Civil War in Syria

[dead0man]

Russia's sending Assad advanced ASMs.

The Navy arm of the Free Syrian Army must be getting fierce!

[2952-0-0]

Rebel caught on video eating heart of dead soldier: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22523804 (not a link to the actual video)

Surprised nobody posted it... not.

The west supporting a rebellion by radical Islamists in a proxy war against Russia. Hasn't this happened before?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Rebel caught on video eating heart of dead soldier: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22523804 (not a link to the actual video)

Surprised nobody posted it... not.

The west supporting a rebellion by radical Islamists in a proxy war against Russia. Hasn't this happened before?

Don't worry, we always stay good friends with our allies in that part of the world like the Afghan Mujahideen and Saddam Hussein.

[Mehmentum]

I've come to the point where I don't really care which side wins.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Rebel caught on video eating heart of dead soldier: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22523804 (not a link to the actual video)

Surprised nobody posted it... not.

But I'm SURE he's just a single bad apple sullying the reputation of otherwise noble rebel forces, right? Right??

Actually from the article:

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Disturbing but not exactly a war crime in my view anyway, biting the heart of someone who's already dead doesn't hurt the dead person any more than they already are.

[2952-0-0]

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Disturbing but not exactly a war crime in my view anyway, biting the heart of someone who's already dead doesn't hurt the dead person any more than they already are.

Maybe eating a dead person's body isn't a war crime per se, but committing an indignity against a human body is unnecessary and obscene. Especially when the Koran expressly forbids it.

I don't believe the promise. The Syrian rebellion ceased being an organized fighting force like in Libya long ago, and the longer it drags on the more the radical Islamist groups marginalize what's left of the genuinely pro-democratic opposition.

Assad played his cards well in turning the initially peaceful and non-sectarian demands for democracy into a sectarian bloodbath.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Well if the Koran forbids it, that's just evidence AGAINST someone being a radical Islamist.

Regardless it's a lot of debate over one person. I'm sure you could find more than a few cases of Assad's forces desecrating the dead.

[2952-0-0]

Well if the Koran forbids it, that's just evidence AGAINST someone being a radical Islamist.

The Bible forbids plenty of things. Doesn't stop self-proclaimed Christians from doing so.

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There you go. By equating the rebels with Assad's forces, it's clear to everyone that there's no good side in this war. And if anything, Assad and Putin can occupy the moral high ground claiming they're preventing a genocide against minority groups. Putin expressly promised to make protecting Christians a priority of his foreign policy before retaking the presidency last year.

[Blue3]

Yesterday, Assad said he liked the Russia-US idea of new peace-talks.

Today, Assad said he's happy because the peace-talks will fail and the US will have to deal with a regime victory.

Maybe it's not in our best interests to support peace talks?


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/assad-peace-talks-fail-america-160642097.html

[Tender Branson]

Chancellor Faymann has said that if the EU fails to reach an agreement on the arms embargo for the Syrian rebels that's running out in June, Austria might pull out of the Golan completely. Currently, Austria has 400 soldiers in the Golan between Israel and Syria as part of a UN peacekeeping mission that started in the 70s. If Austria moves out, the Philippines will do so as well (they have said so a few weeks ago). Austria and the Philippines have almost all troops there, just a few Indian troops are there as well. Arming the rebels would be way too dangerous for our soldiers there, especially if they or the regime decides to attack Israel via the Golan. Vice Chancellor Spindelegger and Defense Minister Klug back the Chancellor on this issue.

[Beet]

I'm reposting a comment here found in The Economist by a man by the name or pseudonym of 'Mark Dowe' (p.s. I have explored this person's online footprint and he is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever encountered on the Internet)

Jabhat al-Nusra has been steadily winning battles and gaining popular support since its inception in January 2012. Last month, its leader was forced to publicly clarify the group’s relationship with al-Qaeda. In a YouTube video posted on April 10, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani said: ‘The sons of al-Nusra pledge allegiance to Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri’, Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man and the acting head of al-Qaeda.

With that declaration, Jawlani heightened suspicions in the West that significant elements of the Syrian opposition are ideologically and tactically aligned with al-Qaeda. Nusra is now deemed a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the United States.

Jabhat al-Nusra has attracted radical fighters, including those that fought battles in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. The organisation is considered one of the most effective groups battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The group’s roots can also be traced back to the activities of deceased al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi during the early 2000s. Fighting US forces in Iraq, Zarqawi is believed to have amassed fighters, sending some to Syria and Lebanon to establish branches of his network – so called ‘guesthouses’ to train and funnel fighters to Iraq. When it became clear the Syrian uprising of 2011 evolved into a full and bloodied civil war, many of those experienced fighters in Iraq detoured to Syria, with the goal of removing Assad in the hope of establishing an Islamic caliphate in the Levant.

