Author Topic: The barbarity that is Syria  (Read 381297 times)

Offline Sinos

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Offline Sinos

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #161 on: July 1, 2013, 07:47:01 pm »
This is what happens when you let religious fundamentalists from Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia take control of the situation.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2352251/Horrific-video-shows-Syrian-Catholic-priest-beheaded-jihadist-fighters-cheering-crowd.html
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Offline Quaid

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #162 on: July 2, 2013, 01:10:36 pm »
“By definition, you have to live until you die. Better to make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible, in case death is shite, which I suspect it will be.”

Offline Sinos

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #163 on: July 3, 2013, 01:25:30 am »
This is a really interesting article on how the Saudi and Qatari rivalry is effecting their decision making in Syria. It's also a decent little primer on the Muslim Brotherhood's history in the Middle East.

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-saudi-qatari-clash-over-syria-8685


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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #164 on: July 3, 2013, 08:47:27 am »
This is a really interesting article on how the Saudi and Qatari rivalry is effecting their decision making in Syria. It's also a decent little primer on the Muslim Brotherhood's history in the Middle East.

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-saudi-qatari-clash-over-syria-8685


I hope I'm not boring you all to tears with these articles.

Not at all mate.  Makes a refreshing change from the vacuous gnashings of the oil/US imperialism brigade.
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Offline AA1122

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #165 on: July 12, 2013, 07:14:15 pm »
When Assad does eventually go, I hope that a government can be put in place and these groups can somehow evaporate. It seems to me like clearer lines are starting to emerge between Islamist groups and other rebels.

Al Qaeda kills Free Syrian Army commander: FSA spokesman
Thu, Jul 11 16:52 PM EDT
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Militants linked to al Qaeda in Syria killed a senior figure in the Western- and Arab-backed Free Syrian army on Thursday, an FSA source said, signaling a widening rift between Islamists and more moderate elements in the armed Syrian opposition.

Kamal Hamami, a member of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, known by his nom de guerre Abu Bassel al-Ladkani, was meeting with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the port city of Latakia when they killed him, Qassem Saadeddine, a Free Syrian Army spokesman, told Reuters.

"The Islamic State phoned me saying that they killed Abu Bassel and that they will kill all of the Supreme Military Council," Saadeddine said from Syria.

"He met them to discuss battle plans," Saadeddine added.

The Free Syrian Army has been trying to build a network of logistics and reinforce its presence across Syria as the U.S. administration pledged to send weapons to the group after it concluded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces had used chemical weapons against rebel fighters.

U.S. congressional committees are holding up the plan because of fears that such deliveries will not be decisive and the arms might end up in the hands of Islamist militants, security sources have said.

While Free Syrian Army units sometimes fight alongside Islamist militant groups such as the Islamist State, rivalries have increased and al Qaeda-linked groups have been blamed for several assassinations of commanders of moderate rebel units.


(Reporting by Mariam Karouny; Editing by Michael Roddy)
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE96A10620130711?feedType=RSS&irpc=932
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Offline Kovai Red

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #166 on: August 21, 2013, 11:38:35 am »
Syria conflict: 'Chemical attacks' near Damascus
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23777201
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #167 on: August 21, 2013, 05:03:32 pm »
The images are genuinely horrifying. They are on the news and I would avoid seeing them if possible.

Offline gamble

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #168 on: August 21, 2013, 10:16:08 pm »
The images are genuinely horrifying. They are on the news and I would avoid seeing them if possible.

Just seen this now. seeing little kids convulsing. this is sickening.

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #169 on: August 21, 2013, 10:36:21 pm »
I don't even know what to say after seeing that.

It was just hideous.

Where will this end?  I cannot see a resolution, both sides doing hideous things in the name of who knows what.

They showed a baby convulsing on a table, it died.  I just don't have the words.
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Offline John C

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #170 on: August 21, 2013, 10:40:50 pm »
What sort of fucking inhumane act has been perpetrated, it's vile to see and disturbing to contemplate what people can do to each other. Some fucking cowards roam this planet.

I'm truly shocked by those images and the level of casualties.

