Doctors Without Borders: Airstrike hits another Syrian hospital

It happened again. Doctors Without Borders is reporting another hospital, this one, a pediatric hospital in Aleppo Syria, has been bombed. At least 14 people, doctors, and patients, have been killed in what is being described as a direct airstrike. Rebels hold that area, narrowing down the list of those who may be responsible. So far, neither Russia nor the coalition supported by the United States has admitted responsibility.

NBC attempted to get information, but neither Russia nor the US has responded. Syrian warplanes are not being used in that area to conduct airstrikes.

The head of Doctors Without Borders in Syria, Muskilda Zancada, told NBC, “This devastating attack has destroyed a vital hospital in Aleppo…Where is the outrage among those with the power and obligation to stop this carnage?”

The strike destroyed the ER, ICU, and OR in the hospital, rendering it mostly useless to carry out its mission of being the primary referral facility for pediatrics in the area.

Syria’s Civil Defense rescue service told the media more than 30 people had been killed in the bombing, adding to the death toll in the Syrian conflict that has claimed some 250,000 lives in the past five years.
The bombing of an Afghan hospital this past October turned out to be a major PR problem for the U.S. government. President Obama called it a “tragic mistake” blaming miscommunication with coalition forces for what DWB described as a “relentless and brutal aerial attack.”

“The public relations consequences of this sort of tragedy, even in a war zone, are substantial. People recognize there will be collateral damage in war-torn regions. But some “damage” has more drastic optics and consequences than others.”, says NY real estate developer Roman Temkin.

The idea of a children’s hospital being utterly destroyed, and small children being killed senselessly will be too much for even the most practical to simply dismiss. Answers will have to be given, and blame will be assessed. Whether the parties responsible wish to own up or not.

Should they deny or equivocate it’s likely the truth will eventually surface on any account? This just makes the perpetrators look even worse … and it does nothing to assuage the grief of those this has impacted.