The Syria Thread: Everything you wanted to know or say about it
- Thread starter Tecumsehsbones
- Start date
But this isn't chess. It's Triple Crank. Cards, a chessboard and men, and dice!
YOU got one of these kicking around and I- can have it?8O
Darn, You're a generous guy, MISTER LOCUTUS.
(got to be a catch, somewhere....)
Witness to a Syrian Execution: “I Saw a Scene of Utter Cruelty”
All wars are vicious, but the civil war in Syria seems every day to set new standards for brutality. As the fighting rages in its third year, increasing numbers of atrocities are committed by soldiers and fighters from forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar Assad, as well as armed rebels and Islamic militants from the numerous, loosely aligned groups opposing Assad. The violence is frequently sectarian in nature, with fighters claiming they act in defense of their faith, be it Sunni, Alawite, Shiite or any of the other sects that contribute to Syria’s religious landscape.
more
One Photographer’s Witness to a Brutal Execution in Syria - LightBox
*graphic imagery*
All wars are vicious, but the civil war in Syria seems every day to set new standards for brutality. As the fighting rages in its third year, increasing numbers of atrocities are committed by soldiers and fighters from forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar Assad, as well as armed rebels and Islamic militants from the numerous, loosely aligned groups opposing Assad. The violence is frequently sectarian in nature, with fighters claiming they act in defense of their faith, be it Sunni, Alawite, Shiite or any of the other sects that contribute to Syria’s religious landscape.
more
One Photographer’s Witness to a Brutal Execution in Syria - LightBox
*graphic imagery*
It's nice to see something reported besides the relentless cruelty of Obama, Bush, Clinton, Harper etc.
good point the Daily Gallup poll
Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval
Shows that most Americans don't feel that the Syrian ultimatum has changed their views of Pres. Obama one way or the other.
so the right wing 'internet war' seems to be just punditti sounding off..
A 44% Job Approval rating... and the lefties think that's good.
That was funny... a good laugh early in the morning.
That was funny... a good laugh early in the morning.
Ayyyuh, Hoss- tizz as it izzz....Prob hit 60. 5 if he gets the 'Ghan troops home for Christmas.
Another candidate for the Hague.
UN chief slams Syrian president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has heavily criticised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in unguarded comments made during a UN event.
Speaking at the International Women's Forum on Friday, Ban said Assad has "carried out many crimes against humanity" and that there must be "accountability" once war is over.
He also expressed his predictions for the chemical weapons report on Syria, due to be presented to him in the coming days.
"I believe the report will be an overwhelming report that the chemical weapons was used," said Ban.
Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor James Bays, reporting from the UN in New York, said it appeared that Ban believed he was speaking off the record.
"The UN secretary-general was speaking at an event, the International Women's Forum, and the proceedings of that event were being broadcast around the UN on the internal television system," he said.
"But, it seems Ban Ki-moon thought it was a private event."
Our correspondent said the remarks offered some insight into what the UN and its leader really thought about Syria and Assad.
"He is normally very measured in expressing his views on Syria, because of his role in the UN," he said.
"It seems from these unguarded comments that Ban believes he knows what he is going to hear."
Hospitals targeted
The secretary-general's comments came as a separate UN report was released saying Syrian government forces are bombing and shelling hospitals in rebel-held areas to prevent sick and wounded from getting treatment, acts which constitute war crimes.
Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad purposefully denied people medical care as a "weapon of war", UN investigators added in a report released on Friday.
They also had details of a smaller number of incidents when rebel forces attacked hospitals.
According to the UN report on hospital attacks, they started as violence mounted in Syria's civil war in early 2012 and were continuing, it added.
Neither Assad's nor rebel forces immediately responded to the report's allegations, to be discussed on Monday in Geneva at a debate at the UN Human Rights Council.
The Syrian army has occupied hospitals, using them as bases for snipers, tanks and soldiers, according to the report.
Ambulance drivers, nurses and doctors have been attacked, arrested, tortured or disappeared in "insidious" violations of international law.
"Intentionally directing attacks against hospitals and places containing the sick and the wounded and against medical units using the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem is a war crime in non-international armed conflict," the independent investigators said, referring to a legal term for civil war.
Patients beaten
Patients had also been beaten, burned with cigarettes and tortured to death in a military hospital in Mezzeh, Damascus, it said.
UN chief slams Syrian president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has heavily criticised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in unguarded comments made during a UN event.
Speaking at the International Women's Forum on Friday, Ban said Assad has "carried out many crimes against humanity" and that there must be "accountability" once war is over.
He also expressed his predictions for the chemical weapons report on Syria, due to be presented to him in the coming days.
"I believe the report will be an overwhelming report that the chemical weapons was used," said Ban.
Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor James Bays, reporting from the UN in New York, said it appeared that Ban believed he was speaking off the record.
"The UN secretary-general was speaking at an event, the International Women's Forum, and the proceedings of that event were being broadcast around the UN on the internal television system," he said.
"But, it seems Ban Ki-moon thought it was a private event."
Our correspondent said the remarks offered some insight into what the UN and its leader really thought about Syria and Assad.
"He is normally very measured in expressing his views on Syria, because of his role in the UN," he said.
"It seems from these unguarded comments that Ban believes he knows what he is going to hear."
