Sister of Newtown victim makes gun-control plea in letter to Obama

The tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., have increased the calls for gun control around the nation and in Congress, but perhaps none have been as poignant as that from 10-year-old Natalie Barden, sister of victim Daniel Barden.

Natalie's letter, written to President Barack Obama and read by Anderson Cooper on air, voiced her clear and thoughtful belief that guns did not belong in the hands of most civilians:

My name is Natalie Barden and I wanted to tell the president that only police officers and the military should get guns. If people want to do it as a sport than they could go to a shooting range and the guns would not be able to leave there.

Natalie, a member of the school newspaper, originally had meant to hand the president the letter while he was in Newtown comforting the grieving families, but became too intimidated to give it to him. A friend of the Barden family, Lillian Bittman, spoke with Cooper, who was also in Newtown, and asked him to read it on air. He obliged.

In a recent interview, Jackie Barden, the victim's mother, described her son as an old soul who showed empathy beyond his years. His father recalled how he'd be halfway to the car (after shopping, say) before turning around and noticing that Daniel was still holding the door open for strangers.

Daniel was laid to rest on Wednesday.

Syrian rebel infighting could take dangerous turn if Assad falls

If President Bashar al-Assad falls and the disparate Syrian opposition groups lose their common enemy, their ranks will likely fracture – perhaps violently.

In recent weeks, a number of opposition fighters in Aleppo have come to see the fall of the Assad government as only a matter of time. But bringing down the unpopular president may be easy in comparison to unifying an opposition that at times seems held together by little more than members' shared hatred of President Bashar al-Assad.

Without him, its often unclear what will hold the disparate armed and civilian rebel groups together.

Last month, that much-needed moment of unity seemed to be on the not-so-distant horizon with the creation of the new Syrian opposition council in Qatar. Inside Syria, a number of Free Syrian Army fighters and civilians living in opposition controlled areas welcomed the news, praising the appointment of coalition leaders with recent time on the ground inside Syria.

Recommended: In key Syrian city, snipers and bombing tear at fabric of daily life

But like many moments of optimism inside wartime Syria, it was short-lived. A week after the announcement of the new coalition, a group of Free Syrian Army commanders in Aleppo came together to announce that they rejected it and had decided to create their own coalition that was now calling for the creation of an Islamic state in Syria.

“The real Islam is based on human rights and justice so what we want in a new state is justice. We want the shariah to be the constitution and apply shariah law, such as cutting off the hand of thieves,” says Mohammad Abdu, a leader of Liwa Towheed, one of the largest FSA units in Aleppo in an interview with The Christian Science Monitor the day after the meeting.

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Civilians working with the opposition inside Syria had not been represented in the meeting, but Mr. Abdu says he was “certain” they would agree. They did not. Muthana al Naser, spokesman for the Free Lawyers of Aleppo called it a “hasty decision” that did not “represent the revolution.”

The moment of unity that many had hoped for seemed to have slipped away before it ever had a chance to take hold. And the fracturing continued.

TODAY'S BRIGADES ARE TOMORROW'S MILITIAS

In the days that followed, the many commanders at the meeting calling for an Islamic state said they’d been duped by Islamists at the meeting into making the statement and did not actually agree with the new announcement.

“It was a meeting to talk about strategy and at the last minute Jabhat al-Nusra asked everyone if they wanted an Islamic state. We had to say yes because we’re Muslims,” says Abu Mohammad, commander of the opposition’s Dar al-Wafa Battalion and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. “It was a wrong step. Many of the battalions denounced the statement afterward.”

The creation of the Qatar coalition, followed by the reactionary response from the Aleppo commanders and the disagreement among the commanders about the statement, underscores the difficulty of creating a unified leadership capable of outlining a path for the future of Syria.

This is likely to prove exceedingly problematic if the uprising succeeds in removing Assad from power. The country must then create a plan for reintegrating those who fought in the FSA. Many fighters say they will return to civilian life once Assad falls, but with no clear goal for a post-Assad Syria, it remains unclear if that will happen. It’s possible that some fighters could feel disenfranchised in a new state and once again pick up arms.

