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from the when-you-DO-NOT-want-them-to-"think-of-the-children!" dept.
A couple of weeks ago this story was reported by The Daily Beast :
Members of an American-backed rebel group in Syria beheaded a young child in a grisly execution video.
The footage surfaced early Tuesday of members of Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki and a captured child in Handarat, near Aleppo. The young boy, who appears to be prepubescent, is then executed on the back of a pickup truck.
The gruesome videotaped murder of a child drew outrage on social media and the promise of an inquiry from the group's leadership, which has previously received U.S.-made weapons and American funding. The group no longer gets such backing. But it's also renewed questions about which rebels the American government has supported in Syria's ongoing civil war.
[...] State Department spokesperson John Kirby told The Daily Beast. "We strongly condemn this type of barbaric action, no matter what group is responsible. We encourage al-Zenki to investigate the incident and expect all parties to comply with their obligations under the law of armed conflict."
[...] the group's leadership issued a statement condemning the beheading. It said it formed a committee to investigate how such a crime could have happened.
More video from the incident has been released:
The victim is seen among a group of fighters from the US and Turkish backed militant group, in the same red pick-up truck that features in their video of his execution. In a chilling exchange the jihadist militants can be seen taunting the child, taking selfies, and threatening him with 'slaughter'.
When asked about his final wish, the child asks to be shot rather than slaughtered. Their shocking answer? "Slaughter. We are even worse than ISIS"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 02 2016, @02:09AM
If you are going to vote for clinton, then you have to commit to holding her accountable to her campaign promises.
Bernie started his campaign with the intent of moving the democrat party closer to his positions. He achieved that in both clinton's changes and the official planks of the party. But "holding your nose" suggests your going to vote and then give up on Bernie's entire campaign. Politicians listen to constituents - both for threats to throw them out next term, but also when they organize and demonstrate in ways that a cynic would say are embarrassing to the politician but that a realist would understand as politicians trying to do the right thing.
Look at the civil rights movement: Those leaders spoke vehemently out against the policies of the Democrats. But they went on to vote for them. I don’t think you have to pick between holding someone accountable and giving them your vote. Martin Luther King held LBJ accountable — but he also gave him his vote, because that was the better option to advance MLK’s cause.
Bernie has made it clear from the start of his campaign to his endorsement of clinton that he understands this. If only more of his supporters did.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 02 2016, @03:15AM
If only more of his supporters did.
The only thing to understand is that it's wrong. What we've seen is that voting for evil results in evil. Threatening someone you've already voted in is nearly pointless unless you can get a huge majority of their constituents to care about a particular issue, which is almost never the case.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 02 2016, @03:28AM
> What we've seen is that voting for evil results in evil.
Ah, to be young and simple-minded again.
You write like I did when I was a college freshman.
I didn't realize there was anyone that young on soylent.
One day you'll learn you aren't smarter than MLK was.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday August 02 2016, @05:10AM
I'm wracking my brains trying to figure out how We the People can make Clinton's life a living Hell if she reneges. All I can think of at this point is Sanders becoming a social firebrand and keeping his entire constituency all riled up, preferably with something like "I gave you my votes to save this nation from Trump, Hillary; these are my supporters I told to vote for you. We're all watching."
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 02 2016, @12:35PM
> I'm wracking my brains trying to figure out how We the People can make Clinton's life a living Hell if she reneges.
If you expect something that extreme you are living in lalaland. When did any civil rights movement ever make an allied politician's "life a living Hell?"
And yet they've accomplished tons of progress.
If you want change you have to work for it, and work hard for it. Just voting is not enough. You can argue the fairness of that, play the role of martyr and accomplish nothing. Or you can become involved and be part of the long, hard, unrewarding slog that actually accomplishes something. Just like software development is 99% invisible, boring, technical work so too is pretty much any other larger-scale effort, including political activism. If that work is distasteful to you, that's totally legit. But you can't shirk it and then complain about a lack of results. That's the logic of juveniles.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday August 02 2016, @04:08PM
I do anti-human-trafficking work, in addition to holding down 2 jobs. You couldn't know this since we've never met, but now that you do I'll thank you not to accuse me of being just another keyboard-warrior whiner, thanks.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...