 million starving and impoverished people – men, women and children – flowing across its borders. Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq (including the autonomous Kurdish region in the north) have taken substantial numbers, too. To date, the most generous destination for Syrian expatriates has been Sweden, with more than 15,000 given safe haven.

The UN’s plea that the West accommodates an additional 30,000 has to be seen in the context of this vast and escalating humanitarian catastrophe. Anyone who has read the first-hand accounts, or seen media pictures of these desperately beleaguered people seeking to find shelter, and the basic necessities of life, will come to understand the scale of the tragedy that has affected so many families and individuals.

Estimated refugee movements in Syria.

Estimated refugee movements in Syria.

Aid agencies and charities working in the field have written to the British Government asking that the UK accept a proportion of the refugees. The plea clearly has a moral underpinning that is overwhelming. Though families in the UK may well be feeling the effects of austerity, most would find the suffering that many of these innocent civilians have undergone difficult to comprehend. Taking in our fair share would only amount to a small proportion of the total. More important, however, has to be the provision of fuel, food, water, shelter and sanitation to those tens of thousands struggling to survive in camps across the near east.

As we have come to realise there are many arguments, both for and against, about international aid. In the recent past, for example, there has been the issue over the Indian space programme and the substantial amount of British taxpayers’ money that goes towards it. Resisting that has been the vocal minority of Conservative MPs who would like to see aid given to that project drastically cut. Yet, both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have resolutely stood firm against the instincts of those on the Tory backbenches.

But we have an opportunity now for them to once again to show moral leadership by impressing on the country and international community. By demonstrating magnanimity of outlook and common humanity, the British Government should be forthcoming and welcome a fair quota of Syrian refugees who are in desperate need of help and assistance. It should also consider allocating more funds for the requisitioning of necessities for the refugee camps, as part of a co-ordinated international effort.

As peace talks over Syria will be held this week in Geneva, the Western partners at these talks should surely be able to collaborate and agree on such a plan of action. It is unlikely the war being waged by Bashar al-Assad on his own people will end anytime soon.

Like the conflict that prevailed in Lebanon, the bloodshed in Syria could drag on for many more years. The desperate plight of many Syrians needs to be supported for as long as it takes.

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