“Yes, Children are being Killed the dissidents say”

NOTICE:  GRAPHIC VIDEOS ARE EMBEDDED IN THIS STORY. 

by Ken Smith

I admitted upfront in an earlier post that I know even less than you do (the reader), about the twisted and fragmented history of Israel and it’s interactions with Arab and non-Arab neighbors in the middle east especially in relationship to the fighting that is ongoing in Syria.  I was trying to make sense of a country that would kill its own children or make sense of a propaganda machine that would say they were killing kids when maybe they weren’t.  It was complicated.

As a result of that story, I was emailed by many different groups.  One group said “Your ignorant” and you have no idea of what is happening in Syria, “Your an Israeli planted and inspired writer”  and before you write anything else, you need to do XYZ.  Mostly those emails were asking me to do research on the involvement of Israel with the leadership in Syria and with others in the region who were gaining something from the turmoil there  (some of which I have found helpful), but as I spent hours reading and educating myself, I found that what is driving the forces in Syria in my opinion is the fact that the governing minority are ruling the populace majority.  I asked myself, Is this the same as Iraq where the minority Sunni were in charge?  I don’t think so was my finding, it’s way more complicated,  but the fact that the Baathists are the ruling party in Syria made me examine all I could research and read on the founding of that organization, its goals and its history.  I would highly suggest that anyone intersted in the rulers of Syria read up as I did.  Among the many books and articles I read was Thomas Freedman’s “From Beirut to Jerusalem” and took from that writing factual information that helped somewhat to educate me on the history.

Then Sami Jamil Jadallah  sent me this posting below and it seemed to sum up all that I have been reading on the Baathist regime in  Syria.

There is no doubt in my mind the Syrian Ba’athist regime of Bashar Assad is a killer and murderer just like his father’s regime. We all need to remember that in 1982 Bashar’s  uncle, Re’fat who is putting himself out there now as an alternative to Bashar was in charge of “Saraya Al-Difa’a” or the Defense Brigade in charge of regime security. He boasted and it was very well reported by Thomas Freedman in his book “ From Beirut to Jerusalem” that on his orders he had slaughtered no less than 38,000 in the city of Hamah. Everyone also needs to keep in mind it was the Syrian Army in support of Lebanese’s Forces that killed and murdered 4,900 Palestinians in the Tal-Za’ater refugee camps and forced destruction of the entire camp leaving more than 10,000 homeless. It was also Bashar’s father that appointed the late Eli Houbika as minister in Lebanon, the man who was responsible for the mass murder of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila camps. All of this talk of Arab nationalism is non-sense… bunch of lies. The Syrian Ba’athist party is no different from Saddam’s Ba’athis party, they are both criminal regimes. Bashar and his apologists want to use Israel as a defense against the people’s uprising. They are  using Israel as an excuse for continued oppression against their own people and it is no longer an excuse.  This is a crime done by a man who is willing to do anything to stay in power.

Now this was Sami’s personal opinion and I took it as I took other personal opinions in an attempt to get educated about the players and the reasons for the uprising.  It appears to me that there is a bubbling cauldron of resentment within Syria by many groups and now I see why Assad tells the world that if Syria fails, then the whole region may explode.   As I became more knowledgeable of the various factions in Syria it became clear that the whole house of cards is about to collapse.   What is keeping this country from total chaos and becoming a failed state are the beliefs by the current regime that the people actually support them and that the dissidents are actuallly imported terrorists that are undermining the peaceful government.

In my readings I found facts, not BS, not something sent to me by some make believe Mossad agent, but facts.  The facts point to the slaughter in the city of Hamah in 82.  It happened, and back then there was no Facebook or twitter or real internet to spread the stories of that event.   I can imagine that we now are seeing a government that is willing to kill its own children.  Take a look at some of these videos below.  I have viewed maybe 35-50 videos sent to me in email by Syrian dissident groups from London to Ankara, and I feel that while some of what I am being told might be exaggerated, the underlying facts are true.  Assad is Killing children.

[youtube sK903hiF1VE]

[youtube PkkrP8LyUPk]

Ken Smith

For more than twenty-five years Ken Smith has been a leading advocate for veterans. A combat Vietnam veteran, Ken served during 1971-72 as a paramedic and an infantry squad leader with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, in the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. After his discharge, Ken continued his work as a paramedic in New England. On the streets of Boston he encountered growing numbers of homeless Vietnam veterans, and he became determined to both assist them and draw attention to their plight.

In 1989, Ken founded the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, located in a former VA hospital at 17 Court Street in downtown Boston. One of the first facilities designed for homeless veterans and now a national model, the shelter has served over 35,000 of America’s veterans who, for whatever reason, find themselves living on the streets.

In 1992 Ken was awarded Point of Light #142 by President George H. W. Bush, and later that same year received the AMVETS Silver Helmet Award, considered the “Oscar” for American veterans. As one of America’s foremost veterans service organizations, AMVETS (or American Veterans) has a proud history of assisting veterans and sponsoring numerous programs that serve our country and its citizens. Ken was awarded this honor along with Peter Coors, with whom he still maintains a personal friendship.

Over the years Ken has appeared on many national media programs including Good Morning America, Prime Time Live, ABC News, CBS News, Larry King Live, CNN, 60 Minutes, and The Geraldo Show. He has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and numerous international newspapers, magazines, and websites. In 1992, Ken had the distinction of addressing both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions as a keynote speaker on the subject of veterans.

Ken recently left his last assignment with the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, where he was the chief technology architect of the Veteran’s Vocational Technical Institute, Purple Heart Car Donation program, Purple Heart Call Center, Purple Heart Radio, Purple Heart Tech Support, Purple Heart Services, and over thirty new Purple Heart websites. Ken Smith provided the vision and has overseen the implementation of innovative, virtual, work-at-home training programs for veterans with combat disabilities. Ken has designed, upgraded, and supervised the integration and installation of Purple Heart Service Foundations computer and telephony systems, upgrading features from legacy POTS phones to SIP-trunked communications systems including establishing new VPN networks for teams of remote virtual employees.

An adventure sports enthusiast, Ken enjoys extreme skiing, competitive sailing, flying, and travel. He has traveled extensively worldwide, delivering his positive message to the veterans of other countries that a paraplegic veteran of the United States suffers the same as a paraplegic veteran of India; that an amputee veteran of Nepal suffers as much as an amputee veteran of France. Ken’s mentor was Harold Russell, the two-time Academy Award winner who starred in the 1946 film Best Years of Our Lives. A World War II veteran, on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, Harold lost both of his hands. This ghastly misfortune did not stop him, and he went on to become the chairman of the President’s Committee for People with Disabilities. For over fifty years he served US presidents from Truman to Clinton. Ken was humbled and grateful when Harold agreed to serve as the best man at Ken’s wedding.
Ken has been instrumental in the planning stages for the Veterans Workshop, a new nationwide veterans’ advocacy group building a new “Veterans Hotline, and the development of special programs for those who have lost their sight or their hearing, or who have suffered spinal cord injury, as a result of their military experience. The Veterans Workshop provides a forum where new technology and advancements in the fields of prosthetic and orthotic solutions, many designed by Ken, are shared along with virtual training and employment programs.

A 1970 graduate of De La Salle Academy in Newport, Rhode Island, for the past twenty-five years Ken has continued his education with extensive college courses in computer technology and related social service fields. He resides in his native state of Rhode Island with his wife and children.