Offline JennaD

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #171 on: August 21, 2013, 11:21:13 pm »
no words  :'(

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #172 on: August 22, 2013, 12:16:55 am »
Countries need to go in militarily and seize anything that can distribute these weapons, not the leaders or the generals, any military action should be focused on seizing the chemicals and the means to distribute them including planes and artillery. Whoever gets in the way has no excuse.

You cant standby and watch that in this day and age.

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #173 on: August 22, 2013, 10:20:19 am »
Crimes against humanity. The United Nations refuses to act. Why? Because two of the countries with a veto couldn't care a toss about crimes against humanity. Meanwhile President Obama just wants to get through his final term without rocking the boat. 
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #174 on: August 22, 2013, 10:57:12 am »
Iraq didnt have WMD but the west managed to made up a reason for a war there

Syria is flying WMD left right and centre....and the west is still waiting for hard evidence.

Someone just tell the west there is a big pond of petrol or are they afraid to upset China and Russia?
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Offline Addy

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #175 on: August 22, 2013, 10:58:55 am »
Iraq: Made-up evidence of WMDs - Let's invade.

Syria: WMDs being deployed against civilians - Let's do Jack Shit.

Frustrating and saddening.

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #176 on: August 22, 2013, 11:04:49 am »
Crimes against humanity. The United Nations refuses to act. Why? Because two of the countries with a veto couldn't care a toss about crimes against humanity. Meanwhile President Obama just wants to get through his final term without rocking the boat. 


Playing Devil's advocate for a mo here, yorky:

Why, given the worldwide shitstorm that's about to head Assad's way, would they escalate to chemical weapons now?  What would be the benefit of this move at this stage, because I can't see how this gameplan could possibly work out for them?
I mean, they seem to have been doing a bang-up job of killing the opposition up to now without doing the one thing that the West have said will bring about an intervention.

I mean, they could be complete sociopaths, but are they incredibly dumb sociopaths?
Because their ruthlessness up to now has been, if you were to look at things purely from their perspective, politically smart - they've played nicely with the Russians/Chinese safe in the knowledge that they would veto any UNSC resolution authorizing force. 

Or are they assuming that, short of complete genocide, the Russians/Chinese will always veto, rather than abstain, in a UNSC vote?
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #177 on: August 22, 2013, 12:04:41 pm »
...Why, given the worldwide shitstorm that's about to head Assad's way, would they escalate to chemical weapons now? 

At the risk of appearing to defend the odious bastard Assad, no independent inspection from outside has yet established precisely what happened and what was the actual cause of the deaths.

As it stands, this event presents all the sides in the conflict with considerable opportunities for propaganda.

But, assuming it's what it certainly initially appears to be, it's possibly a calculated gamble by Assad.

If we remember, a precedent for non-intervention by the UN on chemical attacks against your own population was established when Saddam pursued his Al-Anfal campaign and gassed Halabja in '88 with little meaningful international condemnation.

Subsequent to those attacks and right up to his Kuwait invasion, the UK and others continued to provide the Saddam regime with assistance.

And although two subsequent wars against Saddam later followed, the use of chemicals against his own civilians was never the reason for them.

So provided Assad doesn't invade any neighbouring country, he's probably gambling that it's safe to continue with his policies, that no one will intervene in any meaningful way. Cynically, I could even suggest that on past precedent, if Assad invaded Iran he'd possibly get US aid just like Saddam did.

Like many, in such dark times for humanity as these, I do sometimes question exactly what the point of the UN is these days other than seemingly a comfortable place for well paid representatives of the nations of the world to appear to practice duplicitous and mealy mouthed oratory without the slightest hint of irony and sarcasm. I expect many of them even sleep easy in their comfortable beds after their diplomatic lunches, insulated by time and place and possibly even any hint of personal moral concern from the human tragedy of these horrific events.
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Offline KUNGFUDANCER

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #178 on: August 22, 2013, 04:09:24 pm »
At the risk of appearing to defend the odious bastard Assad, no independent inspection from outside has yet established precisely what happened and what was the actual cause of the deaths.

