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Sinteres posted:Russia sure does have a lot of clumsy journalists. Do we have any more information on this person? Sounds interesting. The only thing I'm able to find is this single tweet - would probably need the Cyrillic version of his name.
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Apr 15, 2018 14:32
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Sinteres posted:Russia sure does have a lot of clumsy journalists. Reminds me of Kazakhstan and sudden heart failures.
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Apr 15, 2018 14:46
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Fame Douglas posted:Do we have any more information on this person? Sounds interesting. The only thing I'm able to find is this single tweet - would probably need the Cyrillic version of his name. https://newdaynews.ru/ekb/633238.html
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Apr 15, 2018 14:54
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RaffyTaffy posted:Where does the butchering of Sunni villages by Alawite gangs fall on the scale? He's just killing the enemies of the proletariat. Just so happens that the common working man is his own worst enemy.
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Apr 15, 2018 15:30
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And the Alawite only traffic lanes?
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Apr 15, 2018 15:32
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RaffyTaffy posted:And the Alawite only traffic lanes? Since the Alawites have selflessly filled the most important government and army positions, they need to get to work faster so they can work tirelessly for The People.
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Apr 15, 2018 15:38
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RaffyTaffy posted:And the Alawite only traffic lanes? Is that a real thing?
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Apr 15, 2018 15:41
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Y'all this is why I don't engage with Assad apologists beyond dismissal and scorn.
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Apr 15, 2018 15:43
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Sinteres posted:Is that a real thing? Its not, but there's checkpoints and Assad's relatives literally shooting people to death from road rage with no consequences
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Apr 15, 2018 15:45
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Sinteres posted:Is that a real thing? quote:The sectarian divisions that are ubiquitous in Syria now extend even to the roads. The road into Damascus is partitioned by concrete blast barriers, with the right-hand lane officially designated for civilian traffic and the left-hand lane for military and government traffic. But Alawites always travel on the left, regardless of their job, and so it has been universally dubbed the "Alawite lane" by locals.
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Apr 15, 2018 15:48
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A much clearer before and after view of the research facility that was hit the other night. https://twitter.com/QalaatAlMudiq/status/985535363035942912
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Apr 15, 2018 16:36
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Destroying a scientific facility could actually have some effect. Scientific equipment might really be quite challenging for a regime like The Lion Assad's to acquire, although I wouldn't know anything about that. About acquiring scientific equipment on the sly, I mean.
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Apr 15, 2018 16:48
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Holy poo poo that precision.
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Apr 15, 2018 16:49
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lollontee posted:Destroying a scientific facility could actually have some effect. Scientific equipment might really be quite challenging for a regime like The Lion Assad's to acquire, although I wouldn't know anything about that. About acquiring scientific equipment on the sly, I mean.
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Apr 15, 2018 17:15
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Toplowtech posted:Keeping the personal to manage the equipment inside a building which can be hit that hard could be harder. Any death count claim by the regime? It was the middle of the night, so unless they were doing late night work I bet it was empty
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Apr 15, 2018 17:28
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lollontee posted:Destroying a scientific facility could actually have some effect. Scientific equipment might really be quite challenging for a regime like The Lion Assad's to acquire, although I wouldn't know anything about that. About acquiring scientific equipment on the sly, I mean. people sell stuff to iran via the gulf states, and I guess Syria could buy stuff from them
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Apr 15, 2018 17:29
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Seeing Douma looks like it was at the very least a chlorine attack, delivered by Hip helicopters, you can tell the effectiveness of airstrikes in preventing future attacks by the number of Hip helicopters destroyed in the airstrikes. Zero.
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Apr 15, 2018 17:35
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They have been caught in the last few years buying things directly from North Korea.
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Apr 15, 2018 17:35
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Brown Moses posted:Seeing Douma looks like it was at the very least a chlorine attack, delivered by Hip helicopters, you can tell the effectiveness of airstrikes in preventing future attacks by the number of Hip helicopters destroyed in the airstrikes. Zero. I don't think that's what they were even trying for. There are dozens of potential means of delivering chemical attacks, so there is no value in trying to take out one particular method. The intent was just to destroy difficult-to-replace assets as a deterrence to future use.
