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Serious debate over alleged use of chemical weapons

05 May 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Sunday reading from the Acts of the Apostles says “there arose no little dissension and debate” in Antioch over whether or not circumcision was required of Gentile men interested in joining the early Christian community. There is also debate and dissension today over whether Syria has used chemical weapons on opponents of the ruling regime. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon renewed an appeal Monday to Syria to allow U.N. chemical weapons experts into the country, saying that on-site inspections are essential to “establish the facts and clear up all the doubts.”Ban’s remarks—delivered with chief U.N. chemical weapons inspector Ake Sellstrom of Sweden at his side—followed allegations by several countries, including the United States, that chemical weapons were likely used in Syria in recent months.Syria invited the U.N. last month to conduct an investigation into its claims that Syrian rebels attacked Syrian government forces with chemical weapons on March 19 near Aleppo. Syrian officials said 26 people died in the attack, including some government troops.But Syria balked after Britain and France urged the U.N. to also investigate Syrian opposition claims that the government employed chemical weapons in three Syrian cities: Aleppo, Damascus, and Homs.The stakes are high on this issue. President Barack Obama has said on several occasions that conclusive evidence that Syria was using chemical weapons would be “a game changer” in terms of the West’s response to the civil war in that nation.Homily hint: The U.S. public is understandably leery of any escalation of American involvement in another conflict in the Middle East. How can good people find good ways to resist violence around the world without resorting to violence in return? A age-old question that remains timely and pressing today. Sources: Articles by Colum Lynch, Abigail Hauslohner,Anne Gearan, and Craig Whitlock for the Washington Post

ban ki-moon united nations syria chemical weapons
Syrian gas attack marks serious escalation

25 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus warns in this Sunday’s gospel that “there will be wailing and grinding of teeth” among those left outside the gates to salvation. Despite warnings from President Barack Obama and other Western leaders to the Syrian regime not to use chemical weapons in their struggle with opponents, a deadly gas attack hit opposition strongholds in the suburbs east of Damascus Tuesday overnight, killing hundreds of men, women, and children as they slept and leaving thousands of loved ones wailing in horror.What would be the world's most lethal chemical weapons attack since the 1980s prompted an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was shocked, but the divisions among major powers that have crippled international efforts to quell two and a half years of civil war were still evident, with Russia hastening to back up denials from the administration of President Bashar al-Assad by saying it looked like a rebel "provocation" to discredit him.While Western governments called for an immediate onsite investigation by U.N. chemical weapons inspectors who arrived in the Syrian capital only this week, Moscow said the very presence of that team suggested government forces were not to blame.Images showed scores of bodies—some of them small children—laid on the floor of a clinic with no visible signs of injuries and other indications that they had died from suffocation. Opposition sources cited death tolls ranging from 500 to 1,300 after shells and rockets carrying deadly gas fell around 3 a.m.Homily hint: Even in something as horrific as war, there are certain acts which simply go beyond any acceptable norm. Chemical and poison gas attacks are among those actions. Twenty years ago the Chemical Weapons Convention came into existence, and nearly all countries in the world have joined it. Syria is one of a very few holdouts. Pray for all those who suffer in conflicted areas of the world that the torn fabric of humanity be mended and made whole. Sources: Articles by Dominic Evans and Khaled Yacoub Oweisfor Reuters and Stephen Rex Brown for the New York Daily News

russia syria bashar al-assad vladimir putin chemical weapons
Syria strike seems certain

01 Sep 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The “sprinkled blood” of Jesus “speaks more eloquently than that of Abel,” the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews says this Sunday. The images of innocent civilians, including many children, left lifeless by a poison gas attack near the Syrian capital last week speak more powerfully of the need to respond militarily than does the stymied United Nations Security Council, the Obama administration contends.The U.S. is prepared to take action on its own against the Syrian government it holds responsible for the chemical weapons attack. A State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. would respond even in the absence of U.N. backing. "We cannot be held up in responding by Russia's intransigence—continued intransigence—at the United Nations," Marie Harf said. "The situation is so serious that it demands a response."The U.S. has not publicly presented proof that the Syrian government used deadly chemical weapons near Damascus last week. Even so, U.S. officials have pointed a finger squarely at Syrian President Bashar Assad.President Barack Obama has said that the U.S. has concluded that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attack and "there need to be international consequences." The president says he's not seeking a lengthy, open-ended conflict in Syria, indicating that any U.S. response would be limited in scope.The U.S. is concerned that letting the Syrian government go unpunished would send a signal to other countries, including North Korea, that have large inventories of chemical weapons, as well as making it likely that the Assad government will attack civilians with such weapons again, according to a U.S. official.While the U.S. has warships and submarines carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles ready for action in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, any military move may still be days away, in part because a team of U.N. weapons inspectors needs at least two more days to complete its report.Homily hint: As the U.S. prepares a possible military strike against Syria, the question of the moral justification for the use of force arises. In this case it is Syria’s use of chemical weapons on its own population that is triggering the call to action. A discussion in the faith community on the morality of U.S. action likely would prove fruitful. The article referenced in the "Sources" below could prove helpful. Sources: Articles by Deb Riechmann and Kimberly Dozier for the AssociatedPress and Terry Atlas and Joe Sobczyk for Bloomberg.com. See also"U.S. may look to build moral argument for strike against Syria, experts say"

