Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross: Syria Intervention a Big Mistake

Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross: Syria Intervention a Big Mistake

Attacking Syria Will Only Make Situation Worse

by Jason Ditz, August 29, 2013

Two major human rights groups are chiming in on the imminent US attack on Syria today, cautioning that it is a big mistake that will make the humanitarian situation in the nation, already dire after years of sectarian civil war, all the worse.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF)in particular expressed concernthat the US was using their statements about civilian deaths related to exposure to chemicals as a justification for the war, saying the statement was no substitute for a UN investigation into whether it was a chemical weapons attack or not, and that they had no solid evidence of their own on what, exactly, the civilians were exposed to.

US officials had latched on to the part of the MSF report that said victims showed symptoms of exposure to neurotoxins, though it skipped over the part that said it wasn’t sure what those toxins were, and also skimmed past the 355 dead part so it could reiterate rebel claims of thousands dead.

The Red Cross is also warning against the attacks on humanitarian grounds, saying that a US attack would further damage Syria’s infrastructure and create another new influx of displaced civilians in a region that is already overwhelmed by them.

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/08/29/doctors-without-borders-red-cross-syria-intervention-a-big-mistake/