The Syria Analysis Thread

Angocachi Friday 2 Nov 2012

Iraq is not US controlled. It doesn't "allow" Iraq to do anything, it has no say anymore. Baghdad is a satellite of Tehran now.

The US is trying to control which rebels get support. Until it can do that, America will hold and hesitate.

Niccolo and Donkey Friday 2 Nov 2012

The Plight of Syria's Christians

Niccolo and Donkey Friday 2 Nov 2012

President Camacho Angocachi SteamshipTime Roland Bronze Age Pervert

Syria's rebels fear foreign jihadis in their midst

For the most part, the opposition movement is staying true to the ethos that led many of the country's towns and citizens to mount a challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's absolute state control over their lives. But around the fringes, there are signs that the revolution's original values are starting to fray. The narrative of a defiant street versus a draconian state, so simple in March 2011, is now far more complicated.

"We want just what they got in Tunis and Egypt," said Mahmoud Razak, a shop-keeper in the outer suburbs. "Freedom and the chance to progress in life. But we thought it would take 19 days like it took [in Egypt]. It's now 19 months. We didn't know it would be this difficult."

To those now hosting Abu Ismael, the Iraqi jihadi embodies one of the major problems. Though for the most part conservative and pious, the men of this part of Aleppo refuse to see the crisis now consuming Syria in existential terms. To them, this is still a fight for self-determination, not the forum for an apocalyptic showdown with a preordained foe.

"What is this global jihad that he talks about?" asked a town elder, Abu Abdullah, after the Iraqi had left to prepare for his wedding. "We will be used as toys by them, just as the Sunni communities were in Iraq. When they have had their way with us they will demand that we return to the seventh century under the blade of a sword."

Rise of the Salafis

Bashar al-Assad has insisted from the start that Syria was facing attack by "armed terrorist gangs", not a popular uprising – though there is ample evidence of the army firing on mostly unarmed demonstrators. But it has become clear that extremist Salafi or jihadi groups, some linked to al-Qaida, are now a significant element of the armed opposition.

Alongside fighters from al-Qaida in Iraq or Fatah al-Islam from Lebanon is the mysterious Jabhat al-Nusra, which has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Damascus and Aleppo. It is sympathetic to al-Qaida. Others hail from Jordan, Libya and Algeria.

The overwhelming majority of jihadis are Syrian, with the number of foreigners ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 members. Jihadi groups in Syria represent less than 10% of all fighters. Still, many have combat experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Libya and compete for funds and weapons with the Free Syrian Army, the main armed opposition group.

Angocachi Tuesday 6 Nov 2012

It was a Sunni Jihadist rebellion since it started. Faggot British want to portray the Syrian insurgency as secularists fighting for democracy and cleavage. Listen to the fighters in their videos, screaming allahu akbar. The Western media is squinting hard to see Sunni rebels as Che, when if they would open their eyes they'll see Zarqawi.

SweetLeftFoot Thursday 8 Nov 2012

This is it. Where did Zarqawi recruit most of his fighters and suicide bombers - around Homs and Hama.

Niccolo and Donkey Friday 9 Nov 2012

SteamshipTime Roland President Camacho Angocachi SweetLeftFoot

link

Most troubling of all is that the brutality of the rebels has nearly begun to equal that of Assad 's regime, and they are increasingly alienating the citizens they are supposed to be defending. Many regular people have turned on them, complaining of armed fighters abusing their power and attacking civilians over minor provocations.

These photos taken by Reuters photographer Asmaa Waguih graphically illustrate the deterioration of the conflict. The caption says these are Free Syrian Army fighters firing "on a man they suspect to be from the pro-government forces," but what they're really doing is executing an unarmed prisoner. The man is not even in uniform, but even if he were and no matter what he may have done on behalf of Assad, the rebels are clearly losing the moral high ground in this war.

Be warned that the photos below might be disturbing:

Team Zissou Saturday 10 Nov 2012

Thugocracy.

Also, note the HBD in the middle photo.

SweetLeftFoot Saturday 10 Nov 2012

Could they look any more jihadi?

SweetLeftFoot Saturday 10 Nov 2012

HBD?

Team Zissou Sunday 11 Nov 2012

Human bio-diversity. E.g., the "white" guy in the middle photo.

The Syria Analysis Thread

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