The Morning They Came for Us (20 page)

2
Freeze zones are meant to suspend fighting in some areas and allow humanitarian aid to be delivered. ‘It should be something that freezes the conflict in that area and gives an opportunity for some type of humanitarian improvement and for the people to feel that,
at least there, there will not be this type of conflict,' de Mistura said (al-Arabiya News). It is an ‘action plan' rather than a ‘peace plan'.

3
From
4th Report of the Commission of Enquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
, A/HRC/22/59 (5 Feburary 2013), by United Nations, General Assembly. © United Nations 2013. Reprinted with the permission of the United Nations.

4
A United Nations report in August 2012 into an earlier massacre at Houla found that the indiscriminate attacks against civilian populations and other atrocities were ‘state policy' and claimed Assad's forces and allied Shabiha militia were involved at the highest levels in ‘gross violations of international human rights'.

The UN inquiry found that anti-Assad forces had also committed war crimes including ‘murder, extrajudicial execution and torture', but that these abuses ‘did not reach the gravity, frequency and scale of those committed by government forces and the Shabiha'.

The 102-page report said that Syrian government forces and Shabiha fighters have carried out numerous war crimes in the country including murder, torture and the massacre of 100 civilians, almost half of them children, near the town of Houla in May, 2012. The UN's independent international commission of inquiry said the violations were the result of ‘state policy'. It claimed President Bashar al-Assad's ‘security forces and government' at the highest levels were involved in ‘gross violation of international human rights'. The violations included ‘unlawful killing, indiscriminate attacks against civilian populations and acts of sexual violence', it said. The report painted a bleak picture of events on the ground in Syria, noting the situation inside the country had ‘deteriorated significantly' since February.

The commission, led by investigator Paulo Pinheiro, also reported that Syria's rebels were guilty of violations including murder, torture and extra-judicial killings. But it said abuses by anti-government groups were not ‘of the same gravity, frequency and scale' as those committed by Syrian regime forces and allied Shabiha militia.

5
Robert Fisk,
Independent
, UK, 29 August 2012: ‘Inside Daraya – how a failed prisoner swap turned into a massacre'. © Independent Print Limited, Robert Fisk and
Independent
.

6
The source is a Syrian journalist who wishes to remain anonymous.

7
Hugh Macleod,
Global Post
, 26 August 2012, ‘Inside Syria: For assault on Daraya, Assad regime brings own cameras'
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/120826/inside-syria-sunday-massacre-daraya-assad-regime-brin?page=0,1

8
Abeer   Al-Ahmad,   
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08DAMASCUS445_a.html

9
These words are from the same journalist as mentioned in note 6 above, who wishes to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

10
See this link for a video of barrel bombing of Darayya, but please note, the content is disturbing.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10618670/Syrian-military-drop-devastating-barrel-bombs-on-city.html

11
The United States Armed Forces' term for urban warfare is UO, an abbreviation for Urban Operations. The previously used US military term, MOUT, an abbreviation for Military Operations in Urban Terrain, has been replaced by UO, although the term MOUT is still in use.

The British Armed Forces' terms are OBUA (Operations in Built-Up Areas), FIBUA (Fighting In Built-Up Areas), or sometimes (colloquially) FISH (Fighting In Someone's House), or FISH and CHIPS (Fighting In Someone's House and Causing Havoc In People's Streets). The term FOFO (Fighting In Fortified Objectives) refers to clearing enemy personnel from narrow and entrenched places like bunkers, trenches and strongholds; the dismantling of mines and wires; and the securing of footholds in enemy areas. For more historic essays on the subject, see
Military Operations in Built-Up Areas: X. Essays on Some Past, Present, and Future Aspects
, Lilita I. Dzirkals, Konrad Kellen and Horst Mendershausen, Rand Corporation, 1976.

12
In both Aleppo and Daraa, Human Rights Watch documented repeated barrel-bomb attacks since the passage of Security Council Resolution 2139 on 22 February 2014, striking near or on medical facilities, and in residential areas with schools, mosques and markets, and without discernible military targets in the vicinity. Barrel bombs are unguided high explosive weapons that are cheaply made, locally produced and typically constructed from large oil drums, gas cylinders and water tanks, filled with high explosives and scrap metal to enhance fragmentation, and then dropped from helicopters usually flying at high altitude.