barack obama united nations united states syria bashar al-assad chemical weapons
Syrian war turns toxic

09 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

As his disciples rushed to defend him from arrest in Palm Sunday’s gospel of the Passion of the Lord, Jesus warns them that, “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” History has borne out the truth of the statement, and Syria’s agonizing civil war is no exception. In another dark turn, a suspected chemical attack in a town in Syria’s rebel-held northern Idlib province killed dozens of people on Tuesday. Observers described the attack as among the worst in the country’s six-year civil war. Hours after the chemical attack, a small field hospital in the region that was treating its victims was struck and destroyed, according to press reports and a civil defense worker in the area: “The entrance of the building was hit, bringing down rubble on top of medics who had earlier been seen dousing a steady stream of arrivals to wash away chemical residue.” By Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group put the death toll from the gas attack at 72, saying there were many children among the dead. There was no comment from the government in Damascus in the immediate aftermath of the attack, which activists said was the worst since the 2013 toxic gas attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta that killed hundreds of civilians. That attack, which a U.N. report said was an attack by toxic sarin gas, was the worst in Syria’s civil war. In the wake of the 2013 attack, President Bashar Assad agreed to a Russia-sponsored deal to destroy his chemical arsenal and joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. Those weapons have been destroyed, but member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have repeatedly questioned whether Assad declared everything in 2013. The widely available chemical chlorine was not covered in the 2013 declaration and activists say they have documented dozens of cases of chlorine gas attacks since then. The Syrian government has consistently denied using chemical weapons and chlorine gas, accusing the rebels of deploying it in the war instead. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused the Syrian government of conducting at least eight chemical attacks using chlorine gas on opposition-controlled residential areas during the final months in the battle for Aleppo last year that killed at least nine civilians and injured 200. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the international chemical weapons watchdog determined the Syrian government was behind at least three attacks in 2014 and 2015 involving chlorine gas and that the Islamic State group was responsible for at least one, involving mustard gas. France's foreign minister called on Tuesday for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after what he said was a “disgusting” gas attack on Syria's rebel-held Idlib province. “A new and particularly serious chemical attack took place this morning in Idlib province. The first information suggests a large number of victims, including children. I condemn this disgusting act,” Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement. “In the face of such serious actions that threaten international security, I ask for everyone not to shirk their responsibilities. With this in mind, I ask for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council,” he added. France, Britain, and the United States in February put forward a resolution to impose sanctions targeting Syrian government officials over accusations of chemical weapon attacks during the six-year conflict. Russia, backed by China, cast its seventh veto to protect the Syrian authorities and Russian President Vladimir Putin described the draft resolution as “totally inappropriate.” Lessons drawn from the readings The prophet in the Book of Isaiah does not resist abuse in staying faithful to his prophetic mission: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” Though few of us would be willing to pay that steep a price as part of our own faithful witness, we surely can add our voice to the call for peace and reconciliation. That call is urgently needed now. Final thought in light of the news Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the attack Tuesday has all the hallmarks of a regime attack because the Syrian government is the only party to the conflict equipped to deliver deadly chemicals. Rycroft called the attack “clearly a war crime” and indirectly criticized Russia and China for protecting Syria by vetoing previous council resolutions. The ambassador said he hoped for a different approach from the "Security Council members who have previously used their vetoes to defend the indefensible.” Rycroft said an emergency council meeting would “shine a spotlight on the heinous use of chemical weapons yet again” in Syria, rally support for action in the council, and put pressure on Russia and China “to hold to account those who used chemical weapons. We all must call for a different approach, on Syria and with other national and regional conflicts that seem to have morphed into proxy wars for world powers. We citizens of powerful nations have a responsibility to keep our leaders faithful to ideals that rise above geopolitical gain. Let’s turn to the example this Sunday of Jesus and the faithful prophets in speaking our truth to power as we say to the world, “No more war!”

