Brown Moses posted:

I've also been approached by an agent from ICM Partners who has a publisher interested in publishing a book written by me about my work, so no doubt this thread, and Something Awful in general, will feature.

Brown Moses posted:

Big CW in Syria news


Khan al-Assal was the subject of a report by the Russians which not only blamed the opposition, but also named the group and exact type of rocket responsible. Seems that was total poo poo. It's also worth noting this claim by Ake Sellstrom (page 3)

Fizzil posted:

There is no such thing as an alawi accent, the region has alot of sects and religions but generally they'd have regional accents and they would have identified it by whatever region these guys hail from. I'm not ruling this out yet, as an arab this is the first time i heard someone identifying people's language by sect, usually its by region or country.

Munin posted:

What evidence did the Russians say they had btw?

It's annoying how the gears of good evidence grind so slowly. By the time the good stuff has been put together by solid impartial experts the world has generally moved on and the narrative in peoples my set to what the headlines said at the time.

quote:

In July, Russia provided the UN with a 100-page report on their own investigation into the chemical attack in Khan al-Assal on March 19th 2013. While the report was not published, key findings were detailed by the Russian Foreign Ministry when the report was submitted, and also reiterated in an October statement by H.E. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

quote:

It was established that on March 19 the rebels launched an unguided "Basha'ir-3" projectile towards Khan al-Assal controlled by the Government forces. As you know, 26 people were killed (16 of them were military personnel), 86 injured and intoxicated to different levels.
The results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordnance used in Khan al-Assal was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sarin. The sarin technical specifications prove that it was not industrially manufactured either. The absence of chemical stabilizers in the samples of the detected toxic agents indicates their relatively recent production. The projectile involved is not a standard one for chemical use. Hexogen utilised as an opening charge is not used in standard ammunitions.
Therefore, there is every reason to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used chemical weapons in Khan al-Assal.
According to the information at our disposal, the production of "Basha'ir-3" unguided projectiles was started in February 2013 by the so-called "Basha'ir al-Nasr" brigade affiliated with the Free Syrian Army.

Not only did the Russian's claim it was a DIY rocket fired by the Syrian opposition, but even the specific type, "Basha'ir-3", and the group involved, the "Basha'ir al-Nasr" brigade. One would assume that as this claim is being made in relation to the 100-page report presented to the UN, the teams investigating the Khan al-Assal attack would be fully aware of the details on those rockets, which are incredibly specific. However, in the final report the picture is somewhat less clear

quote:

The United Nations Mission received contradicting information as to how chemical weapon agents were delivered in the Khan Al Asal incident. Witness statements collected by the UNHRC Commission of Inquiry, provided to the United Nations Mission, supported the position by the Syrian Arab Republic that a rocket was fired from the neighborhood. However, according to other witness statements to the UNHRC Commission of Inquiry, an overflying aircraft had dropped an aerial bomb filled with Sarin.
The United Nations Mission was not able to collect any primary information or any “untouched” artifacts relevant to the incident and necessary for an independent verification of the information gathered.

It goes on to say

quote:

The United Nations Mission received from the Government of the Russian Federation its report of the results of the analysis of samples obtained from Khan Al Asal from 23 to 25 March 2013, which identified Sarin and Sarin degradation products on metal fragments and in soil samples taken at the site of the incident.

For me, the question I have now is why the big difference between the UN report and the Russian report about which munition was used? It seems the type remains of the munition would be the best possible evidence of who was responsible, especially if the Russian's were able to figure out the exact type of munition, and which group uses them. If Russia had that level of detail, why is the UN report unclear on whether or not it was even a rocket that was responsible? It's also very interesting that the UN report also states

quote:

The team was open, however, to receiving any biomedical samples previously collected by the Syrian Government, which the United Nations Mission would authenticate through DNA tests.
No biomedical samples were handed over to the United Nations Mission by the Syrian Government.

