With parliament about to rise for the summer recess there won't be any sort of regular check or pressuring of Cameron on that front.
Livestream out of Syria
- Thread starter ooeat0meoo
- Start date
Do you believe Israel is involved at all in the exchanges within Syria (other than alleged attacks on arm shipments destined to cross the border)?
Honestly, I don't see why they would be. I'd think they'd rather have the tame enemy they know in Assad next door as opposed to unpredictable, radical nutters. Besides, I think they'd be smart enough to realise that if they were openly siding with various Arab states then it might change the dynamics of the alliances - its the same reason they didn't bite when Saddam hit Tel Aviv with Scuds in a desperate attempt to draw them in and encourage the Arabs to switch sides.
I tend to agree, although the Syrian regime would do its best to make people think otherwise.
Believe it or not, they actually said that Erdogan should step down for using violence against protestors.
Any idea what is the scale of Hizballah casualties so far? Reports here quote figures of >150 killed and 300 wounded. I have no idea about the scale of the exchanges in Qusair, but was it that intense?
I hope your pleased..because this is what they did.
I'd use a spoiler and get rid of the smilies. I'm sure (
) no one is taking pleasure at civilian (?) casualties from either side. In fact, I'm not a big fan of using horrific pics for scoring internet points. Your arguments are strong enough to avoid resorting to this shit.Done.I'd use a spoiler and get rid of the smilies. I'm sure (
In Qusair Hizballah lost 93 fighters with dozens wounded. They lost 24 fighters on the first day. It's still unclear what happened on the first day, some sources suggest that it was just that Hizballah was surprised by the fighting capabilities of the opposition, while some opposition sources say they were ambushed. This is the story they told:
Opposition sources put it differently. They say they were engaged in negotiations with Hezbollah as the siege tightened around Qusayr to facilitate the exit of the remaining civilians in the city. They told the Lebanese party that they were prepared to surrender, but could not do so without a few face-saving, symbolic skirmishes. As the first clashes progressed, it appeared as if the armed groups were abiding by the agreement, gradually withdrawing from some of their positions. But, having lured the Hezbollah fighters deep into their territory, the opposition fighters ambushed them, killing two dozen and injuring many more.
There were also reports that 18 fighters were killed by mistake by the Syrian army during the battle. Hizballah took far heavier losses in the first day or two of the fight, but they seem to have adjusted to the opposition defenses later in the battle.
Actually from what I read and what I heard, the numbers of dead people from Hizballah is in fact a lot bigger than 93 fighters, also a point that needs to get through to everyone, Hizballah's militias taking over cities in Syria means that we are getting occupied by foreign countries, and Hizballah since the start claimed that there should be no foreign intervention in Syria and then they interfered, also all the Sunni mosques got damaged very badly by those militias, and they attacking almost every city in Syria, and if this proves anything, it proves how weak the Syrian Army is right now, and if a very very small town like Al-Qusair took them 22 days, lets see how long it will take them to take over bigger cities, in fact there's a city called Daryya in Damascus suburbs, they've been under attack for more than 270 days and the rebels are taking over larger spaces in this city instead of backing off, and I dare Hizballah and the regime to take over this city or any big cities in Syria's north or east, also for everybody's information the northern part of Al-Qusair is still under the rebels control as far as I know and most of it's southern and northern suburbs, also the causalities of people from Al-Qusair is a bit over 300 people, more than 200 of them are civilians and all were killed from the shelling from Hizballah.
I can't see it ever being one country again now. Read this on the BBC site.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22826636
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22826636
I can't even count how many false things you mentioned in this post, that it's becoming a challenge for me to reply.
First of all don't dare anybody, especially here on the forum. Nobody from Hizballah or the Syrian Army is here on the forum. Besides, you dared Hizballah before, and when they intervened you started crying foul play.
Nope. In fact the casualties were much smaller than Hizballah themselves even thought it would be, which explains why after their primary mission ended in Al-Qusair, they immediately went straight to Aleppo, even though it wasn't part of their original plan (which was defending of the Shrine of Sayida Zainab, and taking back Al-Qusair).
