CHEEZMO
Obsidian fan
Assad is not coming to the negotiating table.
"The only way to deal with them is to annihilate them.
Assad is not coming to the negotiating table.
Actually it is my opinion that Assad is driven by an inferiority complex of being in his father's shadow. His superego is strongly influenced by his father's order. Hafez ruthlessly crushed the rebellion in 1982, whereas Assad is struggling no doubt being coaxed by his mother. His state of mind when he launched the chemical attack clearly showed a panicked, frustrated tyrant.CHEEZMO;81506893 said:"The only way to deal with them is to annihilate them.
CHEEZMO;81676441 said:http://www.channel4.com/news/syria-al-bayda-massacre-war-crime-video
I'm glad this is finally getting attention. The fact that it was barely reported at the time is vile.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report documents in exacting detail the summary executions of 248 people by Syrian government forces and allied irregular units in the mainly Sunni Muslim towns of al-Bayda and Baniyas on May 2 and 3 this year. The dead included women and children, some of them infants.
[...]
Shortly after the summary executions took place, the Syrian government acknowledged that its forces had been active in the townsSunni enclaves in a region overwhelmingly populated by pro-Assad Alawite Muslimsbut insisted they had been battling terrorists.
[..]
While the worlds attention is on ensuring that Syrias government can no longer use chemical weapons against its population, we shouldnt forget that Syrian government forces have used conventional means to slaughter civilians, says Joe Stork, HRWs acting Middle East director.
Why al-Bayda and Baniyas were earmarked for such treatment isnt clear, but some opposition activists say the executions were meant to encourage Sunni Muslims to leave the region.
Both sides in Syrias increasingly sectarian conflict, though, have committed atrocities.
Earlier this week, the United Nations commission charged with investigating human rights violations in Syria released an updated version of its findings listing a number of violations committed by both the rebels and Assad government forces.
Government and pro-government forces have continued to conduct widespread attacks on the civilian population, committing murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearance, the commission said. "They have laid siege to neighborhoods and subjected them to indiscriminate shelling."
But the commission also noted that Syrian rebels have committed war crimes, including murder, execution without due process, torture, hostage taking.
The commission said the Syrian government was responsible for eight massacres since the beginning of the year, while the rebels were responsible for one.
source
There is a separate thread for it.Ohhh damnnn GUYS!!! Reports of Turkish airplane shooting down SAA helicopter!!! Editing in source in a min I'm om my phone atm.
CHEEZMO;82537793 said:This in-fighting in the north sounds bigger than anything previously. Could have major consequences.
- Rebel groups are fighting each other in a town near the Turkish border, with al-Qaeda linked jihadists gaining the upper hand in a battle with the Free Syrian Army
- Unconfirmed video footage shows parts of Damascus being hit in air strikes
- The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops were battling rebels near the motorway leading to Damascus airport, and Kurdish gunmen had forced jihadists from a village in the north
CHEEZMO™;82537793 said:This in-fighting in the north sounds bigger than anything previously. Could have major consequences.
Clashes began after 2 ISIS members were killed by an Asafat Al Shamal member.
ISIS demanded from the Northern storm to hand over the killers of the 2 ISIS members in Azaz - and the Northern Storm rejected to hand them over, and infact rejected in very clear terms to hand over the killers.
ISIS did not storm the area as reported, rather they were in the area already, and after the killing - they clashed.
I thought you'd be happy that people are fighting Al Qaeda.
Seems like Liwa al-Tawhid have answered NS's call for help. Good news.
CHEEZMO™;82673633 said:Sounds like negotiations failed.
Where have you seen that?
CHEEZMO;82684589 said:Twitter's been abuzz saying fighting has broken out. Jenan Moussa says she can hear a lot of shooting and there are ambulances zipping around.
The Syrian conflict has reached a stalemate and President Bashar al-Assad's government will call for a ceasefire at a long-delayed conference in Geneva on the state's future, the country's deputy prime minister has said in an interview with the Guardian.
Qadri Jamil said that neither side was strong enough to win the conflict, which has lasted two years and caused the death of more than 100,000 people. Jamil, who is in charge of country's finances, also said that the Syrian economy had suffered catastrophic losses.
"Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," he said. "This zero balance of forces will not change for a while."
Meanwhile, he said, the Syrian economy had lost about $100bn (£62bn), equivalent to two years of normal production, during the war.
If accepted by the armed opposition, a ceasefire would have to be kept "under international observation", which could be provided by monitors or UN peace-keepers as long as they came from neutral or friendly countries, he said.
While it's good that the FSA is trying to distance itself from Jihadist extremist groups, it just further highlights the divisions and instabilities among the opposition.