13
Human Rights Watch. ‘Syria: Barrage of Barrel Bombs', 30 July 2014. © Human Rights Watch 2014.

14
http://en.qantara.de/content/destruction-of-historic-sites-syria-is-losing-its-history

15
Raqqa would become the capital of the so-called Islamic State in 2014.

16
Dir Shifa was a hospital in Aleppo that was bombed and destroyed by the Syrian Army in November 2012. This left the local population – quite rightly – distraught, suspicious of all foreigners and angry.

17
Private Facebook page for journalists and aid workers inside Syria.

18
Private correspondence between the author and Steven Sotloff.

19
The battle of Tremseh, a village twenty-two miles northeast of Hama, took place in the late hours of 12 July 2012. The Syrian Army was fighting the Free Syrian Army. Initially, there were reports of a massacre, with dozens if not hundreds killed, including civilians. But two days later, the UN observer mission issued a statement, based on an investigation by a UN team that went to the town, reporting that the Syrian Army had mainly targeted the homes of rebels and activists. The BBC later reported this was a ‘contradiction of the initial opposition claims of a civilian massacre'. The number of civilian casualties was unclear. The village was primarily inhabited by Sunni Muslims.

20
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31514447?fb_ref=Default

21
‘And what of the dead? They lie without shoes in their stone boats. They are more like stone than the sea would be if it stopped. They refuse to be blessed, throat, eye and knucklebone.' Anne Sexton, ‘The Truth the Dead Know'.

Acknowledgements

So many people helped this book come to light that I will try to start at the beginning . . . 

First, my thanks to the Syrian people, my friends who cannot be named, and those I do not know, for their courage and fortitude in the face of such a brutal war.

My publishers, Alexandra Pringle at Bloomsbury and Phil Marino at Norton, who waited, encouraged and believed enough in a book about war, and the late Ash Green at Knopf, who found and shaped me as a very young writer.

Lara Adoumie, a junior at Bowdoin College with a Syrian dad, who worked tirelessly and consistently on the final drafts, checking, editing and formatting. Yemile Bucay, another intern of Syrian/Mexican origin, who added her expertise on international relations and history, and Fredrik Elisson – my brilliant intern.

My dear friend Christopher Silvester, who helped me with the copy editing, and Honey Al Sayed, a Syrian reporter now living in America because she cannot live in her own country, who acted as one of my first readers.

Darren Dale ‘Chalkie' White, who kept me alive and safe on many a voyage, talking me down when I was terrified; he literally gave me directions on where to go to crawl under a fence to get out of Syria and reach Turkey safely.

Fred Pakis, who gave me the opportunity to earn an MA in International Relations at the Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Tufts University. Mr Pakis awarded me a full scholarship so that I could put my reporting skills into an academic and diplomatic framework. Words cannot express my gratitude for the extraordinary gift of knowledge that he has given me.

My agents, Kim Witherspoon; David Forrer; William Callahan; David Godwin. At Bloomsbury, Angelique Tran Van Sang, Catherine Best and Steve Cox.

A special thank you to The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, and Esther Kaplan, who gave me two grants to help research this book. Mark Gevisser, for introducing me to Esther. Robert Templer at The Center for Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery, Central European University, who gave me the role of Senior Policy Adviser, a chance to delve deeper into Aleppo. Kim Abbot, then at International Crisis Group, whom I had never met, but who reached out to help a sister make connections and contacts. Karmen and Carne Ross, for their inspiration of tirelessly trying to make the world a better place,

At
Granta
magazine, who first commissioned me to write about Syria, I want to thank John Freeman, Ellah Allfrey, Sigrid Rausing, Emily Greenhouse, Saskia Vogel and Yuka Igarashi for their support and their commitment to publishing long-format literary non-fiction. Ellen Rosenbush at
Harper's
, for your friendship on Dark Stormy Nights in Brooklyn. At the
Guardian
, Clare Longrigg and Jonathan Shainin.

My editors and colleagues at
Newsweek
who were unspeakably patient with my insistence on writing about Syria and ISIS: Johnathan Davis; Etienne Uzac; James Impoco;
Kira Bindrim; Claudia Parsons; Mikka Schaller; Nicholas Wapshott; Annette Fetzer; Balbina Calo; Abigail Jones; Leah McGrath Goodman; Damien Sharkov; Richard Addis; Victor Sebestyen; Cordelia Jenkins.

At
Vanity Fair
, Bruce Handy, Graydon Carter and David Friend.