As it stands, this event presents all the sides in the conflict with considerable opportunities for propaganda.

But, assuming it's what it certainly initially appears to be, it's possibly a calculated gamble by Assad.

If we remember, a precedent for non-intervention by the UN on chemical attacks against your own population was established when Saddam pursued his Al-Anfal campaign and gassed Halabja in '88 with little meaningful international condemnation.

Subsequent to those attacks and right up to his Kuwait invasion, the UK and others continued to provide the Saddam regime with assistance.

And although two subsequent wars against Saddam later followed, the use of chemicals against his own civilians was never the reason for them.

So provided Assad doesn't invade any neighbouring country, he's probably gambling that it's safe to continue with his policies, that no one will intervene in any meaningful way. Cynically, I could even suggest that on past precedent, if Assad invaded Iran he'd possibly get US aid just like Saddam did.

Like many, in such dark times for humanity as these, I do sometimes question exactly what the point of the UN is these days other than seemingly a comfortable place for well paid representatives of the nations of the world to appear to practice duplicitous and mealy mouthed oratory without the slightest hint of irony and sarcasm. I expect many of them even sleep easy in their comfortable beds after their diplomatic lunches, insulated by time and place and possibly even any hint of personal moral concern from the human tragedy of these horrific events.

At that time Saddam was US ally against Iran. While in this case the western countries have been itching for direct intervention ever since this civil war started. Assad using chemical weapons now makes no sense at all.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2013, 04:14:29 pm by KUNGFUDANCER »

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #179 on: August 22, 2013, 04:35:41 pm »
I just find it hard to believe Assad would do this now.
Assad knows the shitstorm it would create. He is not stupid.

But Hague has already said Assad did it viewing his press conference, as have the rest who want to get involved.
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #180 on: August 22, 2013, 04:58:25 pm »
You
I just find it hard to believe Assad would do this now.
Assad knows the shitstorm it would create. He is not stupid.

Do we know he's not stupid? And even if we do, can we assume that lack of stupidity is a barrier to barbarism? Assad has been killing his own people at a tremendous rate this past 2 years.

Presumably Assad also remembers his fellow Baathist over the border in Iraq. As has been said in this thread before it wasn't mass chemical attacks on the Kurds that led the West to topple Saddam Hussein - at least not immediately. Perhaps he thinks that the United Nations will be as indifferent to his use of poison warfare as they were to Saddam. And let's face it, the UN, or at least enough of the debauched Security Council, are doing a pretty good impression of indifference at the moment.

Then there's a sizeable minority of people in the democracies themselves who are completely indifferent to Arab deaths - unless of course they're inflicted by Israelis or Americans. They can be counted on to not kick up a fuss.
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Offline The Gulleysucker

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #181 on: August 22, 2013, 08:17:59 pm »
....While in this case the western countries have been itching for direct intervention ever since this civil war started.

I would hardly say the US has been itching to get involved, anything but, and in truth they are the only people who can militarily make a difference (or better still if China & Russia immediately stop their support of the odious regime that could be a gamechanger)

The only people who seem to be itching (as you say it) to intervene currently are the French, who on their own, will likely do very little except bomb Assad with leaflets on existentialism, mime outfits and old records of Sacha Distel. They have few assets in theatre that could do anything other than pinpricks on the hide of an elephant though it might make them feel good about themselves but remember they too turned a blind eye to Saddam and his use of chemical warfare.

And as far as Liberal Interventionism is concerned, modern sensibilities and the sheer expense of defence budgets mean that few democracies possess the ability either in assets or the will of their population to go it alone and intervene in a conflict such as this and to be effective and have a favourable outcome with minimum loss of life.

Other than the US (and to a lesser extent Israel), they can only act in concert with others in a complimentary alliance of forces and intelligence.

You see also that this is not Libya with convenient Italian airfields close by.

To be effective against Assad and his forces, you need either Aircraft carriers (the French one is not too reliable, propellors dropping off and such, and its strike wing on its own would be inadequate other than a show strike), or handy land bases in a friendly country nearby together with in flight tanker facilities, especially if any useful load is to be carried by the sort of aircraft anyone other than the US and Russia possess. I suppose at a push, the French could attempt to use Lebanese bases for any Force de Frappe though that would be fraught with all kinds of problems, it smacks of old colonialism and it would be an enormous stick in a hornets nest.