So why did the Syrian Government fail to keep what would have been key evidence in the investigation? Either way, it seems that the Russian's must have the best possible evidence of opposition responsibility, and with the UN report failing to concur with their results, it's time that the Russian government publishes at least that part of their findings to clear up the discrepancies between the reports.

quote:

A homemade rocket with a poisonous substance that has not been identified yet – one similar to the rocket used by terrorists on March 19 in Khan al-Assal - was fired early on August 21 [at Damascus suburbs] from a position occupied by the insurgents,

Muffiner posted:

There is, dialects and accents in Syria can pinpoint someone's origin down to their village, and in some cases down to a sect or neighbourhood. An 'Alewite' accent is usually a rural coastal accent notable for it's strong K/Gh (ق) sound. There is a similar level of variance in British English, but it's become less and less distinct and local over time.

Pieter posted:

There's new evidence about the involvement of the Russian FSB in the murder of several ethnic Chechens in Turkey (2008-2011). The evidence also mentions other assassination targets in London, most likely Berezovsky (who killed himself last year) and Chechen exile Akhmed Zakayev. Both knew Litvinenko, who we know was killed by the FSB in 2006.

The X-man cometh posted:

Would an Alawite from Damascus have the same accent (due to family, etc. using it)? Or would it fade away due to living in the city?

Volkerball posted:

A UK charity made an ad that attempts to portray a british child going through what Syrian kids have had to deal with since the revolution started, to sort of bridge the culture gap. Pretty well done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQ-IoHfimQ

Muffiner posted:

I'll go a bit deeper. When you're working in an official capacity, a prestige dialect is almost compulsory. It shows some sort of respect towards yourself and towards whoever you're dealing with. One thing that some anti-regime people despise is the boisterous use of Alewite dialects by many pro-regime officials when trying to put down somebody, or when trying to display power or arrogance. Before the revolution, the presidential guard was respected to a certain extent for not doing this. If you look at most of the torture videos, Alewite dialects are almost always used, even if the user is not an Alewite. It is an interesting dynamic, to say the least.

Aurubin posted:

I'm unfamiliar with the particulars of the state itself, but why is the Emir of Qatar so close to the MB? Doha's rulers don't seem to be any more or less pious than the other Gulf countries that broke off ties recently, at least to me.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/05/arab-states-qatar-withdraw-ambassadors-protest

SedanChair posted:

Volkerball posted:

I thought they exiled all these people to the new world back in the day.

Muffiner posted:

Saudi, the UAE and Bahrain have withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar, due to increasing antagonism. They basically want the Qataris to tow the Gulf line and stop acting like it is an independent state or something.

THE AWESOME GHOST posted:

Qatar has:

The only Israeli embassy in the Arab World
The only official Taliban diplomatic mission
US CENTCOM Forward Headquarters
Full ownership of Jazeera News

Al-Saqr posted:

suck the dick of that racist little fascist poo poo hole

THE AWESOME GHOST posted:

The only Israeli embassy in the Arab World
The only official Taliban diplomatic mission
US CENTCOM Forward Headquarters
Full ownership of Jazeera News

quote:

Turkey's prime minister has given warning that his government could ban social media networks YouTube and Facebook after a number of online leaks added momentum to a growing corruption scandal.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already tightened his government's grip over the internet, generating criticism at home and abroad about rights in the country.

"There are new steps we will take in that sphere after March 30 ... including a ban [on YouTube, Facebook]," Erdogan told private ATV television in an interview late on Thursday.

His ruling Justice and Development Party, or AK Party, has come under mounting pressure since last week, when audio recordings were leaked in which Erdogan and his son allegedly discuss how to hide vast sums of money.

He dismissed them as a "vile" and "immoral" montage by rivals in the lead-up to crucial local elections on March 30.

A series of other online leaks showed Erdogan meddling in trade deals and court cases.

He has accused loyalists of Fethullah Gulen, an influential Muslim leader based in the US, of using his influence in the judiciary and police to engineer a high-level corruption investigation targeting the government since mid-December.

