Confirmed: Al-Houla killings were systematic executions - Polidicks

[QUOTE]Updated at 8:00 a.m. ET: Most of the 108 victims of the Houla killings in Syria were executed, the United Nations said Tuesday – an announcement that triggered a coordinated worldwide expulsion of Syrian diplomats.The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says its monitors found that fewer than 20 died from artillery fire. It was first thought the majority of the deaths were caused by artillery fire. Images of bloodied, young bodies laid out in a shallow grave after Friday's onslaught triggered shock around the world and underlined the failure of a six-week-old U.N. cease-fire plan to stop the violence. Syrian authorities blamed "terrorists" for the massacre, among the worst carnage in the 14-month-old uprising against Assad, which has cost about 10,000 lives. In an effort coordinated by Britain, several nations - including Canada, Australia, France and Germany - responded to the U.N. findings by expelling diplomats, as ITC News reported. Syria's charge d'affaires, Ghassan Dalla, the country's topranking diplomat in London, was among those ordered to return to Damascus. The U.N. statement came as UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan was meeting President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UNHCR, told the journalists in Geneva that initial investigations suggest fewer than 20 of the victims in the village of Taldou, near Houla, were killed by artillery or tank fire. "Most of the rest of the victims in Taldou," he told the BBC, "were summarily executed in two separate incidents." Most of the victims were shot at close range. "At this point it looks like entire families were shot in their houses," Colville was quoted as saying by the telegraph. He said the conclusions of the U.N. monitors are corroborated by other sources, and that witnesses blamed pro-government militias for the attacks. The U.N. Security Council on Sunday unanimously condemned the Syrian government for heavy-weapons attacks on Houla. "The Security Council condemned in the strongest possible terms the killings, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more in the village of (Houla), near Homs, in attacks that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighborhood," a non-binding statement said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded that those who carried out the killings be held to account. "The United States will work with the international community to intensify our pressure on Assad and his cronies, whose rule by murder and fear must come to an end," she said.[/QUOTE] Source: [URL]http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/29/11933554-un-in-syria-victims-of-houla-attack-were-summarily-executed?lite[/URL]

WELP! They wont be getting to the olympics now! The country not the people killed because apparently you all instantly think HURR DEAD PEOPLE HURR see: [url]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1186706[/url]

[QUOTE=jordguitar;36118895]WELP! They wont be getting to the olympics now![/QUOTE] :O

[QUOTE=jordguitar;36118895]WELP! They wont be getting to the olympics now![/QUOTE] You monster !

People keep asking why the UN can't get its shit together and do something about all of the death and destruction inSyria. Turns out, I found that it has to do with the United Nations genuinely not giving a fuck. Seriously, Lybia was already a free nation by this point.

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;36118951]People keep asking why the UN can't get its shit together and do something about all of the death and destruction inSyria. Turns out, I found that it has to do with the United Nations genuinely not giving a fuck. Seriously, Lybia was already a free nation by this point.[/QUOTE] Russia is making the UN not give a fuck. They veto everything that involves getting involved.

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;36118951]People keep asking why the UN can't get its shit together and do something about all of the death and destruction inSyria. Turns out, I found that it has to do with the United Nations genuinely not giving a fuck. Seriously, Lybia was already a free nation by this point.[/QUOTE] thank you for your breathtaking insights

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;36118951]People keep asking why the UN can't get its shit together and do something about all of the death and destruction inSyria. Turns out, I found that it has to do with the United Nations genuinely not giving a fuck. Seriously, Lybia was already a free nation by this point.[/QUOTE] You found out from where, exactly?

Maybe we could get Israel to bomb Assad again?

[QUOTE=Thom12255;36119136]Maybe we could get Israel to bomb Assad again?[/QUOTE] I don't see how that will fix things right now.

[QUOTE=jordguitar;36119163]I don't see how that will fix things right now.[/QUOTE] It was just a general statement that there isn't enough explosions and dead people at the moment.