I just don't believe the opposition can be trusted to install any kind of leadership that can effectively lead the country. And that's if they topple Assad. And if they don't end up fighting Islamist groups afterwards.
pledge allegiance to al-queda you mean. The terrorists really are scum and they are mostly fighting each other to see how much territory their war lords can control and how much they can steal from the poor citizens they are now holding hostage. That's why more then 70% of Syrians want the government to crush the terrorists and whenever a city run by the terrorists is liberated the citizens come out of their shelters and welcome the SAA with flowers.
(Reuters) - Hundreds of rebels have pledged allegiance to al Qaeda-affiliated forces in northern and eastern Syria, activists and Islamist sources said on Friday, strengthening the group's control in the region.
Not only individual fighters, but entire units have joined the small but powerful al Qaeda-linked groups - the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - in recent days, according to the sources inside Syria.
"This is a sign the radical groups are still growing in power. This region could fall to the jihadists," said an activist in the eastern town of Raqqa, who asked not to be identified. "We may see this become a trend."
Clashes have been intensifying between Nusra or ISIL and the less effective but more moderate forces that make up the majority of opposition fighters, especially in opposition-held territory along Syria's northern and eastern borders.
At least two entire rebel brigades are said to have joined the Nusra Front in the opposition-held province of Raqqa, which borders Turkey. One of the groups, the Raqqa Revolutionaries, has about 750 fighters in total, according to a source close to Islamist forces who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another group, the God's Victory Brigade, said in a statement on Facebook that all of its leaders and fighters had pledged loyalty to Nusra Front.
"God's Victory Brigade, which is comprise of 15 battalions, had pledged its allegiance to the Nusra Front, giving complete submission (to it) in times of hardship and of ease," it said.
CHEEZMO™;82866085 said:I was going to link the big JN video about their initial operation in Maaloula but it seems it was taken down by youtube. I found a re-upload (dead folks around 24m-26m)
Opposition took control of Jalamah and Tal Malah (this one has some dead people in it) North of Hama.
Bonus video: Jihadi pool party~
GAZIANTEP, Turkey — The stream of U.S. weapons heading to moderate rebel groups in Syria is being offset by a fresh torrent of cash for Islamist extremists, much of it from small networks of Arab donors who see the Syrian conflict as a step toward a broader Islamist uprising across the region, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials say.
The private donors, who use Twitter and other social media to collect millions of dollars from sympathetic Muslims, are providing crucial backing for Islamist militias that appear to be gaining ground in northern and eastern Syria, even as fighting stalls elsewhere, the officials said.
Dollars raised over the Internet are wired between private banking accounts and hand-delivered by courier, often in border towns like this city of 1.4 million, about 20 miles from the Syrian frontier, according to Middle Eastern intelligence officials who monitor the activity. Some fundraising pitches ask for specific pledges to cover the cost of a weapon, for example, or to finance an operation. For $2,400, a donor can pay for the travel, training and arming of a single non-Syrian fighter.
“You can even get a video afterward showing what it was you paid for,” said one senior intelligence official based in the region. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss his country’s intelligence collection.
While radical groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham have long relied on charitable giving from Persian Gulf states, the flow of private cash has enabled the extremists to retain their battlefield edge despite the loss of support from key Arab backers such as Qatar, which cut off aid to the most radical groups under pressure from the United States and Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials said.
The donations also have undermined Western efforts to strengthen the relative position of moderate and secularist rebel factions that are the intended recipients of U.S. weapons that began flowing into Syria last month, the officials said.
Obama administration officials say that they were working with gulf allies to shut off private cash flows but that the efforts have been complicated by the fundraisers’ under-the-radar tactics. The organizers also take advantage of lax regulations in some gulf states that allow fundraisers to set up small religious charities and canvass in mosques and other public venues, U.S. officials say.
“Much of this funding comes from private citizens in the gulf, particularly in Kuwait,” said David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. The country, a source of financial aid for extremist groups during the Afghan and Iraq wars, “unfortunately continues to be a permissive environment for terrorist fundraising,” he said.
What is more worrisome, officials say, is a new tendency among fundraisers to seek influence over the Syrian paramilitary groups they support. Some have adopted their own rebel militias and sought to dictate everything from ideology to tactics. Officials at one gulf-based organization, which calls itself the Ummah Conference, have helped promote a campaign to recruit thousands of Muslim volunteers for Syria while openly calling for a broader struggle against secular Arab governments and what one of its leaders terms “American terrorism.”
Fascinating background from New York Times on the origin of the oft-cited "AP" report about the rebels and chemical weapons on The Lede blog.