That's a bit rich considering tens of thousands of foreign fighters (several folds more than Hizballah's presence in Syria) are fighting alongside the Syrian opposition.
Clearly, because after almost two years, despite its calls, the foreign intervention never stopped.
Al-Qusair was the rebels' fortress. To fall in only 17 days is actually big psychological blow for rebels.
Correct your information. Al-Qusair is now fully, including all suburbs are under the government control.
You got to be kidding me.
First of all don't dare anybody, especially here on the forum. Nobody from Hizballah or the Syrian Army is here on the forum. Besides, you dared Hizballah before, and when they intervened you started crying foul play.
Nope. In fact the casualties were much smaller than Hizballah themselves even thought it would be, which explains why after their primary mission ended in Al-Qusair, they immediately went straight to Aleppo, even though it wasn't part of their original plan (which was defending of the Shrine of Sayida Zainab, and taking back Al-Qusair).
That's a bit rich considering tens of thousands of foreign fighters (several folds more than Hizballah's presence in Syria) are fighting alongside the Syrian opposition.
Clearly, because after almost two years, despite its calls, the foreign intervention never stopped.
Al-Qusair was the rebels' fortress. To fall in only 17 days is actually big psychological blow for rebels.
Correct your information. Al-Qusair is now fully, including all suburbs are under the government control.
You got to be kidding me.
Give it a rest. He's in Syria, you're not.
I think she's telling what some want to hear, rather than what's actually happening on the ground. Even though it might have happened that one woman held the hands of one man on the street during conflict, that's never the essence of the conflict or the protests. She's kidding herself if she thinks women would have got more rights in Syria had Assad stepped down immediately and allowed the protestors to gain power in Syria, like the impression she's trying to give.
Where do you get your information from? Seems to be a very bad source, anyway there's no ten of thousands of foreign fighters, Al-Qusair never been a fortress as the regime had full control over the eastern side of the city since the start of the war. I've seen the FSA, I've talked with them in some areas in Damascus and its suburbs, my friends in other Cities been with the FSA whether it's in Idlib, Homs(specially Homs, most of my friends are from Homs as I study in a college located between Damascus and Homs) and Aleppo and Der El-Zour, whatever your sources are, I consider and expect those sources to be much better than yours, and even if you consider the fact that there's HUNDREDS(yes only hundreds) of foreigners fighting alongside the rebels, another country's government(considering Hizballah is in control of Lebanon government) openly admitting that they are taking over another countries cities, that gives you an occupation, and not only any occupation, an occupation that kills Sunni(yes I'm openly saying that they are killing Sunnis and only Sunnis whether you like it or not, it's true.) and destroys homes and mosques, and also we can both agree that neither you or I would change our point of view, this debate is a bit pointless really.
With all due respect to him, a lot of the 'facts' he's been conveying to us have been contradicted a few days later. Besides I'm not sure how posting random pictures of dead children makes any real point tbh.
If he was a Syrian soldier or a pro-Assad civilian I wonder how you'll receive him.
Sadly neither do I, the future seems dark, and even if it comes to a peaceful ending, for me after I'm done with my college studies, I'm leaving the country to live somewhere else, it'll never be the same again.
Being on the ground is preferable to someone posting from the comfort of a trannquil, democratic western nation. We know that SS is anti Assad, but that shouldn't discredit the observations he's making, which are obviously based on his personal experinces during the war. We're not going to have him e-bullied out of posting here by people thousands of miles away.
Let's take it one by one, and let's see who has better sources.
Which northern parts/suburbs in Al-Qusair are still under the control of the rebels?
SS is one Syrian, heavily inclined towards the FSA. I'm sure he's experienced quite a lot, but asking him for his opinion on events is akin to asking an FSA commander for an impartial narrative. I don't see where this 'e-bullying' is coming from either, if he makes claims which seem to have been contradicted by almost every source (including from FSA commmanders themselves), then naturally he's going to come across a lot of scrutiny.