Gulen denies the charge.

Hope for jailed officers

In a related development on Thursday, Turkey's Constitutional Court backed former army chief Ilker Basbug's attempt for release from a life jail sentence.

The ruling paves the way for Basbug's possible release by a lower court and could be a precedent for more than 200 other defendants jailed for their alleged roles in the Ergenekon conspiracy against Erdogan's government.

Basbug has been held in Silivri prison near Istanbul for 26 months in connection with the Ergenekon case, a trial which helped tame Turkey's once all-powerful military.

The five-year trial, which reached a verdict last August, was key to a decade-long battle between Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party and a secularist establishment that had led modern Turkey from its foundation by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The Constitutional Court said the failure of the lower court to publish its detailed verdict on the case and send it to the appeals court had violated a clause concerning personal freedom.

"It was decided ... to send to the [lower] court a request to do what is necessary in ruling on the applicant's release demand," the ruling on the court website said.

It was not clear why the detailed verdict had still not been completed.

Cemil Cicek, parliamentary speaker from the AK Party, praised the ruling as a triumph of judicial reforms which have been pushed through parliament in recent years.

Gulen's influence

Erdogan is widely believed to have relied heavily on Gulen's influence in breaking the power of the army, which carried out three coups in Turkey between 1960 and 1980 and forced an Islamist-led government from power in 1997.

Gulen's critics say his followers were instrumental in bringing to court the Ergenekon case and another alleged conspiracy, dubbed Sledgehammer.

Erdogan mooted in January the retrial of those convicted of trying to overthrow him in an apparent bid to discredit those in the judiciary he saw as concocting the scandal.

He has responded to the corruption investigation by purging police and passing laws to increase his grip over the internet and the judiciary.

Yalcin Akdogan, Erdogan's top adviser, said the military had been the victim of a plot and that the army subsequently filed a criminal complaint over the cases, arguing that evidence against serving and retired officers had been fabricated.

Last month, the government pushed through parliament a law completing the abolition of the special authority courts which tried the Ergenekon defendants and several hundred military officers in the Sledgehammer conspiracy.

President Abdullah Gul approved that law on Thursday.

mediadave posted:

I'm going to Istanbul on holiday in 6 weeks :s

mediadave posted:

I'm going to Istanbul on holiday in 6 weeks :s

Al-Saqr posted:

You'll be fine. what's going on is a political intrigue issue and stuff behind the scenes, not a nation-ending scenario like other countries in the middle east.


Have fun! Istanbul is fantastic!

mediadave posted:

I'm going to Istanbul on holiday in 6 weeks :s

Brown Moses posted:

I've written a piece for the Daily Beast, It’s Time Russia Published Its Dodgy Chemical Weapons Dossier, pointing out that Russia's investigation into the Khan al-Assal chemical attack and their attempts to blame the opposition have been shown to be total crap. Elsewhere, there's a very detailed piece about claims made about the August 21st Sarin attack, and how claims the opposition were responsible don't add up.


And I, too, will be going to Istanbul soon.

Dusseldorf posted:

I'm glad your troll commenteers follow you everywhere on the internet.

Dusseldorf posted:

I'm glad your troll commenteers follow you everywhere on the internet.

Brown Moses posted:

Lots of them there now, I do like how they question how can I know the content of the dossier if I haven't read it, which is rather the point I'm trying to make.

quote:

Egypt is about to acquire four Gowind-class corvettes from France in a $1.38 billion (€1 billion) deal, French newspaper La Tribune said on Thursday.

According to La Tribune, the deal between Egypt‘s navy and the French Naval Defense Company DCNS consists of four small warships that weigh 2,400 tonnes each.

They are equipped with surface-to-air VL Mica and sea-skimming Exocet missiles, according to Egyptian daily al-Ahram.

The French company won the bid against Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and the Dutch Damen Group.

La Tribune also said the Egyptian Air Forces purchased nine transport aircraft from France-based Airbus Group.