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Apr 15, 2018 17:41
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XMNN posted:people sell stuff to iran via the gulf states, and I guess Syria could buy stuff from them huh, i need to hit them up sometime
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Apr 15, 2018 17:45
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This is so hilarious https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/985310956094812166 they claim they intercepted every missile on some random targets that weren't targeted
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Apr 15, 2018 17:46
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Republican guard and Liwa Al Quds are massing for Yarmuk offensive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnDumwpWAxM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWIugdo7Rus https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/985419446155030528
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Apr 15, 2018 17:47
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You know chemical weapon trutherism has gone too far when even Russia Today is debunking war crime denialism memes:quote:The facts behind the ‘staged’ video of kids’ chemical weapons drill in Syria
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Apr 15, 2018 18:08
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Ego-bot posted:More civilians are going to die because of this than in the chemical attack. Actually you, like 99.99% of the people that post itt don't have a single loving clue what you are talking about. Hope this helps! like no joke, go through the last 20 pages and literally every single prediction was laughably wrong.
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Apr 15, 2018 20:32
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CrazyLoon posted:
Not to single this out, but lol at all the posters who uncritically gobbled up russian / syrian propaganda, just lmao.
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Apr 15, 2018 20:41
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Sergg posted:Can someone help me out with terminology here? I've been using terms like "Apartheid State" and "Alawite-Power State" to describe Syria, but is there a more accurate description. I know most of you will probably spring for "hereditary fascist dictatorship" but I want a label that recognizes the Alawite dominance over the political, financial, and military apparatuses of the state. Right now the examples I'm coming up with are Sunnis in Iraq, Tutsis in Rwanda, whites in Rhodesia & South Africa, Sunnis in Bahrain, Tigrayans in Ethiopia, , and various other colonial states. I'm not sure there's any consistently established terminology. Kathleen Colins uses the term "clan-based authoritarianism," in reference to Central Asia. I like the term "personalistic dictatorship" for the Assad dynasty which I've taken from the Samuel Decalo's work on African praetorian regimes. Unlike the explicitly ethnic based systems of wealth redistribution seen in the African Apartheid states, the Alawites disproportionate access to resources comes indirectly through their personal relations with powerful figures that disperse patronage. For this reason especially prior to the war, Alawites with family and clan members in high places became rich, those without got nothing. Though even those outside the patronage loop probably enjoyed opportunities not available to their fellow Sunni citizens, it's a far cry from the explicitly whites only welfare state seen in apartheid South Africa. Breaking down the origin of sectarian political affiliation can be complex. In the recent Alabama special election, 96% of African-American voters voted for Democrat Doug Jones, and impressive degree of ethnic polarization in any context. This doesn't mean however that Doug Jones is a black supremacist, nor that he's going to heap patronage or welfare on African-Americans.
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Apr 15, 2018 20:43
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freeasinbeer posted:It was the middle of the night, so unless they were doing late night work I bet it was empty
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Apr 15, 2018 20:49
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tsa posted:Actually you, like 99.99% of the people that post itt don't have a single loving clue what you are talking about. Hope this helps! "Hey man! We almost fukken died here! WWIII almost happened to US maaaaan!! Nukes were halfway in the air!!!" Suffice it to say, that narrative appeals to the white western-based demographic a lot more (being the majority of posters itt) so everyone feels like pitching their silly 2 cents in I suppose.
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Apr 15, 2018 21:16
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Brown Moses posted:Seeing Douma looks like it was at the very least a chlorine attack, delivered by Hip helicopters, you can tell the effectiveness of airstrikes in preventing future attacks by the number of Hip helicopters destroyed in the airstrikes. Zero. This is really stupid.
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Apr 15, 2018 21:32
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Morzhovyye posted:Is it too late to double up that request to go gently caress yourself? Ah, the vaunted " nu-uh, shut up!!!" Approach. Impressive. That France and England signed on to this latest set of bombings makes me think the calculus for future chemical weapons attacks will be necessarily adjusted, in spite of the USA's intermittent enforcement of the red line Kawasaki Nun fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Apr 15, 2018 |
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Apr 15, 2018 21:46
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tsa posted:This is really stupid. Should we not be allowed to point out that the airstrikes were meaningless theater (to those not hit)?
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Apr 15, 2018 21:59
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https://twitter.com/QalaatAlMudiq/status/985580948187205641
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Apr 15, 2018 23:16
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Wanna say for the record, I'm glad my prediction for Syria was wrong. 
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Apr 15, 2018 23:17
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About the research facility, how much research do the Syrians really need to drop barrels of chlorine out of cargo choppers?
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Apr 15, 2018 23:41
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The Pentagon flat out said that their plan wasn't to eliminate his chemical weapons capabilities, but just to try to (re)establish deterrence with a limited strike at facilities associated with that program. That decision was partially to avoid a dangerous escalation that could risk drawing Russia in, and partially because they wanted to avoid hitting CW facilities which could cause significant civilian casualties to the surrounding population if the chemicals inside were violently dispersed.
Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Apr 15, 2018 |
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Apr 15, 2018 23:49
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So in other words, bullshit.
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Apr 15, 2018 23:53
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Morzhovyye posted:Is it too late to double up that request to go gently caress yourself? I'll submit your request to the complaint box. I'm also going to refrain from insulting you back and hear you out, as I feel perhaps you're someone why may also have contributions or insights, since I'm one of those disgusting jerks who wants to listen to people even if they vehemently disagree with me, insult me, and even if I think they're incorrect. You'll notice that we in the thread are trying to come up with a more accurate label for Assad's Alawite-led regime that better reflects its subtle differences between Rhodesia and South Africa's form of race-based persecution rather than the ethno-religious persecution between various Arab cultural groupings inside Syria. For bonus points, ask me if I think my own President and his cabinet are fascists who support white supremacism that is baked into the American legal system, or perhaps ask me if I think Hillary Clinton wouldn't be bombing Syria this very second if she were President. The current Trump administration still allows room for token minorities to serve in various cabinet posts like Ben Carson in HUD and Nikki Haley as the UN Ambassador. Even in Rhodesia there were plenty of loyalist Zimbabwean collaborators whom Ian Smith considered "one of the good ones". From 1978 onwards, the Rhodesian military was extremely similar to the SAA. The majority of its soldiers were black with a core nucleus of career white soldiers and white officers, and its elite units (Rhodesian SAS and Rhodesian Light Infantry) were white-only, similar to Syria's elite fighting units like the Republican Guard and 4th Armored Division who are Alawite-only. There was also a large contingent of South African mercenaries fighting for Rhodesia who were black with white officers. Morzhovyye posted:I see you've skimmed the wikipedia page for the syrian army, look out brown moses! There's a sentence in front of the one you plucked from that page that says that the majority of the syrian military is sunni. So your point here seems to be that the army has a disproportionate number of alawite officers, noted and moving on. I didn't skim the Wikipedia page, I actually did extensive research on this before posting it since I didn't want to misrepresent the facts, and every single source I found, from academic papers, Stratfor articles, books etc. said the same thing, 80% of the officers are Alawite. I'd wager that an even higher percentage of the intelligence services are Alawite. The academic papers I found on the subject said that, even as far back as the mid 1960s (before Hafez took power), Alawites comprised about 65% of the officer corps. The French colonists considered Alawites and the Druze to be the only peoples in Syria to have a "warrior culture" and even in Ottoman times, having to defend against constant persecution by Sunnis had led many primary sources to remark upon the Alawites' combat prowess and fierce nature. It's no surprise that a combination of poverty, persecution, and a history of martial tradition would see them being disproportionately represented in the ranks of the military. Really it was a slow process that eventually culminated with a series of military coups against extremely unpopular governments. A lot of people were initially very happy Hafez took power because he was much smarter and more pragmatic than the ideologically rigid government he overthrew. Morzhovyye posted:I don't think radical leftists supported the muslim brotherhood, and I don't think it's as much of a popular rebellion as this incredibly vague description is making it out to be. (and as an aside your attempt at sneaking "working class" in as if i'm the manchurian candidate and that was suppose to activate me didn't seem to work either.) This was more akin to the Iranian Revolution where both radical Islamists and far leftists tried to overthrow the government with both thinking they'd end up on top afterwards. The far leftists were moreso remnants of the previous regime who felt Hafez had strayed too far from the path of Socialism or were just personally loyal to the people he'd deposed. Morzhovyye posted:A disproportionate level of alawites in the government and army leadership does not an apartheid state make. Please go gently caress yourself for likening it to apartheid and making the word meaningless like the #HolocaustAleppo clowns. I actually never got involved in the whole debate about Aleppo and genocide which consumed this thread for 80 pages aside from pointing out how quickly it became a pointless semantics argument, but white-ruled South Africa, Rhodesia, etc. are the closest modern historical analogue I can think of unless you want to pivot to the whole "it's a hereditary fascist dictatorship" thing. The Tigrayans of Ethiopia make up just 6% of the population but since 1991 they've had massively disproportionate control over the military, key economic assets, and the ruling coalition and there are mounting tensions between them and the other 94% of the population that's lead to widespread, violent protests over the past couple of years. Similarly, Bahrain is a country of mostly Shiites ruled by Sunnis that's resulted to mass oppression, demolition of Shia mosques, forced disappearances, etc. during the Arab Spring to keep the majority population in line. Bahrain Shiites make up ~70% of the population there and only hold ~20% of top