Letters: Death in Syria

Re “Syrian rebels allege new gas attack,” Aug. 22

The Times should be commended for showing this graphic photo to us. The image of peacefulness and innocence on the children’s faces, coupled with a complete absence of blood or other trauma, is disturbing, to be sure. Unfortunately, it is hard these days to watch television, see a movie or play a video game in which blood is not shed through a violent act. Consequently, many of us have become desensitized to traditional violent images, which no longer move us the way they once did.

Somehow the lack of blood, and the simplicity in which the photo shows the ghastly effects of chemical weaponry — if that’s what it is — are more telling than any words.

To those of us who want to know what’s really going on in the world, the photo was the best evidence available, and you did the right thing by printing it.

Mark Shoup
Apple Valley

When I saw the headlines with those dead children lying side by side, it tore at my heart, in the same manner as Newtown, Conn., did. What sort of monsters could manufacture and sell such weapons of mass destruction that slaughter children? I already knew the answer.

Gene Garcia
Los Angeles

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