December 14, 2016 11:45 AM UTC

Colorado Dems, Refugees Appeal To Obama Over Aleppo

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• by: Colorado Pols

Danika Worthington at the Denver Post has a must-read story today about a Syrian-American Coloradan, Obeid Kaifo, who is getting support from Democratic Colorado lawmakers in his appeal to President Barack Obama to intervene in the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, Syria:

“The people in Aleppo are on their last breath. There needs to be action in the next hours,” [Syrian-American Colorado resident Obeid] Kaifo said, his hands shaking and his speech punctuated with emotion-filled pauses. “We do not want to be the country that stands by as a genocide occurs.”

Kaifo gathered state politicians and clergy Tuesday to call on the Obama administration and elected officials from Colorado to take advantage of every diplomatic channel available to ensure safe evacuations and the creation of civilian safe zones following reports that the Syrian government has regained control of eastern Aleppo, a rebel stronghold.

Kaifo was joined on the Capitol steps by state Sens. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, and Irene Aguilar, D-Denver, as well as state Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, and Rabbi Brian Immerman.

FOX 31’s Ashley Michels reports from yesterday’s small rally at the state capitol:

A handful of lawmakers, including Sen. Morgan Carroll, (D-Aurora), Sen. Michael Merrifield, (D-Colorado Springs), Rep. Joe Salazar (D-Thornton) and Rep. Irene Aguilar (D-Denver), gathered outside the State Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.

“My fear is in a time when there’s so much tragedy and so much crisis that we close our eyes and we close our hearts to what is literally unfolding by the minute and by the hour right now in Aleppo,” Carroll said…

The group organizer, Obeid Kaifo, is a Syrian-American whose parents originally came to the United States from Aleppo. He said four of his family members have died in the violence and worries about the rest of his family members.

The joint Syrian-Russian military operation to retake the city of Aleppo from rebels backed by the Western coalition of nations involved in Syria’s civil war–rebels also opposed to the more or less universal adversary ISIS–underscores the divergent interests of the Russians and our own nation in this conflict. Although Russia claims its military intervention in Syria is to combat both their and the West’s mutual enemy ISIS, Russia is directly working against the American policy goal of removing Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad from power.

With all of this in mind, along with the recent explosive headlines about Russian intervention in the 2016 elections to benefit the openly pro-Russian President-elect of the United States, and the next Secretary of State who happens to be a member of something called the Russian “Order of Friendship,” you can understand the sense of urgency on the part of the people who protested and spoke yesterday.

Because come January 20th, whatever America can do by then to save civilian lives in Aleppo may be all that gets done.