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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To Feel utterly devastated *Warning* *Distressing Content*

55 replies

TooMuchToTake · 26/07/2019 00:17

Link is here.....Warning - the link is distressing

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-idlib-airstrike-civilians-russia-a9020611.html

That father’s distress and horror.

That amazing little girl’s courage - clinging onto her baby sister despite having a building collapse on top of her.

I am really upset. I cannot stop crying. I cannot shake it off. Where is humanity? Somebody’s babies are dead. Why? Why has this got to me so badly? Is it because I have children? I am angry that a father had to witness this.

Those poor little babies. That brave little girl. Her little hand reaching out clinging to her sister despite what her little body and mind has experienced. I am in bits. When is this pointless gut wrenching bloodshed going to end? Sorry, just needed to put this out there. The horror of it has really got to me.

OP posts:
maddening · 26/07/2019 00:23

Can't look at the link but get the gist and have seen so many cases like this reported, it is true horror, utter tragedy and unspeakably sad, no words can do it justice - it is a disgrace and possibly self propagating as there is no way the children growing up in this can be without mental health issues- even just ptsd - they will be vulnerable to extremists etc. And you feel so hopeless being unable to help in any meaningful way.

Original poster
TooMuchToTake · 26/07/2019 00:33

I want to reach out and save that little girl the way she reached out to save her baby sister. I am sick of it all. What was this bomb supposed to achieve? Why is this girl dead? Is she collateral damage? My heart breaks.

OP posts:
73kittycat73 · 26/07/2019 00:48

I couldn't stop saying, "Oh my gosh," at that picture. Those poor babies. They lost their mum too. Sad I will be making another donation to Save The Children tonight but it seems like a drop in the ocean for these poor people caught up in it. That picture/story truly moved me.

LillithsFamiliar · 26/07/2019 00:52

I think the photo is exploitative. It shows no respect for the family and their loss.

timeisnotaline · 26/07/2019 00:52

It is very hard to understand what being human means knowing people can do these things.

user764329056 · 26/07/2019 00:52

It’s sheer horror and evil and I can’t get my head around the atrocities of war, feel hopeless and helpless at so much suffering

Jimsmum61 · 26/07/2019 00:54

and some people say there is a God....where was he? I expect that will offend some people..

WashingMyHair247 · 26/07/2019 00:55

But many drops in the ocean become a sea, PP. It all helps. Bless you.

Agree OP. Awful, so awful. It then occurred to me; it's important this is documented and seen as it really is but was the photographer not in a position to help them.

etotheb · 26/07/2019 01:06

Breaks my heart, puts a lot into perspective

Original poster
TooMuchToTake · 26/07/2019 01:41

Washing, the photographer is a journalist who did help in the rescue effort.

How did this amazing little girl have the presence of mind to cling onto her baby sister despite having a building pinning her down?

Who can stop this war? Why can our governments not put a stop to these senseless deaths?

OP posts:
lilmishap · 26/07/2019 01:53

I think the photo is exploitative. It shows no respect for the family and their loss

Because respect is at the forefront of raising awareness of horror and they really give a shit about a photograph right now
If you want to bitch about something maybe the bombing is something you could complain about

GibbonLover · 26/07/2019 02:03

The Syrian civil war has been going on since 2011. More than 400,000 people have died. Why does it take a picture of a child to make people sit up and give a shit?

you feel so hopeless being unable to help in any meaningful way
There is plenty you can do for the Syrians who have fled to the UK. Donate food, clothes, household goods, volunteer to teach English, rent a room/flat/house, a quick Google will tell you what sort of things are happening in your area. I wash and iron one binbag of donated clothes a week for the church a few doors away. An easy thing that anyone can do for free is to challenge others who bleat on about 'those bloody refugees claiming benefits/using NHS money/taking council houses'. Let them know that these people are running away from war and they deserve the sort of kindness that we would hope to encounter if it was us.

