Young Freud posted:

I doubt that's 50 IEDs but that sure is a lot.

They either got tipped off something major and had a lot of pre-planning because it looks like a chain gang digging the bombs. That or the Syrian Army and security forces are pretty blind.

Also, surprisingly, no dead bodies shown. I would have thought there would be at least a few mangled bodies in the wreckage, like that AK at the end.

Brown Moses posted:

Here's Jabhat al-Nusra using a claimed 50 IEDs to attack a convoy in Syria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mcQrU-zv84

Best Friends posted:

When they come out to film the aftermath, the weather has changed, and all non-destroyed vehicles are gone. If anyone was killed, their remains were probably picked up by their compatriots.

As far as pre-planning, there might easily just be regular convoys on that road. Military planners tend to use the same routes over and over.

Brown Moses posted:

I've found a new bomb in Syria, this time a high explosive incendiary bomb.

And in this video we have another example of why it's useful to have infantry support when you are in a tank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yck3EZeyOD0

Young Freud posted:

I can't even see what they did to it. All I know is that the tank crew abandoned the tank and probably got shot and some fire. Maybe they thought the rebels were planting explosives and panicked.

Darth Brooks posted:

I keep expecting one of these to end in an explosion.

quote:

The death count in Syria's ongoing civil war was revised upwards on Tuesday. Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, now says that the toll is "probably now approaching 70,000," an increase of 10,000 from the end of November, when a U.N.-commissioned report found 60,000 individual instances in which a name, date and location of death could be determined. The data set from that report suggested that the true number of dead in the Syria conflict was even higher than that, and one of the report's authors told The Atlantic that the figure was "a very conservative under-count." Pillay's 70,000 number has some relationship to two unknown figures: the number of deaths that can be estimated given currently available information, and the actual number of deaths in the conflict, a total which might not be known for several years (if it is ever conclusively known at all). Both of these numbers are higher than 70,000. Perhaps they're even much higher.

Whether intended or not, Pillay's claim masks the actual gravity of the Syria conflict. The widely-cited 60,000 and 70,000 numbers bear some kind of statistical relationship to the true death count; though at present, we have no idea what that relationship is. The numbers are a reflection of what is currently known about the conflict -- and not, in fact, a reflection of the realities of the conflict. Official and popular adherence to such an obviously deflated figure is troubling, given the enormity of the Syria conflict and the still-unfolding debate over how and whether the United States and the international community should intervene there. A misleading number is now woven into a debate of global importance: because Pillay and the news media are using the 60 or 70,000 figure without any meaningful qualification, the conflict's true humanitarian scope is being unintentionally yet insidiously distorted.
...

quote:

There's not even good data on the relationship between direct deaths on the one hand and indirect deaths from disease and malnutrition on the other," says Mack. "The multiplier goes between anything from 2 to 70 or 80," depending on the conflict. Mack pointed out that even if there were a standard multiplier, it wouldn't be terribly useful. "Even if it was a true average figure how would you know whether the conflict that you're investigating is average or not?."

Brown Moses posted:

Here's some young people in Syria playing a game where they pretend to be firing a mortar, only using live cluster munitions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdM4nUf05do

G. Hosafat posted:

Glad I came back to SA after a posting sabbatical. I haven't really caught up with all the information in this thread, but are any of you reading Pepe Escobar? I'm curious how accurate his take on the situation is.

Pepe Escobar posted:

All I hear is doom and gloom. 

How to solve this tragedy? No one seems to be listening to Syrian Vice President Farouk Al-Sharaa. In this interview with Lebanon's Al-Akhbar, he stresses "the threat of the current campaign to destroy Syria, its history, civilization, and people... With every passing day, the solution gets further away, militarily and politically. We must be in the position of defending Syria's existence."



He does not have "a clear answer to what the solution may be". But he has a road map (http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/14401):

Any settlement, whether starting with talks or agreements between Arab, regional, or foreign capitals, cannot exist without a solid Syrian foundation. The solution has to be Syrian, but through a historic settlement, which would include the main regional countries, and the members of UN Security Council. This settlement must include stopping all shapes of violence, and the creation of a national unity government with wide powers. This should be accompanied by the resolution of sensitive dossiers related to the lives of people and their legitimate demands.

This is not what the NATOGCC compound wants - even as the US, Britain, France, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are all engaged in their own divergent agendas. What the NATOGCC war has already accomplished is one objective - very similar, by the way, to Iraq in 2003; it has completely torn the fragile Syrian social fabric to shreds. 



That is disaster capitalism in action, phase I; the terrain is already prepared for a profitable "reconstruction" of Syria once a pliable, pro-Western turbo-capitalism government is installed. 



Yet in parallel, blowback also works its mysterious ways; millions of Syrians who initially supported the idea of a pro-democracy movement - from the business classes in Damascus to traders in Aleppo - now have swelled the government support base as a counterpunch against the gruesome ethnic-religious cleansing promoted by the "rebels" of the al-Nusrah kind. 