Hospitals targeted
The secretary-general's comments came as a separate UN report was released saying Syrian government forces are bombing and shelling hospitals in rebel-held areas to prevent sick and wounded from getting treatment, acts which constitute war crimes.
Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad purposefully denied people medical care as a "weapon of war", UN investigators added in a report released on Friday.
They also had details of a smaller number of incidents when rebel forces attacked hospitals.
According to the UN report on hospital attacks, they started as violence mounted in Syria's civil war in early 2012 and were continuing, it added.
Neither Assad's nor rebel forces immediately responded to the report's allegations, to be discussed on Monday in Geneva at a debate at the UN Human Rights Council.
The Syrian army has occupied hospitals, using them as bases for snipers, tanks and soldiers, according to the report.
Ambulance drivers, nurses and doctors have been attacked, arrested, tortured or disappeared in "insidious" violations of international law.
"Intentionally directing attacks against hospitals and places containing the sick and the wounded and against medical units using the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem is a war crime in non-international armed conflict," the independent investigators said, referring to a legal term for civil war.
Patients beaten
Patients had also been beaten, burned with cigarettes and tortured to death in a military hospital in Mezzeh, Damascus, it said.
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Putin NY Times Op Ed On Syria Sparks Outrage - YouTube
Hey the USA is Exceptional, Exceptionally arrogant thinking they are the most powerful country on earth and or the best nation on earth... many countries have lots to offer and with extremely intelligent people too.
McRINO And Kerry’s Syrian “Expert” Signed Affidavit Vouching For Rebel Group That Depicted Burning U.S. Capitol As Not Being Jihadist…
Amazing, she actually signed an affidavit declaring the Al Aqsa Islamic Brigades to be non-jihadist in nature.
Via Fox News:
Amazing, she actually signed an affidavit declaring the Al Aqsa Islamic Brigades to be non-jihadist in nature.
Via Fox News:
Elizabeth O’Bagy, a pro-Syrian opposition analyst whose credibility has come under fire, might have even more explaining to do – as court documents show she once vouched for a rebel group whose website displayed extremist and anti-American images.
Among the pictures was one showing a burning U.S. Capitol.
O’Bagy was fired earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly lying about her academic credentials.
Her writings had been used by U.S. officials to bolster their case for military action against the Assad regime.
O’Bagy discussed the rebel group in question in a June 19, 2013 signed affidavit filed in the case of American Eric Harroun, who was indicted for fighting alongside the terror group al-Nusra in Syria.
O’Bagy’s signed declaration, which included a breakdown of rebel groups and their varying degrees of affiliation to Al Qaeda-linked terrorists, was used by Harroun’s defense to argue that the former Army medic had actually fought with a splinter group and not a terrorist one – a group tied to the one O’Bagy described.
In the document, O’Bagy said she had reviewed the apparent Facebook page for the Al Aqsa Islamic Brigades, and found no signs of jihadist leanings.
“I have also reviewed a Facebook site … that purports to be associated with the al Aqsa (Islamic) brigades,” she stated in the affidavit. “The facebook site does not appear to be particularly jihadist in orientation, and posts videos associated with groups that are all affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.”
Yet newly uncovered images from the group’s Facebook page depict otherwise – including one that shows the U.S. Capitol building engulfed in flames, and armed fighters marching in the foreground. Other images show what appears to be a black-and-white flag, which is viewed by intelligence analysts as a sign of a group’s Islamist bent (although O’Bagy wrote that many fighters not affiliated with jihadist groups use a similar flag).
McRINO And Kerry’s Syrian “Expert” Signed Affidavit Vouching For Rebel Group That Depicted Burning U.S. Capitol As Not Being Jihadist… | Weasel Zippers
Among the pictures was one showing a burning U.S. Capitol.
O’Bagy was fired earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly lying about her academic credentials.
Her writings had been used by U.S. officials to bolster their case for military action against the Assad regime.
O’Bagy discussed the rebel group in question in a June 19, 2013 signed affidavit filed in the case of American Eric Harroun, who was indicted for fighting alongside the terror group al-Nusra in Syria.
O’Bagy’s signed declaration, which included a breakdown of rebel groups and their varying degrees of affiliation to Al Qaeda-linked terrorists, was used by Harroun’s defense to argue that the former Army medic had actually fought with a splinter group and not a terrorist one – a group tied to the one O’Bagy described.
In the document, O’Bagy said she had reviewed the apparent Facebook page for the Al Aqsa Islamic Brigades, and found no signs of jihadist leanings.
“I have also reviewed a Facebook site … that purports to be associated with the al Aqsa (Islamic) brigades,” she stated in the affidavit. “The facebook site does not appear to be particularly jihadist in orientation, and posts videos associated with groups that are all affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.”
Yet newly uncovered images from the group’s Facebook page depict otherwise – including one that shows the U.S. Capitol building engulfed in flames, and armed fighters marching in the foreground. Other images show what appears to be a black-and-white flag, which is viewed by intelligence analysts as a sign of a group’s Islamist bent (although O’Bagy wrote that many fighters not affiliated with jihadist groups use a similar flag).
McRINO And Kerry’s Syrian “Expert” Signed Affidavit Vouching For Rebel Group That Depicted Burning U.S. Capitol As Not Being Jihadist… | Weasel Zippers