The UN is claiming that the crisis in Syria is the worst since the Vietnam War. There are now 2 million Syrian refugees.
Please join the Holy Father, Pope Francis in prayer tomorrow, Saturday, and storm the heavens with prayers for clarity for everyone involved (and those who want to involve themselves) in this political turmoil.
My brother, a foreign service officer for my own country is in Syria, helping repatriate our fellow Filipinos. I am afraid for his life. Although he’s saying that it is still relatively safe in Syria and that media is just hyping up the issues, I still can’t help but worry.
I know the Vietnamese people understand this war and the chemical warfare (so much like Agent Orange). The scars of yesterday still resounds today. Should the US bomb Syria, they’re just making themselves more and more like the enemy they detest.
No to bombing Syria. And UN, please step up.
Hello Saigon! 
Well done speaking out on this issue. Political engagement is hard to find. Great to see it on your blog along with all the other nice things; mooncake and scooter pictures. A fab blog.
Thanks Robert for your comment. I don’t usually speak about such issues because I know I don’t speak “politicalese”. 😛 But although it may seem all is well in sunny Saigon, some issues are too close to my heart. And we are not only citizens of our own country, we are essentially citizens of the world.
Nice to see you covering all aspects Lyra. Yours is a proper blog in my view. I went to write an article on tea in Calcutta and ended up writing a political piece that people really liked. Best wishes to you.
No. No to killing. No to Syria. This is such a complicated problem we can only lean in to prayer.
Yes Audrey. I hope this can be resolved peacefully soon.
I doubt the Vietnamese understand what is going on in Syria. Those who supported the Nationalist government would see it very differently from those who supported the DRVN, and all of them together are now a minority. Vietnam is a younger country and its vision is fixed upon improving the present to secure their future.
No to killing is a wonderful sentiment, except the killing has already taken place, and continues with conventional arms on a daily basis. To acquiesce to it is to accept the idea that every government had a right to indiscriminately kill the old, infirm, and women and children of anyone who dares to question their legitimacy and whose male youth take up arms against them. After all, Syria is a internationally recognized state governed by what was, at one time, accepted as a legitimate government. Why should Syrians have any right to question or oppose their government? And it that government has violated some treaty they once signed abjuring the use of chemical weapons, so what? Chemicals are as impersonal as a wayward air strike, though perhaps a bit more efficient.
So yes, the Americans should stay out of it and we already know that any U.N. efforts will come to naught. Yes, peace is the way. But no killing? How can Syria stop killing its citizens if they continue to oppose it. So let’s just acquiesce to it and convince ourselves that there is no Syrian opposition and all the anti-government forces are Al Quaida Jihadists.
Thanks for your insights. Yes, this issue is far more complex. It’s easy to say no to bombing Syria when a lot of people are killed each day. It’s just so easy to just drop a bomb and end it all. I totally get it. I just pray that there’s a much more peaceful way to end it all. And I want my bro home.
ps, if you listen to the lyrics of John Lennon’s masterful “Give Peace a Chance”, he was taking all the isms and governments to task. But, like all humans do, everyone who heard the song saw it as applying to their side. The song came out in 1969, and in 1975 Cambodians gave peace a chance. And the result was that the Khmers Rouges made war seem far prefereable to their peace, but it was too late. I would submit that based upon the evidence, the Assad government is capable of similar atrocities. But why whould we care?