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"God has chosen us to provide security to the people, and we do it for nothing," he said. "We have vowed to sacrifice ourselves to serve the people. If we leave, the tribes will start killing each other for the oil and the loot. We had to show force in dealing with the tribes. Even now, one to three people are killed every day because of feuding over the oil. We also protect the silos of wheat. All the silos are under our protection.
"All this wealth," he said, "is for the Muslims."
But while it took the Americans months of intricate negotiations and huge sums of money to convince a few tribal elders in Iraq, in Syria almost every other marginal tribal elder and his many cousins flirt with the the idea of sahwa, and the money that it could bring.
"Yes, in the beginning they [al-Qaida in Iraq] did give us weapons and send us their leadership," said the commander. "May Allah bless them. But now, we have become a state. We control massive areas, and they are but a faction. They don't control land in Iraq: they were defeated. We have been sending them weapons and cars to strengthen their spear against the Iraqi rejectionist government, but now they want us to be part of them. That, I don't understand."
Originally posted by Galvatron
For people who keep referring to the opponents of Assad's regime as "the rebels" or "the FSA (Free Syrian Army), may I suggest an alternative that is not only more accurate, but also revealing?
Al Nusra Front. The FSA is divided in to smaller factions, none of which are permanently allied with one another. THe largest, most influential, religiously extreme (Wahhabi) , best funded (Saudi, Kuwaiti, Yemeni money), with the most international connections (Al Qaeda) is "Al Nusra Front".
I propose we make it common place to refer to the "rebels" or the "FSA" as simply Al Nusra front anymore.
So on one hand you have Assad, who dictator he may be, supports a moderate government that is officially secular. Under him, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Druze, all lived together relatively harmoniously, much like Lebanon before their civil war in the 70s.
On the other hand you have a rebel army full for foreigners, many of which are ethnic Arabs who have traveled from countries in Europe and North America to be a part of this conflict and fully intend to travel back "home" after the fighting is over. The rebels are dominated financially, ideologically, politically, culturally, and internationally by the de facto group in charge that is Al Nusra Front. That's a considerable threat to national security if I've ever encountered one. Al Nusra Front is the Syrian military extension of Al Qaeda. The US and UK are not only destabilizing the entire region by intervening, they are going to support the very terrorists they've been fighting since 2001. And in supporting them threatening their own national security in the long run by doing so.
To top it off, there are pieces of journalism from as early as January this year that the US had not only considered taking steps to intervene in Syria through creating a chemical weapons crisis, but considered them eagerly as not just a possible option, but a favored one. Consider this: Al Nusra Front has access to the same chemical weapons that Assad has ever since they captured facility 111.
Is anyone with me on this? Is anyone willing to stop merely calling them "the rebels" or the "FSA" and instead calling them what they are, Al Nusra Front.
Every conflict zone I have ever been in through my professional career has involved Islam in one shape or form, without exception.edit on 27-8-2013 by Galvatron because: (no reason given)
The Russian investigation found "the rebels launched and guided three projectiles towards Khan al-Asal government forces."
There were two indications uncovered by Moscow's inquiry leading it to believe the opposition produced and fired the chemical weapon.
"The results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordnance used in Khan al-Asal was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sarin," Churkin said. "The sarin technical specifications prove that it was not industrially manufactured either."
The implication being that munitions used by the government would be up to industrial standards where opposition munitions would not.
Churkin recalled the Iraqi government recently reported "it found three laboratories in Iraq which were involved in producing sarin. Such things can be produced in make-shift conditions at the level of production less refined than industrial level but which still would be lethal."
"The absence of chemical stabilizers in the samples of the detected toxic agents indicated relatively recent production," he said. "The projectile involved is not a standard one for chemical use."
The chemical hexogen, used as "an opening charge in the projectile," is not used in standard ammunitions, Moscow's envoy said. "Therefore there is every reason to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons in Khan al- Asal."
Churkin said Russia had also learned that production of Bashar 3 unguided projectiles was started in February by the rebels' al- Nasr unit, not long before the March 19 attack.
Originally posted by edmc^2
Originally posted by Manipulativebehavior
Out of respect to this particular thread, i do believe this is the video you tried to look for that was posted within facebook.
edit on 27-8-2013 by Manipulativebehavior because: (no reason given)
OK who made the film?
If it's the rebels then who posted it? Who leaked it?
If it's Assad's men then who posted it? Who leaked it?
Looking as the video - it's clear to me that the fellas who being filmed were aware they were being filmed.
No?
If not how could the videographer got that closed if not part of the plan?
Who is impersonating whom?
Originally posted by tommyjo
More footage of Hell Cannons in Syria. Here is another projectile based on a propane tank. Note the lack of missile type fins on this design.
Fins attached on this one
sueloujo
As the machinery for a U.S.-led military intervention in Syria gathers pace following last week’s chemical weapons attack, the U.S. and its allies may be targeting the wrong culprit.
Interviews with people in Damascus and Ghouta, a suburb of the Syrian capital, where the humanitarian agency Doctors Without Borders said at least 355 people had died last week from what it believed to be a neurotoxic agent, appear to indicate as much.
The U.S., Britain, and France as well as the Arab League have accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for carrying out the chemical weapons attack, which mainly targeted civilians. U.S. warships are stationed in the Mediterranean Sea to launch military strikes against Syria in punishment for carrying out a massive chemical weapons attack. The U.S. and others are not interested in examining any contrary evidence, with U.S Secretary of State John Kerry saying Monday that Assad’s guilt was “a judgment … already clear to the world.”
www.mintpressnews.com...