It's also improbable that UK bases in Cyprus could be used by them without all kinds of difficulties too and it's unlikely Turkey would allow their bases to be used unless the US gets involved and even then, I expect they will be very reluctant to have a couple of million more refugees flooding across the border.

And despite noises from Hague, forget the UK being involved in any significant game changing way, We can't afford it and also we can't unilaterally do much anyway these days without substantial US involvement. All we can do is perhaps provide the catering, some guidance on outsourcing and privatisation of public utilities, and as an afterthought perhaps park HMS Ocean somewhere offshore with a handful of Apaches on it. Without things like RC-135W Rivet Joint(not due in RAF service until December) and other appropriate modern intel gathering aircraft, I certainly wouldn't want to be flying into a very hostile Syrian airspace that has excellent anti aircraft defences (just ask the Israelis) in just a helicopter. I somehow doubt Harry for instance will get sent there.

So without a substantial Alliance of countries and their combined military assets, the options for intervention are realistically pretty limited. And so to repeat, the only people who could perhaps make a real difference are the US and so far there has been little to no enthusiasm from them for getting involved in any shape or form other than perhaps ensuring containment of the conflict within the borders of Syria.

Until the US change their mind, something I just don't see happening yet if at all, this will likely run and run with much huffing and puffing and ultimately empty rhetoric from assorted worthies here in Europe, and countless more deaths of civilians in Syria.

It's totally shit and it's the modern world and there seems little that we can actually do about it other than weep.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2013, 08:24:48 pm by The Gulleysucker »
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Offline RedRabbit

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #182 on: August 22, 2013, 09:37:23 pm »
That is an utterly depressing, but quite excellent and informative post.

Offline Kovai Red

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #183 on: August 23, 2013, 11:11:22 am »
Which is why the UN Security Council needs a complete overhaul. In theory this is exactly what it's there for. In practice? Ha.
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #184 on: August 23, 2013, 11:38:35 am »
I just find it hard to believe Assad would do this now.
Assad knows the shitstorm it would create. He is not stupid.

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #185 on: August 23, 2013, 01:26:49 pm »
Good stuff that Gulley.
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #186 on: August 23, 2013, 02:05:52 pm »
I would hardly say the US has been itching to get involved, anything but, and in truth they are the only people who can militarily make a difference (or better still if China & Russia immediately stop their support of the odious regime that could be a gamechanger)

...

It is obvious to everyone any direct intervention will need US involvement especially with Russia backing Assad. US may not be itching but they are getting involved, deals to send weapons to the rebels have been made, CIA is also going to train them just like they did with Taliban. Some of the US senators have been publicly lobbying for war too. Obama has said use of chemical weapons could lead to US military intervention. So this is unlike Saddam who was an ally at that time. Assad risking US intervention when he is actually winning and UN inspectors are in the country doesn't really make sense. It is known that rebels have chemical weapons too and them using this as a false flag to get US to intervene seems to be the logical view.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2013, 03:17:29 pm by KUNGFUDANCER »

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #187 on: August 23, 2013, 05:08:01 pm »
Well it didnt bother a certain bloke called Adolf...

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #188 on: August 23, 2013, 07:14:03 pm »

Quote

Obama: Syria chemical weapon claim a 'grave concern'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23809409


WELL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THEN YOU PRICK!  :no
How many people are going to needlessly die before someone steps in and does something?

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #189 on: August 23, 2013, 08:35:00 pm »
WELL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THEN YOU PRICK!  :no
How many people are going to needlessly die before someone steps in and does something?

Not sure calling him a prick is necessary. The situation in Syria is vastly complicated and Obama and the U.S are obviously very carefully considering their options. You may say that has been the case for over a couple of years now but with this chemical attack it's going to change somewhat.