We've already discussed this before. I don't see what you're so pissed about. He gives his opinion, I give my opinion. Let the facts fight it out. Why do you feel the need to intervene in a totally peaceful conversation? Repeatedly?
Nobody is bullying anybody here, in fact people who are taking our stance are actually vastly outnumbered by people supporting him. Not sure what you're on about here to be honest.
Calm down.
Try again at the reading thing.
I did. It's the same story the Western media tell every time. Look at what happened in Egypt.
That Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is run by a single bloke from a converted den in his house - but he has been pretty credible throughout the conflict. How do I know this? Both sides accuse him of being biased
Uh oh..
Well Syrians can't be wholly oblivious to the situation in Libya for example, getting rebels to disarm and step back from their positions of influence once the war is over is far easier said than done. The dynamic on the ground in Syria is worse and so would be the lot of the people in many areas you'd suspect.
The aim was for reforms right, not to invite in a different wolf to threatten the flock
The aim was for reforms right, not to invite in a different wolf to threatten the flock
Fear not rebels...the foreign fighters are on the ground, the foreign money and arms have already been there, but direct handouts from the US aren't too far away. It seems the recent losses suffered by the rebels and the visit by Senator 'I'm posing with kidnappers' McCain - has worked as a catalyst to speed this process up.
US could make a decision as early as this week on whether to arm #Syria's rebels, reports quoting US officials say http://bbc.in/164pE9l
Isn't this the same thing that happened in Afghanistan which led to Taliban and Al-Qaeda becoming the force they have become afterwards?
EDIT: This drew my attention from the link I provided below..
So the answer is to arm them?!
Said it once and will say it again, don't want the government of my country doing this. US should just sit this one out. Though we have been told often that the rebels are already being extensively armed by the US, so this seems to be an odd story for the BBC to break.
Not sure we can afford to sit anything out
It sounds naive and completely impractical - especially for the only real superpower, but sometimes I do wish our foreign policy was more isolationist.I think the BBC is breaking this, because while arms and $$$ have been given to the rebels(whether directly or via the Qataris) - this would be official, all out in the open. It falls in line with the UK FM saying, there would be a vote in their parliament to see if the UK would supply arms to the rebels or not.
According to an article i was just reading half of theTories, Labour and the Lib Dems are thought likely to oppose the arming of the rebels were it to be put to a vote.
'Public execution'
In a separate development on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Islamist rebels in Aleppo had executed a 15-year-old boy in front of his parents as punishment for what they regarded as a blasphemous comment.
The UK-based activist group said Mohammed Qataa was shot in the face and neck a day after being seized by the rebels, who allegedly overheard the teenager tell someone: "Even if the Prophet Muhammad comes down [from heaven], I will not become a believer."
Before executing the boy, one of the rebels reportedly told onlookers: "Disbelieving in God is polytheism and cursing the Prophet is polytheism. Whoever curses even once will be punished like this."
The SOHR published a photograph of what it said was the boy's face, which bore gunshot wounds to the mouth and neck. Its director, Rami Abdul Rahman, said it could not "ignore these crimes, which only serve the enemies of the revolution and the enemies of humanity".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22840728
In a separate development on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Islamist rebels in Aleppo had executed a 15-year-old boy in front of his parents as punishment for what they regarded as a blasphemous comment.
The UK-based activist group said Mohammed Qataa was shot in the face and neck a day after being seized by the rebels, who allegedly overheard the teenager tell someone: "Even if the Prophet Muhammad comes down [from heaven], I will not become a believer."
Before executing the boy, one of the rebels reportedly told onlookers: "Disbelieving in God is polytheism and cursing the Prophet is polytheism. Whoever curses even once will be punished like this."
The SOHR published a photograph of what it said was the boy's face, which bore gunshot wounds to the mouth and neck. Its director, Rami Abdul Rahman, said it could not "ignore these crimes, which only serve the enemies of the revolution and the enemies of humanity".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22840728
Seems legit