UN horrified at the level of violence in Syria. AP

The aftermath of the bombing in Douma. AP

The UN is horrified at the level of violence in Syria after a major bombing by the Syrian government killed 100 people in the Damascus suburb of Douma. AP. The warning comes after violence has reached the Assad stronghold of Latakia, where dozens were killed by rebels and Jihadists. The airstrike in Douma hit a vegetable market controlled by the Islamic Army rebel group. The UN called on all parties to protect civilians and to stop using water as a weapon in the conflict. Many groups in the conflict have resorted to cutting off water supplies. The US government also condemned the airstrikes in Douma. 

My Comment:

It seems very unfair to single out the Syrian government for committing an attack on civilians since all sides are guilty of it in this civil war, with the possible exception of the Kurds. I'm not saying that this attack was a good thing, but it just seems hugely hypocritical to condemn the government while not condemning people like ISIS, al-Nusra and even the secular rebel groups. And the Islamic Army, also known as Jaysh al-Islam, which was targeted in this strike has worked with al-Nusra to commit their own war crimes. 

It's always been clear that the Syrian regime and Bashar al-Assad are generally evil. After all, even before the civil war they killed their civilians and tortured people. And their actions in the war have been nothing short of war crimes. All that being said, they are still the least objectionable group in the country. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind seeing Assad share the same fate as Saddam Hussein, but not if it's going to be because one of the other factions won. 

Obviously the Islamic rebel groups are pure evil. ISIS is crucifying people and has committed more then their fair share of atrocities. Al-Nusra is almost as bad and the secular rebel groups have either been wiped out or thrown their lot in with the Jihadists. The only group to not really commit any atrocities are the Kurds, but they have their own problems as well. I have never been comfortable with how far to the left the Kurds are. Some of them are actual communists. If the choice is between a brutal dictatorship, Islamic Jihadists or communists, I'm going to pick the dictatorship. It's too bad that there isn't a decent choice here, but in the real world there often isn't a good choice. 

I will say that these airstrikes shows how weak the regime is. They must have known how these airstrikes would play in the western media. They knew they were going to get criticism but they did it anyways. They must have felt that the tactical advantage or destroying this market would have outweighed the risks involved in terms of international condemnation. Destroying a market wouldn't seem to have any tactical advantage but in fact it damage the logistics for the rebels. Destroying the market will make it harder to feed their people and put pressure on the fighters to provide more for the civilians. It's a cynical strategy, but probably the only one that the government has left. 

Is anything going to be done to prevent these attacks? Probably not. The only thing that could be done is to destroy the Syrian governments ability to conduct airstrikes. There doesn't seem to be the will to do so by any of the players in this drama. The U.S. government probably realizes that destroying Syria's airstrike capability would essentially hand the country of Syria to the Jihadists. And Syria still has strong anti-air defenses, so any strikes would be expensive and could cause casualties. For the time being, Syria is going to keep doing what they are doing.