CHEEZMO™;83373585 said:Liger, you got any info on this Operation Nahrawan business? Sounds big if it is what they say.
On Wednesday, we purified the land from what is called Liwa Asifat al Shamal, which God wanted to expose them in front of everyone. These are some examples of their treason before and now:
1. They secured the departure of the Assad army and its tanks that were shelling civilians in Menagh military airbase (which fell after the ISIS sent suicide bombers to kill its defenders on August 5).
2. They called for rule other than what God has prescribed, through democracy, on their official websites.
3. They received Senator John McCain in 'the hangar' and they agreed with him to fight the Islamists.
4. They fought fiercely against Muslims to defend the German spy (presumably a German doctor who helped in medical aid) on Wednesday whose camera had images of the ISIS headquarters, their houses and their women
5. One of the prisoners from Asifat Al Ashamal revealed that the group worked with BlackWater, the anti-Islamic company.
6. A few spies were captured from Asifat al Shamal and we had evidence they worked with the American intelligence and this is documented in a video that we will release online soon.
7. They stole and robbed without distributing the goods on Muslims. They humiliated people although the goods belong to the people.
8. They suffocated people on Salama crossing by taking their money, harassing women and humiliating men.
Based on all that, our jihadi brothers fought them and expelled this criminal gang from Azaz because whoever aligns himself with the Americans will be with them.
We assure people that we are not interested in the border crossing or indeed anything else. We say to Asifat Al Shamal that the door for repentance is open and we have released 30 of their members after they repented and pledged that they will not fight Muslims again.
Anyone who comes to us to repent before we capture him, we accept his repentance. Or else we are determined to uproot them.
Okay guys, numerous brigades signing on an agreement stating that they do not accept the presence of JN forces in southern Homs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN3pXiue-jc
Rebel forces in Syria executed as many as 190 civilians in August
So are rebels still the good guys? This just reinforces the idea that there are no good guys in this conflict.
There are other attacks "by the rebels" being investigated too. Look at the groups involved, and remember that Assad has still committed more murder, not that this justifies what you post or any other instance of these killings. It is a terrible situation, what solution can you offer?HRW says about 20 opposition groups took part in the offensive and that five were involved in the attacks on civilians - the al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), Jaysh al-Muhajirin wa al-Ansar, Ahrar al-Sham and Suqour al-Izz.
None are affiliated to the Western-backed Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, though SMC chief Gen Salim Idris did say at the time that fighters under his command participated in the assault.
Okay guys, numerous brigades signing on an agreement stating that they do not accept the presence of JN forces in southern Homs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN3pXiue-jc
Let's moved beyond a framework of "good guys and bad guys." It sounds like you are just pushing shit to stir it up.
From your article:
There are other attacks "by the rebels" being investigated too. Look at the groups involved, and remember that Assad has still committed more murder, not that this justifies what you post or any other instance of these killings. It is a terrible situation, what solution can you offer?
The article also says there are 20 hostages still being held.
Don't see what the point of this post was, but ok? :/
And yes, the random "fact" you posted doesn't justify the killings, so why post it? Seems more like "trying to stir shit up" than what I said.
no sympathy for the regime soldiers as long as they continue to murder, kill and execute civilians. even woman and kids. disgusting scum no matter what they are fighting for.
The most laughable thing about that is the guy sleeping. Its really that important that one of the guys decides to take a nap lol
My point is just that the opposition is a collection of groups that is loosely affiliated toward different aims. To say:Don't see what the point of this post was, but ok? :/
And yes, the random "fact" you posted doesn't justify the killings, so why post it? Seems more like "trying to stir shit up" than what I said.
So are rebels still the good guys?
Don't see what the point of this post was, but ok? :/
And yes, the random "fact" you posted doesn't justify the killings, so why post it? Seems more like "trying to stir shit up" than what I said.
I think his posts is infinitely better than yours seeing the fact that he posseses some kind of critical thinking while you clearly don't. You wish to set the conflict as a good/bad, white/black so that it fits nicely into whatever viewpoint you have on the conflict, the only problem being is that the world isn't simple like that.
My point is just that the opposition is a collection of groups that is loosely affiliated toward different aims. To say:
It rubs me the wrong way. Maybe its a personal issue or maybe it is something from your end that I misinterpreted, but either way considering the rebels as a singular entity is misinformed and the root of my accusation that with this broad brush you intended to mix that shit color, so to speak.
What solution to this terrible situation can you imagine?
