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Qunfuz.com
Writer and blogger at Qunfuz; author of The Road from Damascus and co-author of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War
PROFILE
Robin Yassin-Kassab
Guest
FROM Robin Yassin-Kassab
To the Point
A Portrait of Life -- and Survival -- in Syria After five years, this week the civil war in Syria reached new levels of violence despite talk of an international commitment to a ceasefire. This week, Aleppo. Syria's largest city and a longtime rebel stronghold, became a new and bloody battlefield. At least 50 people died when bombs hit four separate medical facilities and schools in the province airstrikes that US officials have blamed on Russia and the Assad government. All of this despite a United Nationsbrokered ceasefire agreement, which is supposed to go into effect tomorrow. What is life like in a country strafed by bombs, looted by war profiteers, in cities subject to siege and families divided by politics? We talk to reporters and aid workers about the unique toll terrorism, civil strife and violence take on Syrians who cannot, or will not leave their country.
Which Way, L.A.?
Syria, Libya and the Future of NATO Syria is conducting bloody repression of its own people without interference. Some 8500 Syrians have fled across the border into Turkey and thousands more may be making their way on trucks, tractors and on foot, without access to shelter or food. In Libya, Moammar Gadhafi is hanging on longer than expected. Is NATO prepared to protect civilians for humanitarian reasons? What's the future of the Atlantic Alliance? Segment image: Syrian refugees gather on June 15, 2011 during Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's visit to the Turkish Red Crescent camp, two kilometers from the Syrian border. Photo: Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images
To the Point
Syria, Libya and the Future of NATO The government of Syria is using tanks and other weapons to quash dissent by killing its own people. The international community, so far, is standing by. The UN Security Council has not denounced the Syrian regime, and NATO is showing no appetite for intervention. NATO is having a hard time already in Libya , and the US is impatient about being so involved in an action pushed originally by Britain and France. What's happening to the idea of "liberal intervention" on humanitarian grounds? Are US and European interests no longer in sync? What's next for NATO?
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To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.