Nothing Off Limits as Cartoonists Critique Chemical Warfare

The World

The Syrian conflict is not something to joke about. But in the darkness of the actual news there may be some lightness. Middle Eastern cartoonists are injecting humor as a way for people to deal with the war.

"Nothing is off limits," reports Jonathan Guyer, who blogs about comics and caricature at Oum Cartoon. "[Middle East cartoonists] have been depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a vulture, a butcher, a chemist cooking up chemical weapons."

And cartoonists "are mocking President Barack Obama for his eagerness to intervene," Guyer says. "Egyptians see Obama as a cowboy, very similar to George W. Bush. Turkish cartoonists are drawing Obama giving a piggy back to the foreign minister."

Egyptians are portraying "just another Middle East adventure for Obama to muck up," he says. "And there have been placards and protests across the region of Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry with big religious beards as if they're aligned with al-Qaeda or supporting them on the attack on Syria."

Guyer said in all the countries tied to the Syrian conflict, like Turkey and Jordan, people are having to deal with the crisis through humor.

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