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 26/07/2019 02:42

To the people (afaik always men) in power, people are disposable. When a child dies, another one will be born to take its place. Humans are not an endangered species, and seem to be just used as pawns in a never ending power struggle all over the world. Women and children in particular.
It's like when someone gets a longer prison sentence for fraud than for murder.
A child, especially a girl child, in a country in conflict, is worth precisely zero.
It is fucking heartbreaking Sad

Moragen · 26/07/2019 02:42

There have been a lot of photos coming out of Syria of children which have been faked for propaganda purposes and I'm hoping this is also fake.

MustardScreams · 26/07/2019 03:19

This is horrific.

But it frustrates me that it takes photos like this to garner emotion from westerners. These atrocities have been happening for years. Not just in Syria but in so many places for the name of oil and apparent ‘weapons’.

It IS horrific. But Yabu to only care now because you’ve seen one photo that hurts. There’s worse happening right now that isn’t photographed.

Be a voice in the west that is against these atrocities. Fight for people who have no ability to make their own plights heard.

Rickandportly · 26/07/2019 03:43

The fathers face in that photo. It’s heartbreaking.

Poor baby girls.

MrsMiggins37 · 26/07/2019 03:50

It’s awful, but I don’t feel “devastated” to the point of being unable to stop crying over it.

Moragen · 26/07/2019 05:34

I would like to add something to my post above; a closer look at this photo makes me believe it is photoshopped, faked for propaganda purposes. The idea is to upset us and make us cry so our governments act and drop bombs.

Remember when first Gulf war started and how we were told they were throwing newborn babies out of incubators. Didn't happen.

How on earth two small children could be alive in that debris. There has been so many fake photos and stories from Syria I doubt everything I see now.

Remember the Syrians pretended there was little 7 year old girl who knew how to use a commuter, read & write in perfect English serving as a war 'correspondent' to pull at our heart strings.

Look closely at the photo. Zoom in. Look at the girls arm and how it holds the baby.

EleanorReally · 26/07/2019 06:10

I saw this on the news last night, such a wicked world

sall74 · 26/07/2019 06:12

Who can stop this war? Why can our governments not put a stop to these senseless deaths?

It was our Western governments that instigated all the recent instability and conflict throughout the Middle East.

ginandbearit · 26/07/2019 06:12

Look closely there are two girls there the arm is in scale and correct ..

Teacher22 · 26/07/2019 06:34

“It was our Western governments that instigated all the recent instability and conflict throughout the Middle East.”

I think it was more to do with patriarchal, misogynistic, theocratic, or semi theocratic cultures where religion is used to brainwash and repress the populace.

Western cultures are equal, democratic and have law everyone can access. Laws are enacted by parliaments of elected representatives of the people and stable, self governing institutions hold power to account. Citizens enjoy free speech and a free press. Women are actively involved public life. Authoritarian government is eschewed and dictators do not flourish.

How anyone can compare a western democracy with hellhole countries where oppression is omniscient and force the only way of governing a battered, bruised populace who are both lied to and lack any basic human rights, I do not know.

Wrong headed, self flagellating guilt is hacking away at the foundations of our freedoms, hard won over centuries. It is being accelerated by the false accusations such as those citing western interference as being the cause of conflict in countries where ruthless dictatorship and desire for power are entirely to blame. What is more, it is clear that the breast beaters know little, if anything, about the countries, leaders, cultures and centuries of hostility pertaining to the hotspots of the world.

petitepeach · 26/07/2019 07:13

Teacher22 all sadly true......

GibbonLover · 26/07/2019 07:18

A -child, especially a girl child- human being in a country in conflict, is worth precisely zero.

There, fixed that for you. ALL lives are equally valid. Or worthless, depending on which way you look at it. EVERY fatality deserves our attention. Not just the children.

Iggly · 26/07/2019 07:24

I think it was more to do with patriarchal, misogynistic, theocratic, or semi theocratic cultures where religion is used to brainwash and repress the populace

May I suggest that you have a think about why we are meddling in these conflicts in the first place?

Like Africa, the west has a lot to answer for in carving up these countries, creating boundaries where there weren’t before and leaving behind a mess including propping up dodgy regimes. Resulting in decades of conflict.

To then say “ah well it’s because their cultures are misogynistic” is just naive beyond belief.