While Obama ponders four options for intervening in Syria, one them bombing positions of Assad’s Army, we get pictures of bloody children pulled from the rubble and contradictory messages about who is destroying Aleppo. The truth about what is happening is complicated and hard to know, and what we should do about it is burdened with biases.
For these reasons Frances Fuller decided to use her personal contacts and go to those who are the closest to the conflict and have the biggest stake in its outcome. What she tells us has been backed up by Syrian Christians onsite in Aleppo and people in personal contact with others in the city.
"I have the word of a medical doctor who lives in Western Aleppo that Assad and his partners are trying to rescue the Christians who are threatened with massacre by ISIS, and they, plus many Muslims, stand solidly on his side," Fuller stated.
"His view corroborates reports from Vanessa Beely, an independent reporter who recently returned from Aleppo. She says that the regime of Bashar al-Assad, supported by Russia, Iran and Hizballah, has regained 65% of the Syrian territory which was occupied by ISIS and is now assaulting the rest, primarily Eastern Aleppo. Meanwhile, ISIS and other rebel groups in Eastern Aleppo lob shells into Western Aleppo while virtually holding hostage a civilian population of more than 200,000 people.
"Reports in American media that these attacks are coming from Syrian and Russian weapons are not true, according to Beely and my on-the-ground contacts.
"One of these, a Syrian Christian who lives in Lebanon but travels to Syria frequently and visited two weeks ago with residents of Western Aleppo, observes that the U.S. was largely silent while churches were destroyed, bishops were kidnapped, hundreds of thousands of people were killed or injured, and millions became wandering refugees but is now considering stepping into the conflict. He concludes, as I do, that it is because our own interests are threatened. Our dominance of the region, our status in the world is shaken. In other words, our biases now cloud our judgment. It happens that the U.S. government dislikes every military group that is marching on Aleppo. We don’t want any of them, Syria or Iran or Russia or Hizballah, to win.
"While I also have biases against all of these groups, I know that under the Assads the Christians of Syria have been safe and free. For this reason the Christians have supported the regime in this chaotic conflict.
"Robert Naiman, policy director at Just Foreign Policy, in a recent article on HuffPost points out that the Obama Administration cannot bomb Syrian government forces without the approval of Congress, because that would be an act of war against another country. Not only is Naiman right about this, but bombing the Syrian government will be an attack on the last hope of the Christian population and, besides that, a foolish risk, unless we would really like to start World War III.
"When my own biases are put aside, I see clearly that for America to attack the Syrian Army---partially motivated by our distrust of Iran or our dislike for Hizballah or some rivalry with Russia---would be to fight our own wars on Syrian soil, which is immoral to say the least. To hinder anyone from liberating the Christians of Syria and the population of Aleppo will mean fighting on the side of ISIS and be a wicked use of our power and a mistake that will leave us with few friends in the Middle East."
Frances Fuller puts a face on the Middle East many Americans have not yet seen. Her award-winning memoir, 'In Borrowed Houses', gives readers a penetrating glimpse of the Middle East from the inside.
The Syrian occupation of Lebanon during that country’s long civil war is part of Fuller’s experience in the Middle East, related in her memoir. Told in short episodes, Fuller’s book reveals the alienation, confusion and courage of civilians in the Lebanese civil war, introducing to the reader a variety of real people with whom the author interacts: editors, salesmen, neighbors, refugees, soldiers, missionaries, lawyers, shepherds, artists, students. With these people she works, studies, plays games, prays, laughs and cries, all to the accompaniment of gunfire. Together these small stories tell what war is like for civilians caught on a battlefield, and they create the impression of the Lebanese as a fun-loving, witty, patient and resilient people. Fuller's stories compose not a political history, but a historical document of a time and a place.
Critics have praised ‘In Borrowed Houses.’ A judge in the 22nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards called 'In Borrowed Houses' “ . . a well written book full of compassion . . . a captivating story . . . ”. Another reviewer described the book as “Wise, honest, sensitive, funny, heart-wrenching . . .”. Colin Chapman, lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut said, “ . . . western Christians and Middle Eastern Christians need to read this story…full of remarkable perceptiveness and genuine hope.”
Frances Fuller is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at frances0516@att.net. The full text of her latest article is available at her website. Fuller's book is available at Amazon and other book retailers. A free ebook sample from 'In Borrowed Houses' is available at http://www.payhip.com/francesfuller. Frances Fuller also blogs on other issues relating to the Middle East on her website at http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com.
About Frances Fuller:
Frances Fuller spent thirty years in the violent Middle East and for twenty-four of those years was the director of a Christian publishing program with offices in Lebanon. While leading the development of spiritual books in the Arabic language, she survived long years of civil war and invasions.
Contact:
Frances Fuller
frances0516@att.net
http://www.inborrowedhouseslebanon.com
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