Yet with NATOGCC on one side and Iran-Russia on the other side, ordinary Syrians caught in the crossfire have nowhere to go. NATOGCC will stop at nothing to carve - in blood - any dubious entity ranging from a pro-US emirate to a pro-US "democracy" run by the MB. It's not hard to see for whom the bell tolls in Syria; it tolls not for thee, as in John Donne, but for doom, gloom, death and destruction.

http://www.alternet.org/world/top-geopolitical-tragedy-year-syrian-bloodbath

Brown Moses posted:

Here's Jabhat al-Nusra using a claimed 50 IEDs to attack a convoy in Syria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mcQrU-zv84

Fallom posted:

There's a lot of gunfire in the beginning of that video. Is it just celebratory, or did the Syrian army decide that it'd be fine to roll a convoy across a road that had seen an engagement with a couple hundred guys digging holes?

Fallom posted:

There's a lot of gunfire in the beginning of that video. Is it just celebratory, or did the Syrian army decide that it'd be fine to roll a convoy across a road that had seen an engagement with a couple hundred guys digging holes?

Brown Moses posted:

There's reports of a Scud or other type of large rocket or missile landing 7km inside the Turkish border, not much more info than that at the moment.

[edit] Nevermind, turns out it didn't happen.

Kaal posted:

He's generally a good source of leftist perspective, but his reporting on Syria has been a little hit or miss. Early into the conflict he came out very strongly against the rebellion as an illegitimate prelude to US-invasion, and he's been slowly walking that back. He's had the same type of difficulty with the French intervention into Mali: He sees everything through the prism of the nefarious intentions of the West. His fondness for rebuking the "NATOGCC" as a lockstep institution of imperialism makes it very difficult for him to see anything but that imperialism. I think that his skepticism toward Western motivations is a valuable perspective, but a limited one. There's a lot going on here that has little to do with Cold War politics and media propaganda.


To my mind, citing the disgraced and sidelined Syrian VP as holding the path toward peace, while equating the conflict as a mere repeat of the Iraq War, indicates a fundamental misreading of the situation. He seems overly eager to simplify the situation down to geopolitical conflict with Syrians caught in the middle - with his preferred solution being a "Syrian resolution" that doesn't leave egg on his face for tolerating Assad's complicity.

http://www.alternet.org/authors/pepe-escobar

pickett posted:

My understanding of this conflict is particularly lacking, despite hearing about it on the news constantly for the last few years. After doing some light wikipedia reading on the subject, it seems that the protests in Syria started as a response to the acute poverty caused by the introduction of a service sector type economy. But as far as I understand, its NATO that supports the rebel groups while Russia supports the Syrian regime? What kind of economic system to the rebels hope to instal upon their victory? What type does Assad hope to preserve?

Syria Live Blog, Al Jazeera posted:

Rebels and Kurdish militias have ceased hostilities in the northern Syrian city of Ras al-Ain after sealing an accord that will see them fight together against the regime, activists said Tuesday.

Intermittent and sometimes deadly clashes have taken place between the two sides since rebels entered the majority Kurdish city, located on the border with Turkey, several months ago.

A statement was issued at the weekend detailing the terms of the final accord between the rebel Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish popular committees.

A Kurdish activist from Ras al-Ain confirmed to AFP over the Internet on Tuesday that "there have been no confrontations following the agreement.

Pieter posted:

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153

I was wondering what was happening at Ras Al-Ain. This is good news, at least for now.

quote:

The approval of the Orthodox Gathering’s proposed electoral law by Parliament’s joint committees sparked concern Tuesday among a number of secular-minded people who consider the legislation a dangerous step toward extreme confessionalism.

The plan known as the Orthodox law, which can now be put to a full vote in Parliament, calls for a proportional system that lets citizens vote only for candidates from their own sects.

While some see the law as an acceptable compromise between political parties for the upcoming elections in June, Tuesday’s loud outcry from critics underscored the differences of opinion over the legislation.

quote:

It emerged today that the American satirical magazine The Onion is to sue Lebanon for unfair competition practices and for making its headlines look totally reasonable. The Onion is demanding million of dollars in compensation, claiming that the small Mediterranean country has ‘ruined the business of writing satirical headlines’. The magazine’s claim refers to a ‘sustained campaign of nonsensical but nevertheless real headlines’ over a number of years, during which Lebanon, ‘went out of its way to make The Onion’s headlines look ordinary by comparison.’
...
He added: “The law says Maronites, and I am not quite sure what Maronites are, must vote for Maronites candidates, Shiites for Shiite candidates, Sunnis for Sunni candidates and so on. Except for Jews. Jews can vote for candidates of any sect they choose! Now if we had put that in a satirical article, we would have been accused of unreasonable exaggeration.”