government jobs. The ruling class of Bahrain is actually attempting to alter the demographics by fast-tracking citizenship for Pakistanis and Syrian Sunnis. You can't become a cop or a soldier in Bahrain if you're Shia. They aren't even allowed in Bahrain's second largest city. Many journalists, NGOs, and Arab scholars directly call it "apartheid". We have a big military base there, so of course the US doesn't care to say a word about it. lollontee posted:https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/a-journalist-takes-a-road-from-damascus-after-five-years-1.295735 Holy poo poo I didn't even know about the Alawite-only traffic lanes. Pretty loving surreal. I did know, however, that Sunnis leaving their residential neighborhoods in plain clothes are often subject to arbitrary detainment even if they're active-duty in the SAA. Savy Saracen salad posted:That was in Beirut Summer 2017 I was giving a seminar in the AUB about my PhD project. I was at a bar with a group of expats when we were joined by a group of Lebanese coworkers and with them that guy whom kept spouting bullshit. I don't quite remember what drove the conversation to politics but the guy began saying Hezbollah protects secularism and other mind boggling stuff. I am from the Arab world myself but I look a bit like a westerner and he was surprised when I was able to respond to him in Arabic and tell him what you are saying is nonsense. He then went on an Alex Jones style rant about how Assad is virtuous and mighty and good because he keeps the spirit of resistance alive (lol) and fights the Wahhabis and the Americans and the Jews. I told him Assad and his Father used to run black sites for the CIA to torture prisoners and that the Baath regime used to ship hundreds of terrorists in government sponsored buses across the border to Iraq which resulted in Iraq withdrawing its ambassador in 2009. He then lost it and took out a pocket knife and lunged at me. Thankfully we were able to restrain him and no one got hurt, and he got kicked out of the bar. Weirdly enough Hezbollah has actually been one of the more restrained parties in this conflict since they're used to operating in theaters where the majority of the local civilians they encounter are friendly and sympathetic. Typically what I've read happens is that Iraqi PMUs, Hazara, and draftees of various backgrounds are used as cannon fodder, then Hezbollah and elite Alawite-only units like the Tiger Force, 4th Armored Division, & Republican Guard are used for the serious assaults. After that they typically bring in the death squads, Shabiha, and others to do 'cleanup' duty which typically involves executing or arresting former rebels or rebel sympathizers and looting the local houses/businesses. I've read story after story of Hezbollah acting as a cohesive, professional fighting force taking a town only to be horrified & demoralized when the Alawite Shabiha moved in and began robbing and terrorizing the locals. More and more the SAA is realizing that it's often easier to just cut deals with and bribe the local Sunni self-defense militias to keep order and allow them to defect and either continue to garrison the area or be redrafted into the military. lollontee posted:Destroying a scientific facility could actually have some effect. Scientific equipment might really be quite challenging for a regime like The Lion Assad's to acquire, although I wouldn't know anything about that. About acquiring scientific equipment on the sly, I mean. It's definitely going to be a major setback because science labs are super expensive. Clean rooms, containment areas, air filters, storage rooms, safety overrides, and most importantly security. Guarantee every inch of that science complex was videotaped and bugged, all probably routed to a central security room, and it had to meet incredibly high standards for both containment procedures and security. They probably removed all the portable equipment and computers they could carry but just the architectural planning that goes into building a chemical weapons research facility is incredibly hard to duplicate, although I heard a rumor from a guy named George W. Bush that you can do it from inside a trailer like Breaking Bad: Syria Edition. tsa posted:Actually you, like 99.99% of the people that post itt don't have a single loving clue what you are talking about. Hope this helps! I interpreted his statement to mean that Trump's continued escalation with Syria due to now having famous Neocon, John Bolton, as one of his top advisors will eventually result in a shooting war with Assad that destabilizes the Syrian government and leads to another round of the Syrian Civil War, but I could be wrong.
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Apr 16, 2018 00:48
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The research complex probably wasn't being used. The regime likely doesn't have the resources for it.
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Apr 16, 2018 01:09
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folks have some blueballs that iranian assets weren't hitthe predictable fuckshit posted:The Real Next War in Syria: Jesus christ, this guy is bought and paid for. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/opinion/war-syria-iran-israel.html Really, Haretz? posted:Why Israel Needs to Escalate Its Threats Against Iran – Right Now
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Apr 16, 2018 01:15
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Trump doesn't seem to agree that Macron convinced him to stay in Syria. https://twitter.com/Jerusalem_Post/status/985666260896702464
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Apr 16, 2018 01:55
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