The images of the dead and injured civilians and particularly the children in #Syria will have an impact on American perceptions of the Middle East situation. A meeting on Wednesday gave proof that this change of perceptions will also affect another of President Trump’s prime objectives in a way he will not like.
Uncomfortable question
As reported in the Huffington Post last night United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley attended the Women in the world Summit but a question on another subject had an unexpected reaction.
When she was asked about the Trump Administration’s intentions on Russia which backs the Syrian Al-Assad regime responsible for the gas attack in Iblid province which shocked the world her reply of increased military spending was met with loud boos from the audience, an unusual reaction from a conference on women’s rights, but the second question had an even more unusual response.
As Haley tried answering on this issue another member of the crowd yelled “What about the refugees?”. The answer met with silence from the Ambassador and the moderator took the summit back to its core subject.
Refugees
The issue of refugees from the Middle East has been a hot topic in the United States since President #Donald Trump signed his two executive orders banning Moslem immigration from seven “at risk” countries in the Middle East. One of these countries is Syria.
These orders have now been blocked by a number of courts and are now subject to appeal from the government. The ostensible reason for the orders was to reduce the risk of terrorists entering the country disguised as refugees despite the fact that no such attack has yet occurred and no apparent intelligence showing that the first is real or credible.
Yet the images of the victims of the gas attack on Khan Sheikboum this week not only affected the general public, it has also led to an apparent change in position by President Trump in regards to the Al-Assad regime backed by Russia.
Yet these images also have a more powerful message; the victims are the real cost of failed diplomacy and that there is a reason for refugees fleeing their homes.
They fear death or worse or worse if they do not flee.
Immigration ban
The images seen around the world will bolster the efforts of those fighting the immigration order because amongst the possible refugees seeking to enter the United States there could well be people from Khan Sheikboum and other cities attacked by the AL-Assad government.
The refugees have become victims twice over. Firstly by their own government that attacks them and those of those western countries that seek to block them from escaping the fighting. Now one of the governments trying to block their escape to freedom is the Oval Office with its Moslem immigration ban orders.
President Donald Trump should reconsider these orders when he reviews his attitudes to the Bashar Al-Assad dictatorship. The refugees are civilians caught in the middle of a fight that international diplomacy has failed to end and in which civilians die every day.
And just as this applies to Syria, so it also applies to the other countries listed in the orders.
The silence that greeted the refugee question at the women’s summit cannot last and action must surely now be taken by the Oval Office for these victims, otherwise yesterday’s statements by President Donald Trump about his change of attitude are only empty rhetoric.