“And why do they call it the Orthodox Electoral Law? There’s NOTHING Orthodox about it. They must be pulling our leg. No political system in the world is that twisted, not even North Korea’s. This is obviously part of a determined effort to undermine what we and other satirical publications do. Lebanon is trying to create a monopoly in ludicrous headlines and I’m afraid to say it’s succeeding.” It is understood that The Onion’s lawyers will target Lebanon under anti-trust laws and ‘freakin’ common sense’.

pickett posted:

My understanding of this conflict is particularly lacking, despite hearing about it on the news constantly for the last few years. After doing some light wikipedia reading on the subject, it seems that the protests in Syria started as a response to the acute poverty caused by the introduction of a service sector type economy.

quote:

But as far as I understand, its NATO that supports the rebel groups while Russia supports the Syrian regime? What kind of economic system to the rebels hope to instal upon their victory? What type does Assad hope to preserve?

mediadave posted:

You don't have to be a Marxist to think that everything goes back to economics - perhaps the whole Arab spring started due to an increase in food prices. Certainly Syria during the noughties brought in a series of economic reforms that got rid of the old socialist style system, made many Assad cronies very rich and royally screwed over the rural and urban poor.

Muffiner posted:

Volkerball posted:

Anything that size would be easy targets for the German patriots there anyways, wouldn't it?

Muffiner posted:

I'd doubt the economy was the 'spark', or that it was a major contributing factor. The rural areas in particular were getting poorer and poorer, with a lot of farmers from the Jazeera region suffering from years of drought, but it isn't the first time Syria had found itself in difficult economic circumstances. The late 80s are frequently mentioned as examples of economic hardship due to sanctions, where even the most basic of supplies (tissues, soap) were near impossible to find. The mid 80s saw the sudden depreciation of the Syrian Pound, and the 60s saw Baathist extremists try and turn Syria into a 'Pure Socialist' economy, which ruined a lot of livelihoods. The Arab spring, in particular Egypt and Libya increased the average Syrian's sensitivity to corruption, cronyism and tyranny, but the unique spark that set off a revolution has to be the events in Deraa during the Febuary-March 2011 period.
Nobody expected a civil uprising in Syria, at least not so soon. Something was going to happen sooner or later, probably due to economic pressure on the rural population and the young, educated masses, the increasingly corrupt businessmen and officials who always took a cut out of everything, the deteriorating state of government services and various other reasons that were surely going to force the regime into a tight position one day. But Deraa was the event that showed everybody that the facade of benevolent dictatorship the Assad regime maintained was nothing but a weak farce, and that irregardless of what was happening outside Syria, in Syria the stupidly abusive and degenerating big brother attitude of the Mukhabarat in particular and the bureaucracy in general wasn't going to change, at all.
It was also an attempt to stomp out any sense of dignity people in Deraa tried to uphold, via the vulgar language used by Atef Najeeb when talking to the social elite of the city, or the brutal attacks on protesters who were demanding simple reforms. This was in an area that is akin to the American South, where dignity is not something to be taken lightly. The whole debacle was easy to interpret as the regime spitting in the face of the enslaved populace, then trying to stomp its face into the mud when the people tried to ask for mercy.
This started a vicious cycle which spread throughout the country. The regime wouldn't change its methods or deal with the protesters' demands in a civilized manner, and the protesters wouldn't be subdued by the regime's brutal oppression. By the end of March protesters in Damascus were no longer asking for reforms, but the fall of the regime.

So basically, Syria would probably not have revolted (during that period) if the regime didn't do what it did in Deraa. The events of Deraa were the catalyst, and the regime's response the spark that moved the Syrian population against its government for the first time in 30 years. Other things such as the economy and the push for democratic reform contributed to the expansion of it all once it had started. But had Atef Najeeb dealt with the graffiti in Deraa by painting over it instead of torturing some juveniles and offering to rape their mothers when the sheikhs of Deraa asked for their return, I wouldn't be surprised if the Syrian people would still be loyal to the regime up until this day.

Charliegrs posted:

Well said. Its all too easy to forget how this conflict really started, since it has transformed from the non violent demonstrations met with brutal force, into the bloody civil war we see today. When the Syrian uprising began in 2011 it looked more like the other Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia although they were dealt with much more violently by the regime. And the sad thing is that back then Russia and China were still being supportive of the Syrian government and claiming the protesters were "foreign terrorists" which was comical at best. This was the time when if the international community was going to get militarily involved they should have, but that time came and went. When it became clear no help was coming to the Syrian people like the Libyans received, thats when they took up arms and basically everything that Russia was claiming became a self fulfilling prophecy. Now there really were rebel fighters and even some foreign jihadists. This was bound to happen as you cant expect people to get slaughtered en masse forever before they start fighting back, but at the same time its given legitimacy to those who want to see the regime stay in power like Iran and Russia.

quote:

extremists try and turn Syria into a 'Pure Socialist' economy

Xandu posted:

Andy Carvin namedropped you in his atlantic article, Brown Moses.