The experience of the al-Nusra fighters as jihadists sets them apart from other groups, such as the ragtag Free Syrian Army. This experience helps Nusra to identify goals and to strategise more effectively, and they often plan in other countries. There tactics are reflective of their training in asymmetric warfare in Iraq – car bombings, suicide missions, and the targeting of security forces.

Nusra is now a well-disciplined and organised group that is gaining more and more ground against the Assad regime. Syrians are increasingly throwing their support behind the rebel groups, in spite of its Islamist ideologies. Previously, too, the United States had decried Jabhat al-Nusra as being the bogeyman of the West. Support – or at least resigned acceptance – comes from many sides now, some unexpected. Some, for example, say that al-Nusra’s Salafist leanings do not pose any risk to the freedom of Syrians or the type of power that will emerge in Syria after the war. Many Syrians believe that al-Nusra can protect the people, rather than exploit them (as has been the case with some other Free Syrian Army brigades). Others, though, such as Abdelbaset Sieda, president of the Syrian National Council, emphasises that al-Nusra’s radical ideology is a complete anathema to Syria’s moderate social environment which thrives on diversity, rather than narrow and literal interpretations of Islamic scripture.

[Mr. Morden]

Hassan Nasrallah went on TV earlier in the day and made his most emphatic statement of support for Assad to date:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-fighting-hezbollah-20130526,0,7835258.story

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Then a few hours later, two rockets hit Beirut neighborhoods that are strongholds of Hezbollah:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/05/26/lebanon-hezbollah-beirut-syria/2361459/

Though we don't know who fired them.  Presumably either Israel or Syrian rebels?  Or Sunni islamists who are sympathetic to the Syrian rebels?  Who the heck knows anymore, with this many players now involved?

[Beet]

It's clear where this guy's sympathies lie, but he's still pretty funny (as he was during the Arab Spring):

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

[dead0man]

A regular Baghdad Bob this guy is.

[dead0man]

Russia sending S300 anti-aircraft weapons to Assad, nobody else likes this, Israel promises a response.

link

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[Beet]

The more Israel attacks Assad, the more credibility it gives to the regime.

[dead0man]

To who other than bigots?

[politicus]

The more Israel attacks Assad, the more credibility it gives to the regime.

Its hard to see that there are any population groups in Syria that would suddenly start to back the regime at this point just because of anti-Israeli sentiments.

Israel is clearly a secondary issue in the middle of a ferocious civil war.

[Blue3]

Assad promises to attack Israel, if they bomb a site in Syria again

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/2013530194217674256.html

[Beet]

To who other than bigots?

Uh, you do realize that most Muslims have an unfavorable opinion of Israel, right? (I may just be understating things a bit )

But politicus is right that few are likely to change sides now.

[dead0man]

To who other than bigots?

Uh, you do realize that most Muslims have an unfavorable opinion of Israel, right?

Yes and my point stands.  If you don't have a team to root for in this conflict and Israel blowing sh**t up causes you to pull for Assad, then yes, you're a bigot.

[Person Man]

Assad promises to attack Israel, if they bomb a site in Syria again

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/2013530194217674256.html

and what would happen then?  Do you think that Israel would invade Syria?

[ingemann]

Assad promises to attack Israel, if they bomb a site in Syria again

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/2013530194217674256.html

and what would happen then?  Do you think that Israel would invade Syria?

Unless the entire Israeli government have been replaced with complete morons, it won't happen. First the Israel army have in the last 4 decades only worked as a occupation force.
Also the Israeli military have build for fast knock out, not long term military action, so the best they can hope for is weakening the government, rather than taking them out.
Even in Lebanon it worked more like a traditional occupation force. Israels other problem is that everybody hate them in Syria, the rebels moreso than the government.

[Blue3]

North Korean military officers are now on the ground in Syria, helping Assad

I think we can now say everyone is involved there.

[dead0man]

Norks-have you tried firing some of your missiles into the sea?
Syria-it's more of an internal problem
Norks-have you tried an outdated political system that leads (as it always does) to mass starvation?  It's hard to rablle rouse on 79 calories a day
Syria-no, we don't hate money
Norks-don't you usually blame the Jews when you need to pull your people together
Syria-of course we tried that...that was the second, forth, seventh, eighth and ninth things we tried.  We even tried giving terrorists more missiles and the Jews blew up the building we hid them in, it's not fair really.  Do you know they have spy sharks and birds and sh**t? 
Norks-don't get me started!  Bad Korea is always trying to give our people information about how much better life is everywhere outside of Best Korea.