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UN on Syria: It's a Civil War

'This is really becoming large scale,' peacekeeping chief says

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 12, 2012 1:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – The situation in Syria has officially descended into a full-blown civil war, the UN's peacekeeping chief said today. "Yes, I think we can say that," Herve Ladsous told Reuters, explaining that the opposition has claimed "large chunks of territory in several cities," and that regime forces are trying to take them back. "Now we have confirmed reports of not only of the use of tanks and artillery, but also attack helicopters. This is really becoming large scale."

If the Red Cross declares Syria a full-blown "internal armed conflict," it will have international legal ramifications, forcing both sides to comply with the Geneva Conventions. Ladsous' statement carries no such legal weight, but could have political ramifications. He also revealed that there had been a shooting attack on UN monitors en route to the town of Haffeh, though the shots seemed to come not from troops but from an angry crowd of stone-throwing civilians.

Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. observer team in Syria, speaks to reporters in Zabadani neighborhood in Damascus, Syira, Sunday, May 20, 2012.
Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. observer team in Syria, speaks to reporters in Zabadani neighborhood in Damascus, Syira, Sunday, May 20, 2012.   (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. observer team in Syria, stands near a U.N. observers car in Zabadani neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 20, 2012.
Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. observer team in Syria, stands near a U.N. observers car in Zabadani neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, May 20, 2012.   (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 7 comments
Edgar
Jun 13, 2012 2:15 AM CDT
A civil war  ?    looking at and weighing up the facts, I believe the authorities are correct in this instance.
Muffin
Jun 12, 2012 6:08 PM CDT
Assad;s day as dictator are numbered.
boxcar
Jun 12, 2012 5:09 PM CDT
In the bigger picture, Solar Scientists predicted that global socio-economic upheavals should occur as early as the mid-90s (Rwanda, Bosnia) as they have done in Modern History since 1796 (yrs are 1860s, 1930s & NOW) wherein we'd see an increase in DEATH Rate as our traditional FINAL SOLUTION take hold worldwide to use DEATH Control to offset decades of lack of BIRTH Control. In a world where Births to Deaths ratio has been 2 to 1, its no wonder Deaths are on an increase, cuz someone decided to promote muti-family Births leading to multi-family Deaths we are seeing now- Root cause of GENOCIDE is that in a sun-synchronized population (ever hear of post war baby boom?) eventually there has to be a point in time when 4 generations are alive but who is working? Newborns, Aged are not- when the post war gen. begins to Retire, THAT's when it all unravels cuz there's only ONE generation working to support other 3 and it is unsustainable so something has to give- FACT: 1st post war baby boomers (born Fall 1946) began to retire Fall 2008- Anything happen then? How about near-collapse of financial system Fall 2008 which was precipitated by Bush SEC pulling the rug out from under stk mkt by removeal of 1937 Uptick Rule-Yeah, its removal didn't CAUSE a housing bubble, it permitted Wall Street Banksters to SHORT IT into the ditch, afterwhich their DC cronies ponyed up Trillion$ of Tax Payer U$D to pay them off w/Bank BailOut$- Its the "Crime of a Century" yet NO ONE's GONE TO JAIL- Can you guess why I say "America" is a BIG LIE

 
Syria • civil war • UN peacekeepers • Syrian uprising • UN monitors • Herve Ladsous

 
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