Do the rebels portray themselves as a single entity? Maybe you are in contact with all the people on the ground, but I doubt it.I don't know who you are and you don't know me, so I don't appreciate your ad hominem attack(which I'm guessing was because you can't control your emotions). Refrain from it if you wish to be taken seriously. Otherwise you can continue, I don't mind adding someone new to my ignore list.
For the record, I, unlike you, don't wish to set the conflict as anything as I think both sides are bad. It is hard for any side that is supported by Iran and especially Saudi Arabia to be anything but.
The thing is, the rebels themselves portray themselves as a single entity. As much as you and the west want to separate JAN from the FSA or whatever other moderate rebel group there is, it's just not possible. If the rebels do somehow manage to eek out a victory in Syria(which I doubt they will), it will be JAN calling the shots because they're the ones who have the big guns, so to speak.
What is the solution to the conflict? As much as I would like there to be a diplomatic solution, I don't think it's possible, or atleast not until one or both of the two sides concedes their position. As it is right now, only a total military victory can end this war.
For the record, I support a democratic secular Syria, just not a rebellion that's backed by the Saudis.
Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri has told the Islamist militants who are some of Syria's toughest opposition forces to avoid alliances with other rebel fighters backed by Gulf Arab states and the West.
His comment reflects a deepening rift between groups of the Western- and Arab-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and guerrillas sympathetic to Zawahri's ultra hardline network, which seeks to wage a transnational armed campaign against the West.
Division among rebel fighters, as well as the influence of hardline Islamists, is one reason Western powers have hesitated to intervene in Syria's two-and-a-half-year-old conflict, in which more than 100,000 people have been killed.
source
The outfits main selling point appears to be that, as opposed to the more effective fighting forces in Syria, the Free Syrian Army is not technically al-Qaeda. But what is the Free Syrian Army, really? No two analysts have the same answer. To some, the Free Syrian Army is the group that sent a spokesperson to tell the world that it was preparing an ethnic cleansing program targeting Shia Muslims and Alawites. Among warmongers, especially American "neocons" such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and the Obama administration, the FSA is touted as a heroic organization that should be propped up even more heavily than it is even after McCains moderate FSA rebels turned out to be kidnappers. To others, the army is really an army in name only.
Virtually everyone agrees, however, that it is dominated by Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood and various other hardline Salafist groups known for violently seeking sharia law and strict enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic doctrine. In December of 2012, Reuters, among numerous other establishment sources, reported that the Free Syrian Army had chosen a leader for its new Islamist-dominated command. At a meeting in Turkey attended by hundreds of rebel leaders, Western officials, and representatives of Gulf Arab autocracies, a new 30-member Supreme Military Council packed with Muslim radicals was selected.
Despite official Western claims about the Free Syrian Army, even Reuters admitted that the make-up of the outfit was dominated by Islamists. The unified command includes many with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and to Salafists, who follow a puritanical interpretation of Islam, the news service reported. Incredibly, the supposed army was widely touted in the establishment press and among Western officials as the moderate alternative simply because known al-Qaeda fronts were not invited to participate in the meeting. Shortly after the selection of leaders, the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood demanded that the international community immediately fulfill its obligations and provide more weapons to the FSA.
source
Good and bad exist within everything, they are constructs.For the record, I, unlike you, don't wish to set the conflict as anything as I think both sides are bad
Otherwise you can continue, I don't mind adding someone new to my ignore list.
Do the rebels portray themselves as a single entity? Maybe you are in contact with all the people on the ground, but I doubt it.
There is this Newyorker article too that has been posted.
The Saudis are a mixed group too, they are not backing all the rebel factions, and the "hotel revolutionaries" in Turkey have less sway with the collection of fighters in opposition to the regime than the leaders on the front-lines that are in control of arms and supplies. These rebels within Syria are fighting and dying together, what do you think that does to people? Its not making them all radicals but they will loosely band together out of necessity. You are free to believe what you want but it is much more complicated than you come across, than I could ever come across.
Good and bad exist within everything, they are constructs.
Assad has still committed more murder
I don't think I have any need to continue. Partial Gamification is doing a great job refuting you're arguments very well himself. Have a nice day.
What is the difference between a wahhabi salifi terrorist group backed by the west and saudi arabia vs a wahhabi salifi terrorist group that isn't backed by the west and saudi arabia? Do some of you really think that one of them is more likely to love gay people, keep current Syrian laws about womens rights, not bulldoze schools that teach science, not commit genocide against minorities?
The fact is 20 of the biggest rebel groups PLANNED an ethnic massacre in which they killed all the men and put all the women on a bus for a much worse future of rape and death. To then say "oh no it was some bad apples" is to excuse the terrorists of their crimes!
So why don't you separate Assad from any commander or battalion that may have gone rogue?