Al Jazeera showed amateur video of fighting in the residential areas of Damascus - dead bodies lying around(not sure if civilian, rebel or govt)
Livestream out of Syria
- Thread starter ooeat0meoo
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iran-blog/2012/jul/16/iran-public-debate-on-syria
It's not surprising that many people would be against the Syrian government because of their experiences in 2009 after the election, but that government officials have mentioned it is interesting.
It's not surprising that many people would be against the Syrian government because of their experiences in 2009 after the election, but that government officials have mentioned it is interesting.
They are owned by state of qatar who also happen to be paying the rebels a nice salary apart from arming them to the teeth.
Yep lets trust them!
Still playing the everyone's a terrorist card I see.
Thats the issue with the reporting of this conflict I feel, barely any of the videos are verified before being posted, and almost every piece of footage online is labelled 'unverified footage', but nevertheless they're all too happy to go with the "LOOK, ASSAD murders 400000 children" headline above it.
We've had dozens of footage aired by networks such as Al Jazeera supposedly depicting the bodies of many innocent civilians, only later for it to be confirmed as being the bodies of regime sympathisers or bodies from a different country altogether. I'm not saying that some of these videos aren't genuine, but I'd rightly be skeptical over almost every one of them.
I wonder why they can't be verified...restrictions/bans on foreign journalists, perhaps?
I suppose people getting strafed by helicopters and shelled by heavy artillery is from the Rebels ehh ?
I agree he isn't doing himself any favours with his journalist ban, but honestly do you think the media would be a lot less impartial if they were given a free pass around the country?
Nope, a video like that would mostly be genuine (assuming it wasn't from the Lebanon war). Except there still isnt any contextual input onto scenes like that - why exactly are helicopters strafing about firing at people - who are they firing at? - Who provoked who first in that instance? None of these questions are answered and instead the media assumes Assad is needlessly butchering his own for shits and giggles.
That's what you get in the age of YouTube when the regime tries to limit reporters from covering the stories on the ground. People are left to desperately tell their story through mobile and web cam footage.
That goes for both sides though. The media isn't going to be inclined to believe for example that the rebels would execute civilians in cold blood even if footage does supposedly portray such events.
The media don't have a dog in the fight. If there was similarly lopsided evidence that the rebels were committing the same type of atrocities that Assad was, then it would receive the same coverage.
I have to disagree with you there. From the beginning certain outlets have championed the rebels...either for personal reasons or simply for the sensationalist sake of doing so.
Never doubted the footage from Gaza during Cast Lead, did you? BTW, theIAF does not have mi 25s, nevermind implying that Israel but not Assad kills people for fun, so the Lebanon War comment was clueless.
No, because Cast Lead wasn't a war, it was a systematic massacre of Palestinians.
I was talking about the Lebanese civil war too, not 2006.
At the end of the day, it only appeared as such because Assad limited media access to what he was doing to the people. In the end, the only access to information was second hand, through YouTube and livestreams, and by the odd journalist who managed to sneak into Syria. If they painted a picture that was unflattering towards Assad, it was based on aggregate observations rather than some sort of conspiracy to cheerlead for the rebels.
Investigative journalists who've snuck into Syria have reported contradicting findings. The country is in a state of sectarian civil war - quite a few outlets have used this as justification to back one horse in all this. Iranian state-owned PressTV will for example seek to paint Assad in a positive light while demonising his enemies, whereas Qatar-owned Al Jazeera would seek to do the opposite.
I'm not talking about outlets with an axe to grind. I'm talking about the Beeb, CNN and the like.
Those outlets primarily get their information from Syrian sources who already have an axe to grind themselves. If hypothetically speaking a Syrian rebel films a dozen dead bodies with no contextual story behind it, and sends it to CNN claiming that this was Assad's doing, then what do you think CNN will report?
No, they get their info from sources who are willing to communicate with them. If Assad blocks entry to journalists because he's scared they might uncover what he's doing, then its quite logical that the narrative will be in favor of the victims rather than the regime. The great conundrum for Assad is that if he were to allow unfettered access, the world would have a much clearer picture of his indiscriminate campaign of mass murder. Therefore the only way for him to proceed is to block journalists from reporting the story, at which point they get small bits here and there from sources who are willing to talk to them.
The 1976 one?
Keep safe anyone who's caught up in this!
SS, how you keeping?
My parents want to flee out of the country, things in Damascus are changing, the FSA finally getting hold of some major areas, shelling and bombing of some areas and the sound of bullets exchanging can be seen and heard from my place, my friends fled from their districts to other "safer" districts, the interesting thing is the people are gathering around the FSA helping them by anything they can do, and the FSA are helping people fleeing by getting them out safe putting themselves in danger to do that, I'm not fleeing out of the country though. 
Never a fan of suicide bombs...even if the victims weren't 'civilians'
Assad's brother in law dead too apparently.
This is quickly reaching the point where the government will fall and Assad will end up like Qaddafi. He should look for a deal for him and his family to get out now.
Like Gaddafi, Saddam, and others this is what happens when you have a bunch of yes men surrounding you. I bet he truly believes 'his people' love him.
Otherwise, why else would you still stick around, when you see your entire empire crumbling all around you....
Uk minister squirming on sky news when probed isn't this an act of Terror. Using feeble excuses as if he admits it is an act of terror then what of the UK stance against Terrorism when they are supporting the Anti government forces in Syria.
Terrorism is one big marketing farce.
Terrorism is one big marketing farce.
There's a decent chance Assad will fall within the next 7-14 days.
And Russia will likely be left with little or no influence in Syria afterwards. If they had played ball with the West a few weeks ago, they could have maintained their role there. Iran may lose ground there also since the new majority will be Sunni.
I wonder who is gonna have his hands on the largest stocks of biological and chemical weapons in the ME when Bashar is gone.
Israel?
Seriously though...Israel surely has a hush hush biological weapons program?
Bombing in Damascus was really scary today, streets were empty by 6 p.m, the shelling was by rockets and the sound of the shelling was horrible, I guess Assad is trying to revenge his brother in law, the defense minister, minister of the interior, Assad's brother in-law who is a well known criminal in Syria, and Assad's military adviser were all killed by the bombing, I know the area, I'm 100% sure it's an inside job done by one of their assistants perhaps, I can't say I'm not happy about that....
Stay safe. I imagine things are about to really hit the proverbial fan soon.
I'd stay indoors and hope for the best if I lived in Damascus right now. Hopefully Bashar will not do anything stupid as a last resort and walk away while he still can instead.
Good luck to all Syrians, and the region in general, following the transition in power there.
Good luck to all Syrians, and the region in general, following the transition in power there.
Right, so Assad thinks that killing his own defense minister and brother-in-law would clearly strengthen his position..
So I take it hes going to kill his wife and kids and blame it on the rebels too then?
If an inside job, surely it was facilitated by the opposition. They probably convinced an impressionable guard that he could end the fighting once and for all, by taking out most of Assad's inner circle. In either case, Assad now has a choice to make. If he stays, he will get slaughtered within weeks or even days.