“We’re very happy to call them brigades and battalions today, but tomorrow they’ll be militias,” says Aram Nerguizian, a Syria expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “When the dust settles they will still have to question what their fortunes will look like and, in some cases, the remaining part of the armed groups in what will be a country filled with warlordism and fiefdoms and new networks of patronage along communal, geographic, and tribal lines.”

TAINTING THE RANKS OF THE FSA

Among civilians in Aleppo, there are already concerns that some FSA units take unilateral actions while claiming to represent a population that has no say in the making of the rebel groups’ plans or policies. This behavior has triggered fears about what will happen after the fall of Assad and whether FSA leaders and their men will be ready to willingly put down their weapons when that time comes.

Regular protests against the Assad regime now also target corrupt elements of the FSA, says activist Wael Abu Mariam.

The group is still widely granted hero status throughout rebel-controlled parts of Syria, but many say ill-intentioned individuals have crept into its ranks since the uprising began.

There is also some concern that FSA groups may start to turn against one another as they gain a larger share of control and are confronted with the challenges of rebuilding the state, causing more squabbles like the recent one over who controls the border. In his neighborhood in Aleppo alone, Mr. Mariam counts at least 11 different FSA groups.

“Each one of them is trying to make itself bigger and bigger without any concern for who they recruit,” he says. “I think they’re getting bigger to fight each other in the future.”

Despite such concerns, most Syrians say its still to early to despair about a post-Assad future. Though a number of ideological disagreements persist without any apparent solution, activists and rebel military leaders stress that at this point they’re still just theoretical disagreements, and ultimately a democratic vote will be what determines the future of a new government in Syria.

“For 40 years the Assad regime has tried to suppress Islam and now we want people to have a choice,” says Abu Ahmad the leader of an FSA unit in Aleppo. “Any person who is honest should lead this country. I want justice and democracy and an election to choose the new leader. Me and the rest of this battalion are okay with whatever democracy brings us, whether it’s a Christian leader, a Kurdish leader, or whoever.”

Related stories

• In key Syrian city, snipers and bombing tear at fabric of daily life
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• Syria: U.N. says no one will win (+video)

Indian women live in fear of violence

Gita Ganeshan, a 52-year-old bank worker, speaks to the Associated Press in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. Ganeshan moved to New Delhi with her husband four years ago to protect their oldest daughter after she was attacked in the Indian capital, where she was studying. Many in India’s capital and across the country say they are constantly on guard, fearing everything from the routine groping they suffer on public buses to far more violent assaults. The gang-rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old woman recently on a bus in New Delhi has sparked days of protests demanding authorities take tougher action on violence against women. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup

Sandhya Jadon, 26, a lawyer from the northern town of Agra, speaks to the Associated Press in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. "For most men, any woman who is out of the four walls of her house is fair game,"; she says. Many in India’s capital and across the country say they are constantly on guard, fearing everything from the routine groping they suffer on public buses to far more violent assaults. The gang-rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old woman recently on a bus in New Delhi has sparked days of protests demanding authorities take tougher action on violence against women. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

NEW DELHI (AP) — It is almost every Indian woman's nightmare, lived daily when in public — a stream of obscene comments, unwanted hands being placed on them and then being blamed for causing the sexual violence.

The gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old student by six men on a bus in New Delhi may have sparked days of protests and demands for authorities to take tougher action, but for women in India it is just an extreme example of what they have to live with.

Many in India's capital and across the country say they are constantly on guard, fearing everything from the routine gropings they suffer on public buses to far more violent assaults. Some say they have structured their entire lives around protecting themselves and their children.

Here are the stories of three women:

Gita Ganeshan, a 52-year-old bank worker, moved to New Delhi with her husband four years ago from the central city of Bhopal to protect their oldest daughter after she was attacked in the Indian capital, where she was studying.

The young woman had been out for a morning walk in a park near her house when four men surrounded her and began tormenting her, Ganeshan said.

"One of the men squeezed her breast. She screamed and kept screaming and running till she came home," she said.

She said she and her daughter would go to the park when she visited the city.

"This was a park where we would walk every day. The girls would jog or run and we would walk along," she said. "Just that one day, she went alone and this happened and it changed our outlook as far the safety of our girls was concerned."

Her daughter gave up jogging and wouldn't leave the house alone for months. Her parents got themselves transferred to the city to look after her.

