Shari Lopatin

I haven’t blogged in more than a month because I’ve been busy with other life priorities, but today, an image from The Atlantic forced me to stop and post:

The photo was snapped in Syria by Associated Press Photographer Manu Brabo, and the caption reads:

“A Syrian man cries while holding the body of his son near Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria, on October 3, 2012. Three suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives in a government-controlled area of the battleground Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 34 people, leveling buildings and trapping survivors under the rubble, state TV said. More than 120 people were injured, the government said.”

As a journalist, I knew this image was more than just a photograph, and had to be shared. As a human being, it made me ask, “What will it take to stop this bloodshed?”

A friend and former colleague of mine is a survivor of the Bosnian War. Her family suffered genocide. Whenever I see images of that conflict, it affects me deeply, because I’ve watched my friend cry—decades later—as if the wounds are still fresh.

Syria is beginning to remind me eerily of Bosnia.

I do not know the answer. I’m aware the U.S. is not capable of getting involved in another conflict, but I find myself asking, “Where the heck is the REST of the world??”

What in God’s name will it take, to make this stop?