syrian civil war chemical weapons chemical weapons convention bashar al-assad chemical attacks chlorine gas war crimes
Syrian war turns toxic

09 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

As his disciples rushed to defend him from arrest in Palm Sunday’s gospel of the Passion of the Lord, Jesus warns them that, “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” History has borne out the truth of the statement, and Syria’s agonizing civil war is no exception. In another dark turn, a suspected chemical attack in a town in Syria’s rebel-held northern Idlib province killed dozens of people on Tuesday. Observers described the attack as among the worst in the country’s six-year civil war. Hours after the chemical attack, a small field hospital in the region that was treating its victims was struck and destroyed, according to press reports and a civil defense worker in the area: “The entrance of the building was hit, bringing down rubble on top of medics who had earlier been seen dousing a steady stream of arrivals to wash away chemical residue.” By Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group put the death toll from the gas attack at 72, saying there were many children among the dead. There was no comment from the government in Damascus in the immediate aftermath of the attack, which activists said was the worst since the 2013 toxic gas attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta that killed hundreds of civilians. That attack, which a U.N. report said was an attack by toxic sarin gas, was the worst in Syria’s civil war. In the wake of the 2013 attack, President Bashar Assad agreed to a Russia-sponsored deal to destroy his chemical arsenal and joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. Those weapons have been destroyed, but member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have repeatedly questioned whether Assad declared everything in 2013. The widely available chemical chlorine was not covered in the 2013 declaration and activists say they have documented dozens of cases of chlorine gas attacks since then. The Syrian government has consistently denied using chemical weapons and chlorine gas, accusing the rebels of deploying it in the war instead. The New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused the Syrian government of conducting at least eight chemical attacks using chlorine gas on opposition-controlled residential areas during the final months in the battle for Aleppo last year that killed at least nine civilians and injured 200. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the international chemical weapons watchdog determined the Syrian government was behind at least three attacks in 2014 and 2015 involving chlorine gas and that the Islamic State group was responsible for at least one, involving mustard gas. France's foreign minister called on Tuesday for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after what he said was a “disgusting” gas attack on Syria's rebel-held Idlib province. “A new and particularly serious chemical attack took place this morning in Idlib province. The first information suggests a large number of victims, including children. I condemn this disgusting act,” Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement. “In the face of such serious actions that threaten international security, I ask for everyone not to shirk their responsibilities. With this in mind, I ask for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council,” he added. France, Britain, and the United States in February put forward a resolution to impose sanctions targeting Syrian government officials over accusations of chemical weapon attacks during the six-year conflict. Russia, backed by China, cast its seventh veto to protect the Syrian authorities and Russian President Vladimir Putin described the draft resolution as “totally inappropriate.” Lessons drawn from the readings The prophet in the Book of Isaiah does not resist abuse in staying faithful to his prophetic mission: “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” Though few of us would be willing to pay that steep a price as part of our own faithful witness, we surely can add our voice to the call for peace and reconciliation. That call is urgently needed now. Final thought in light of the news Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the attack Tuesday has all the hallmarks of a regime attack because the Syrian government is the only party to the conflict equipped to deliver deadly chemicals. Rycroft called the attack “clearly a war crime” and indirectly criticized Russia and China for protecting Syria by vetoing previous council resolutions. The ambassador said he hoped for a different approach from the "Security Council members who have previously used their vetoes to defend the indefensible.” Rycroft said an emergency council meeting would “shine a spotlight on the heinous use of chemical weapons yet again” in Syria, rally support for action in the council, and put pressure on Russia and China “to hold to account those who used chemical weapons. We all must call for a different approach, on Syria and with other national and regional conflicts that seem to have morphed into proxy wars for world powers. We citizens of powerful nations have a responsibility to keep our leaders faithful to ideals that rise above geopolitical gain. Let’s turn to the example this Sunday of Jesus and the faithful prophets in speaking our truth to power as we say to the world, “No more war!”

syrian civil war chemical weapons chemical weapons convention bashar al-assad chemical attacks chlorine gas war crimes
Quote of the week

09 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

“I saw a lot of victims. The hospital was filled with them. There were a lot of unconscious people. I tried to help the women, children and old men . . . . and then the hospital was attacked three times.” —Syrian Dr. Feras al-Jundi

chemical attacks war crimes syrian civil war chemical weapons
Fact of the week

09 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

Over 98 percent of the world’s population lives within territories where the Chemical Weapons Convention has become the law of the land. Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

chemical weapons convention chemical weapons
Fact of the week

09 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

Over 98 percent of the world’s population lives within territories where the Chemical Weapons Convention has become the law of the land. Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

chemical weapons convention chemical weapons