Amnesty International issued a report about the events of the last six months in Syria. AI had investigators who actually made it to more than 20 towns where people had been killed in fighting. According to the report, Syrian forces under the control of Bashir al Assad have been "systematically" killing civilians. Frequently, the Assad forces entered a town and killed all men between 15 and 50 along with members of their families. Other times, people were killed if the Assad forces were seeking their family members but were unable to find their intended targets. According to facts reported by AI, the Assad forces were not fighting battle; they were just on a killing spree.
This is an important report. For months, nearly all of the reports from Syria always point out that the news organizations cannot get their own reporters into that country to verify what is happening. Now, we have a report from a group that has been there, interviewed survivors and seen first hand what happened. And that group has detailed a campaign by the Assad forces that clearly fits within the rubric of "war crimes" or "crimes against humanity" if you prefer. It is really big news.
So who is covering this report. The BBC has major coverage. The European press is also covering it. ABC does not mention it. CBS is also quiet. NBC has also missed the story. CNN actually has a story about Syria, but it examines whether or not the fighting there qualifies to be called a civil war and the Amnesty report is never mentioned. Fox also has an article about Syria but nothing about this report.
How can it be that the American media is silent? Thousands of innocent people have been killed by a government trying to retain power, and today's big story is about whether or not Lance Armstrong used drugs to win the Tour de France years ago. Who cares? Indeed, who actually ever paid attention to the Tour de France when it was happening? The media should be ashamed.
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