In Syria: Nicole Tung; Paddy Wells; Scott Rosenfeld; Robert Rippberger; Clare Morgana Gillis; Nir Rosen; Nada Kettunen; Kate Brooks; Renata Dwan; Georgette Gagnon; Elio Tamburi Qunteiro; Omar K.; Liz Sly; Leena Saidi; Lina Khitab; Fadi Dayoub; Ghid Zraik; Joelle Eid; Juliette Touma; Khaled; Dr Luna al Sham; Mouhamad Diab; Nadia Abu Amr; Noura al Yafi; Rafif; Sajad Jiyad; Shoueb Rifai; Kinan Madi; Suzan Haidamous; Waddah abd Rabbo; Yara Bader; Abdi Nova; Yassir the 47th; Catherine Philp; Martin Chulov; Leena Saidi; Liz Sly; Faris S. and Wael.

Dr Annie Sparrow; Peter Harland; Robert Danin; Paul Wood; Ruth Sherlock; Anne Bernard; Suzan Alandry; Peter Bergen; Andrew Gilmour who gave professional support.

And all the brave activists.

In Iraq: Ahmad Chalabi; Tamara Chalabi; Zaab Sethna; Ali Almalawi; Ali al-Saffar; Haider Kata; Sajad Jiyad; Shadi Hamid; Mohamad Rasoul; Ali Hussein; Binar Faeq Karim; Borzou Datagahi; Dr Mowaffak al Rubaie; Hala Gorani; Fareed Yasin; Hanaa Edwar; Jonathan Cohen; Justin Theron; Louay al-Khattib; Sam Morris; Mais Albayaa; Peyman Pejman; Tim Spicer; Robin Gwinner; William Warda; Alice Walpole.

Mona Mahmoud – who shared so much with me, sorrow and joy.

At UNHCR: Melissa Fleming; Edith Champagne; Sybella Wilkes; Clare Gillis; Rose Foran; Nadia abu Amr; Rebecca Dowd; Lynsey Addario; Mimi Little-Boyer.

At Reid Hall, and Sciences Po, Paris: Lisa Fleury; Marianne ‘Nari' Fischer; Ali Shajrawi; Sophie Zinser; Tess Morgan; Sarah-Nicole LeFlore; Medina Adlova; Kyle Waggoner; Rose Foran.

The teams at Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have consistently aided me with my work over the past two decades, and have been a shining example to me of courage and persistence: Emma Daly; Peter Bouekart; Anna Neistat; Ole Solvang; Erin Evins; Donatella Rovera; Steve Cranshaw; Sevag Kechichian; Ken Roth; Adam Coogle; Liesl Gernholtz; Lama Fakih; Tom Porteous; Corinne Dufka; Priyanka Motaparthy.

At the
New York Times
I should like to thank Michael Slackman, Cynthia Latimer, Kyle Crichton, Susan Lehman, Mark Thompson and Joe Kahn.

My tribe: Ariane Quentier; Mariann Wenckheim; Alba Arikha; Christopher Silvester; Stelios Kalamotusis; Charlotte Fraser; Catherine Rubin Kermogant; Kati Marton; Mimi and Max Mulhern; Anna Sessau; John Harrison; Susan Steele; Robert Pay; Susannah and Tonio Weiss; Leslie Camhi; Bettina von Hase; Gloria Orrigi; Adam Phillips; Wendell Steavenson.

Special thanks to my web designer and sister, Isabel Villavechia. And much love to AJ and Holly, and Baroness Arminka Helic.

Bénédicte de Roquefeuil and Diana de Gunzburg offered me their beautiful homes in Brittany and Normandy to write. Ashley and Cuotie Malle let me lie on a hammock in
Provence and do nothing but read and think before another worrying trip to the region, alone. Thank you.

The GMAP team at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy – my classmates and professors, who inspired me with their brilliance. Special thanks to Dean Deborah Nutter and Mariana Stoyancheva. Mohamedou Mahmoud and Ambassador Christian Dussey at the Geneva Center for Security Policy for the Fellowship.

Bruce Shapiro, Frank Ochberg and all my fellow Ochberg Fellows 2015 at the Dart Center, Columbia University, who gave me the chance to examine war and trauma on a deeper level.

The Syria negotiators, Staffan de Mistura and Lakhdar Brahimi, who gave me their time and wisdom, and also listened to my own thoughts on Syria. Michael Contet, at the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria, was an efficient and capable facilitator. Juliette Touma was always generous with her time.

At home, my son Luca Costantino Girodon – my heart's treasure – and his father, Bruno Girodon, who put up with my many voyages. My mother, Kathryn di Giovanni, who worried about me all the time, but knew better than to say anything. My sister Judith and my niece Janine Cifaretto for their friendship. My godchildren, Carter Spyrka and Deni Jokic. My brothers, Robert and Vincent. And Constance Griffin, my true heart.