Tagged: civil war

A major collection of Civil War documents is now part of the permanent collection entrusted to Tulane University. The papers include those written by Confederate President Jefferson Davis as well as the diaries of soldiers.

Re-enactors based in Thibodaux will tell the history of the Bayou Lafourche region during the Civil War and demonstrate camp cooking, military drill and other aspects of life in the Union and Confederate armies this weekend.

The unit called Hellfire Stew Mess/Bouanchaud's Battery will spend the weekend encamped at the E.D. White Historic Site.

A news release from the Louisiana State Museum and Friends of E.D. White Historic Site says the event is free and open to the public.

Syria's former ambassador to Iraq, who defected last week, has begun talking to the press.

In an interview with CNN, Nawaf Fares said he supported military intervention in the country because the regime of President Bashar Assad "will only go by force."

CNN's Ivan Watson asked Fares if he wanted to send a message to Assad.

The violence in Syria is increasingly being called a civil war, and it can also be called a sectarian war, because much of the fighting pits the majority Sunni Muslims against the minority Alawites who make up much of the country's leadership.

Yet not everyone fits neatly into a category. There are some Alawites who have joined the uprising.

One 30-year-old Alawite man, who doesn't want his name revealed, is nervous as he lights another cigarette and tells the story of how he came to side with the opposition and turned his back on the Alawite rulers.

The Red Cross announced Sunday that the conflict in Syria has now reached the level of civil war. The declaration means international humanitarian law now applies throughout the country, and is the responsibility of all parties, whether rebel or government.