Offline KUNGFUDANCER

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #190 on: August 25, 2013, 07:09:35 pm »
Rebels execute three Syrians for not being sunni
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2kIuMEcY5B8 (graphic, people getting shot)

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #191 on: August 25, 2013, 10:12:53 pm »
Interesting piece

Quote
Antakya, Turkey // United Nations weapons inspectors will today examine the site of a chemical weapons attack in Damascus that killed hundreds, as the first signs of finger-pointing inside the Assad regime began to emerge.

The Syrian government agreed yesterday to cease hostilities in the area while the team goes in and the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said inspectors were "preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities" on the outskirts of the capital.

The attack on Wednesday has galvanised international calls for action against the government of President Bashar Al Assad. Rebels say as many as 1,300 people were killed. One aid agency says thousands were affected and 355 died.

Amid universal acceptance that a chemical nerve agent has been used but disagreement over who used it, there were indications from Damascus that some of the army officers involved had tried to distance themselves from what happened, and insisted they were not told the rockets they were firing were loaded with toxins.

"We have heard from people close to the regime that the chemical missiles were handed out a few hours before the attacks," said a source from a well-connected family, who has contacts with both the opposition and regime loyalists.

"They didn't come from the ministry of defence but from air force intelligence, under orders from Hafez Maklouf . The army officers are saying they did not know there were chemical weapons. Even some of the people transporting them are saying they had no idea what was in the rockets - they thought they were conventional explosives."

Hafez Maklouf, Mr Al Assad's cousin, commands Syria's air force intelligence, the most feared of all its secret police branches.

Another account of what may have taken place has been put forward by the opposition Syrian National Coalition, based on a timeline from residents inside the affected areas and information collected from sources inside the regime who leak information to the rebels.

The SNC said rockets loaded with chemicals were delivered to Gen Tahir Hamid Khalil and launched from an army base housing the 155 Brigade, a unit of the 4th Division, in the Qalamoon mountains north of Damascus.

Mahar Al Assad, the Syrian president's brother, commands the 4th Division, an ultra-loyalist force with a key role in repressing the uprising since it began in March 2011, and, more recently, heavily involved in combat with rebels around Damascus.

After a night of fierce fighting on Tuesday in an area on the edge of Damascus known as Eastern Ghouta - once known for its clean natural water and lush orchards - regime troops moved back, leaving only aircraft overhead, the SNC said.

At 2.30am on Wednesday, regime forces under the command of Gen Ghassan Abbas began launching the rockets, 16 of which were aimed at the eastern suburbs of Damascus, and hit Zamalka and Ain Tarma, densely populated areas in the Eastern Ghouta.

As opposition emergency services responded to those initial chemical attacks, rockets armed with high explosive warheads were fired into the same area, hitting ambulance teams as they tried to help victims of the chemical strikes.

At 4.21am, 18 more missiles were fired into eastern Damascus by troops loyal to Mr Al Assad, the SNC said. Another two missiles were aimed at Moadamiya, to the south-west of Damascus, an area known locally as the Western Ghouta.

By 6am, dozens of people from Moadamiya had been taken to a local field hospital suffering from the effects of exposure to a still unidentified poison gas.

At least five poison gas rockets were fired, according to the SNC, four landing in the Eastern Ghouta and one in Moadamiya. Strong winds pushed the gases out from their impact area in Zamalka across to Erbin, a neighbouring district, where more people died.

According to the SNC's account, loyalist forces close to the attack area were issued orders from a "high level" to wear gas masks in anticipation of the attacks.

Syrian state media and the insurgents have continued to wage a war of words over the chemical attacks.

After initially denying chemical agents had been released by either side, the Syrian authorities are now vigorously blaming rebel forces.

The rebels have posted videos online of hollow rocket tubes found in the eastern suburbs where the attacks took place. The missile casings, about two metres long, appear to match those used in previous strikes by regime forces.

Russia, a close ally of Mr Al Assad, said it welcomed the decision by Damascus to allow the UN inspection. The Russian government, like Syria's other close ally Iran, does not dispute that chemical weapons were used in the Damascus suburb. They blame anti-government insurgents for the attacks.

In Washington, a US official said "there is very little doubt" that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians.