"That was when we decided that protecting our children had to be our first priority. We've given them a good education. We cannot now tell them now not to pursue their careers because it is not safe to be out working late," she said.

She has trained the young woman to be alert: "Never let your guard down."

Now, Ganeshan is thinking of moving to the central city of Indore to protect her younger daughter, who got a job there.

But for now, she has arranged a special plan to watch over her from far away.

Every evening, her daughter calls as soon as she gets off the bus on her way home from work. The two talk for the next 15 minutes while the young woman walks the kilometer to her home, Ganeshan said.

"Every day, I wake up and my first thought is of my daughters and their safety. I call them up, or they call me," she said. "It is a real fear we confront when, even for a few hours, we are not in touch over the telephone."

Sandhya Jadon, 26, a lawyer from the northern town of Agra, said the harassment starts as soon as she leaves her home.

"For most men, any woman who is out of the four walls of her house is fair game," she said.

Last week, she was repeatedly groped on a public minibus.

"It was broad daylight. I was heading to court, and this man kept trying to touch my thigh. I shouted at him and he had the gall to ask me, 'So what can you do to stop me?'" she said.

She shouted, made the driver stop and got off. But the man continued sitting in the bus and grinning at his audacity. Not one of the 10 other passengers came to her help. Most looked away, she said.

"All day that day I was disturbed. I was shaking inside but also angry. Why do we women have to suffer this?" she asked.

For the next few days, she avoided public buses for fear she would run into the man again.

She feels relatively safe at court, in her lawyer's robes. But she still doesn't stay late at work and asks her parents to meet her at the bus stop to walk her home.

"But the fear — that something bad will happen if you are not careful — is always with you. It hangs over your work; it hangs over everything you do — what you wear, or don't wear; how you talk or how you walk. It is like this big suffocating cloud hanging over you every single day of your life," she said.

Priyanka Khatri, a 21-year-old college student, said fear of attack has forced her to limit her world.

There are no movies in the evening, no late-night parties, no outside activity at all after sundown. College events are cut short because she has to get home.

"Whatever happens, I have to be home before dark. Otherwise, my parents get so worried and they will keep calling me on my cell phone till they know I'm safe," she said.

Khatri said she will only go out in the evening accompanied by her parents to a nearby temple or a family wedding.

She is shadowed by fear when she gets dressed in the morning.

"I wouldn't dream of wearing shorts or skirts in public," she said.

She is petrified by her daily commute to school on public buses.

"Usually I carry a safety pin with me, because in buses there are always men who will try to touch you," Khatri said. "Some men are so brazen, you tick them off and they will persist on groping you. Then you feel you have to do something. So I stick my pin into them, or I use my elbow, and just jab them with my elbow. But that too makes you afraid."

And she has tempered her dreams to fit the reality of life in Delhi. The outgoing badminton enthusiast longed to be an event planner. Instead, she is looking for teaching jobs, "because then I can be home before dark."

If her precautions fail and she is attacked, Khatri has a backup plan, she said.

"I will scream. I always have a scream."

Quote:

Sister of Newtown victim makes gun-control plea in letter to Obama

By Mike Krumboltz, Yahoo! News | The Lookout – 5 hrs ago

The tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., have increased the calls for gun control around the nation and in Congress, but perhaps none have been as poignant as that from 10-year-old Natalie Barden, sister of victim Daniel Barden.

Natalie's letter, written to President Barack Obama and read by Anderson Cooper on air, voiced her clear and thoughtful belief that guns did not belong in the hands of most civilians:

My name is Natalie Barden and I wanted to tell the president that only police officers and the military should get guns. If people want to do it as a sport than they could go to a shooting range and the guns would not be able to leave there.

Natalie, a member of the school newspaper, originally had meant to hand the president the letter while he was in Newtown comforting the grieving families, but became too intimidated to give it to him. A friend of the Barden family, Lillian Bittman, spoke with Cooper, who was also in Newtown, and asked him to read it on air. He obliged.

In a recent interview, Jackie Barden, the victim's mother, described her son as an old soul who showed empathy beyond his years. His father recalled how he'd be halfway to the car (after shopping, say) before turning around and noticing that Daniel was still holding the door open for strangers.

Daniel was laid to rest on Wednesday.

Quote:

Was Sandy Hook a False Flag Op?