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;36118951]People keep asking why the UN can't get its shit together and do something about all of the death and destruction inSyria. Turns out, I found that it has to do with the United Nations genuinely not giving a fuck. Seriously, Lybia was already a free nation by this point.[/QUOTE] UN isn't a single body that can 'give a fuck' about something, it's the sum of its parts

[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;36118951]People keep asking why the UN can't get its shit together and do something about all of the death and destruction inSyria. Turns out, I found that it has to do with the United Nations genuinely not giving a fuck. Seriously, Lybia was already a free nation by this point.[/QUOTE] international politics are sooooo easy lol

[QUOTE=jordguitar;36118971]Russia is making the UN not give a fuck. They veto everything that involves getting involved.[/QUOTE] China and Russia are the only ones that veto this,the majority still agrees with the intervention the UN system is flawed.

[QUOTE=znk666;36122680] the UN system is flawed.[/QUOTE] this.

The UN is useless in my opinion

[QUOTE=Justenn;36122951]The UN is useless in my opinion [/QUOTE] And they keyword is: [QUOTE=Justenn;36122951]in my opinion[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Van-man;36124429]And they keyword is:[/QUOTE] And almost everyone else's

[QUOTE=zakedodead;36125894]And almost everyone else's[/QUOTE]There is a difference between "Ineffective" and "Useless".

[QUOTE=zakedodead;36125894]And almost everyone else's[/QUOTE] You're...

[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;36126097]There is a difference between "Ineffective" and "Useless".[/QUOTE] They're the same thing in my eyes. What's the difference?

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;36127938]They're the same thing in my eyes. What's the difference?[/QUOTE]"Useless" means it serves no purpose whatsoever, whereas "Ineffective" means that it serves a purpose, it just isn't good at it.

[QUOTE=znk666;36122680]China and Russia are the only ones that veto this,the majority still agrees with the intervention the UN system is flawed.[/QUOTE] The UN is largely for the communication and making decisions that affect most of the world. Not for military operations, interventions at best and peacekeeping operations mostly. If it were for military operations, imagine the meetings: "So, Syria here has been butchering their citizens, how should we invade Syria, or atleast stop them?" Representives of Syria: "I beg you pardon?"

Love how the US regularly pounces on the allegations without any true evidence to support them. "Witnesses" could just as easily be planted by the rebels, assuming they conducted the incident (which with a bit of research you'll find that they've done such stuff before with witnesses/evidence supporting it). Now, I'm not saying it wasn't the Syrian authorities - as it very well could of been, I'm simply saying look at both sides of the coin. It could of also of easily been the opposition. Why? Well, provoke action from the rest of the world.

[QUOTE=Gishank;36129405]Love how the US regularly pounces on the allegations without any true evidence to support them. "Witnesses" could just as easily be planted by the rebels, assuming they conducted the incident (which with a bit of research you'll find that they've done such stuff before with witnesses/evidence supporting it). Now, I'm not saying it wasn't the Syrian authorities - as it very well could of been, I'm simply saying look at both sides of the coin. It could of also of easily been the opposition. Why? Well, provoke action from the rest of the world.[/QUOTE] Well if you look at it through that inverted perspective nothing anyone says about anything can be trusted.

[QUOTE=Gishank;36129405]Love how the US regularly pounces on the allegations without any true evidence to support them. "Witnesses" could just as easily be planted by the rebels, assuming they conducted the incident (which with a bit of research you'll find that they've done such stuff before with witnesses/evidence supporting it). Now, I'm not saying it wasn't the Syrian authorities - as it very well could of been, I'm simply saying look at both sides of the coin. It could of also of easily been the opposition. Why? Well, provoke action from the rest of the world.[/QUOTE]They have more evidence than you could ever dream of having. Anything you know, they know it and much more. Its one of the benefits of having a robust information and intelligence network, and allies with similar networks.