The Obama administration earlier accused the Assad government of delaying UN inspectors to allow the evidence to degrade.

The agreement by Syria to permit UN investigators to carry out a first-hand examination of a chemical weapons attack came as international pressure built for a retaliatory strike against the Assad regime. The US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, said yesterday that the US military, which is repositioning its forces in the eastern Mediterranean to give President Obama the option for an armed strike, was ready to act if asked.

On Saturday, the humanitarian aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières said 3,600 patients displaying "neurotoxic symptoms" had been admitted to Syrian hospitals it supports, and 355 of those patients had died.

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #192 on: August 26, 2013, 01:16:51 am »
I didn't realise this happened a few miles from Assad in Damascus, which makes it more ridiculous why he would gas parts of the capital.

Anyway, I saw this on the BBC for the first time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23831696

Quote
The Western powers have never wanted the rebels to win.

Their strategy has been to redress the balance so that the regime came under such pressure that it would cave in, dump the Assad leadership and negotiate a transition that would exclude the inner ruling circle while preserving stability and state structures.

There has never been evidence to suggest such an approach might work.

The signs have always been that the regime would pull the whole house down around it before capitulating, and also that its strategic allies, especially Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, would not allow that to happen.

In addition, the West faces the reality that the moderate opposition elements it has been trying to boost have proven neither cohesive, credible nor effective on the ground.

Instead, the running has largely been made by Islamist factions, many linked to al-Qaeda
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #193 on: August 26, 2013, 02:19:03 am »
I didn't realise this happened a few miles from Assad in Damascus, which makes it more ridiculous why he would gas parts of the capital.

Anyway, I saw this on the BBC for the first time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23831696

So in other words

"fuck genocide we have our own political interests and agenda's."- The west goverments

Offline JohnnoWhite

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #194 on: August 26, 2013, 10:37:46 am »
Indeed so Gulley mate. As a consequence of a fair old degree of cynical pontificating - by all fucking superpower parties ! - ranging between heated tub-thumping and cold indifference (contrast this against the action taken in Libya - with it's oilfields) what an absolute stack of shite this has been allowed to become.
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #195 on: August 26, 2013, 10:41:31 am »
So in other words

"fuck genocide we have our own political interests and agenda's."- The west goverments

I don't think it's that easy...

Topple the government and you get a power vacuum al la iraq and most likely an extremist theocratic government will be formed.  It's a case of both sides being fairly unpleasant to be honest..... And of course the people in the street die as a result.
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #196 on: August 26, 2013, 10:45:59 am »
Indeed so Gulley mate. As a consequence of a fair old degree of cynical pontificating - by all fucking superpower parties ! - ranging between heated tub-thumping and cold indifference (contrast this against the action taken in Libya - with it's oilfields) what an absolute stack of shite this has been allowed to become.

Neither China nor Russia stood in the way of western intervention in Libya. That's the critical difference.
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #197 on: August 26, 2013, 10:48:37 am »
Correct as stated.

But politicking and politicising while people continue to be subjected to depraved barbarity is par for the course in the great scheme of things.
There is nothing wrong with striving to win, so long as you don't set the prize above the game. There can be no dishonour in defeat nor any conceit in victory. What matters above all is that the team plays in the right spirit, with skill, courage, fair play,no favour and the result accepted without bitterness. Sir Matt Busby CBE KCSG 1909-1994

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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #198 on: August 26, 2013, 10:53:09 am »
Correct as stated.

But politicking and politicising while people continue to be subjected to depraved barbarity is par for the course in the great scheme of things.

What would you have our government do Johnno? The mighty roadblock to meaningful humanitarian, let alone military, intervention is Russia. China too has its veto. Then there's President Obama who has been a complete disappointment on the foreign field, talking 'red lines' with no intention of acting when they are violated.
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Re: The barbarity that is Syria
« Reply #199 on: August 26, 2013, 11:22:54 am »
I didn't realise this happened a few miles from Assad in Damascus, which makes it more ridiculous why he would gas parts of the capital.

You can do better than that. You can blame the Jews. Galloway shows how.

http://youtu.be/kPzvy808pr8
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