One of the major problems in the world today is the glut of news and the shutting down of the human synapses so that nothing sticks.
The savage killing of over 70 people, blasted by an explosive laden lorry in Yemen and the pictures of sardine packed Eritreans in sloppy sloops on the high seas falling into the water are two grim reminders that nothing has changed for the better and that no amount of meetings and summits in Geneva and Davos and Brussels mount to very much.
By this very token media also has lost its stamina for the savagery that continues to hold sway in so many regions of the world.
Are we beginning to lose focus and see the loss of life and the agony visited upon combatants and noncombatants in some parts of the world as normal, nothing one can do about it.
What was the fault of those civilians also killed in Aden when the military camp was targeted because it held recruits being trained as soldiers?
What was the fault of boat people who died because no one stops the boats from sailing off into inevitable disaster?
There is a need to get military camps, depots, ammunition dumps, barracks and strongholds out of civilian areas and into isolated territory. That way there will be far less collateral damage, no targeting of government forces in urban enclaves and less risk of military movements causing children and women to enter the line of fire.
In Turkey, they seem to have already begun to move away the military out of town areas, which also makes them that much more difficult to hit because the militant approach can be more easily spotted.
By ringing the cities, the military can isolate rebel groups hiding within and cut supplies especially ammunition and food.
Gradually the militants will find it increasingly difficult to sustain themselves, and using the civilian population as bodyguards will itself become a wasted exercise. There will be no point to it if the government forces are simply not coming in to attack but waiting you out.
Waiting you out as a strategy has worked very often because once supply lines are disrupted and there is little replenishment, the morale drops dramatically.
Clearly, Ankara has seen some sense in this option having discovered that there is no need to paint cross hairs on soft targets within city confines.
In Yemen, it might be sensible to do the same.
The savage killing of over 70 people, blasted by an explosive laden lorry in Yemen and the pictures of sardine packed Eritreans in sloppy sloops on the high seas falling into the water are two grim reminders that nothing has changed for the better and that no amount of meetings and summits in Geneva and Davos and Brussels mount to very much.
By this very token media also has lost its stamina for the savagery that continues to hold sway in so many regions of the world.
Are we beginning to lose focus and see the loss of life and the agony visited upon combatants and noncombatants in some parts of the world as normal, nothing one can do about it.
What was the fault of those civilians also killed in Aden when the military camp was targeted because it held recruits being trained as soldiers?
What was the fault of boat people who died because no one stops the boats from sailing off into inevitable disaster?
There is a need to get military camps, depots, ammunition dumps, barracks and strongholds out of civilian areas and into isolated territory. That way there will be far less collateral damage, no targeting of government forces in urban enclaves and less risk of military movements causing children and women to enter the line of fire.
In Turkey, they seem to have already begun to move away the military out of town areas, which also makes them that much more difficult to hit because the militant approach can be more easily spotted.
By ringing the cities, the military can isolate rebel groups hiding within and cut supplies especially ammunition and food.
Gradually the militants will find it increasingly difficult to sustain themselves, and using the civilian population as bodyguards will itself become a wasted exercise. There will be no point to it if the government forces are simply not coming in to attack but waiting you out.
Waiting you out as a strategy has worked very often because once supply lines are disrupted and there is little replenishment, the morale drops dramatically.
Clearly, Ankara has seen some sense in this option having discovered that there is no need to paint cross hairs on soft targets within city confines.
In Yemen, it might be sensible to do the same.
