The Syrian Conflict Thread

[Unhappy438]

The fact that he didn't think to bite his nails off or that he uses overwhelming force when he scratches himself.

But I guess people do strange things on paper to demonize Assad.

Just a few lines afterwards

“People went crazy,” Hamada said. “People would lose their memories, people would lose their minds.”

Not to mention it wouldnt take much force considering

The sores of scabies and other skin ailments covered their bodies.

But yeah dont worry, Assad is a great fantastic guy, these are all just lies

 

[Noah]

But yeah dont worry, Assad is a great fantastic guy, these are all just lies

Glad you came to the same conclusion.

 

[Unhappy438]

Glad you came to the same conclusion.

Indeed, it only took about 4 years of delusion

 

[Noah]

Indeed, it only took about 4 years of delusion

Wooo!! 4 years to break the "moderate rebel" delusion?

 

[Dave]

This doesn't seem to have made much news.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrians in government-controlled areas headed to polling stations Wednesday to elect a new 250-member parliament that is expected to serve as a rubber stamp for President Bashar Assad.

Voters began turning up shortly after the stations opened at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT). Around 3,500 government-approved candidates are competing after more than 7,000 others dropped out.

Early Wednesday, Assad and his wife, Asma, cast their ballots at the Assad Library in Damascus. The president did not make any comments.

The country's foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, told reporters after voting: "We in Syria always say that the Syrian people decide their destiny and today they are proving practically the accuracy of this saying."

Parliamentary elections in Syria are held every four years, and Damascus says the vote is constitutional and separate from the peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the five-year war.

But the opposition says it contributes to an unfavorable climate for negotiations amid fierce fighting that threatens an increasingly tenuous cease-fire engineered by the United States and Russia.

Western leaders and members of the opposition have denounced the voting as a sham and a provocation that undermines the Geneva peace talks.

In the Syrian capital, voters said they fully supported holding the elections on time.

"I feel proud today because the elections are a national and democratic duty any honest citizen should practice," said Wahid Chahine, a 54-year-old government employee, after casting his ballot at a Damascus polling station

Read more:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0382...urce=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link

 

[Dave]

Syrians in government-controlled areas headed to polling stations Wednesday to elect a new 250-member parliament that is expected to serve as a rubber stamp for President Bashar Assad.

View attachment 355566

Voters began turning up shortly after the stations opened at 7 a.m. Around 3,500 government-approved candidates are competing after more than 7,000 others dropped out.

Early Wednesday, Assad and his wife, Asma, cast their ballots at the Assad Library in Damascus. The president did not make any comments.

View attachment 355570

MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-VOTE
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad casts his vote next to his wife Asma, centre left, inside a polling station during parliamentary elections in Damascus. (SANA/Handout via Reuters )

The country's foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, told reporters after voting: "We in Syria always say that the Syrian people decide their destiny and today they are proving practically the accuracy of this saying."

More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syria-parliamentary-elections-1.3533210

 

[Unhappy438]

Narrowband is going to love this

CIA has plan to more heavily arm Syrian rebels if peace talks collapse - Wall street journal

The Central Intelligence Agency and its regional partners have drawn up plans to supply more-powerful weapons to moderate rebels in Syria fighting the Russia-backed regime in the event the country’s six-week-old truce collapses, according to U.S. and other officials.

The preparations for a so-called Plan B center on providing vetted rebel units with weapons systems that would help them in directing attacks against Syrian regime aircraft and artillery positions, the officials said.

The Wall Street Journal first reported in February that President Barack Obama’s top military and intelligence advisers were pressing the White House to come up with a Plan B to counter Russia in Syria. Since then, fresh details have emerged on the nature of the new weaponry that could be deployed under the covert program.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ci...ian-rebels-if-peace-talks-collapse-2016-04-12
Link to wall street journal but behind paywall: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-readies-plan-b-to-arm-syria-rebels-1460509400

How does this end up only targeting Syrian aircraft and what happens if/when they shoot down a Russian aircraft?

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

Narrowband is going to love this

not even surprised in the least, never mind loving it as I said before, the US seems hell bent on doubling down on an already failed strategy ... they can save us all a lot of time and much BS propaganda by just declaring war on Russia instead of trying their damndest to make it happen covertly (at least that is the best justification I can think of for being this brazenly stupid)

How does this end up only targeting Syrian aircraft and what happens if/when they shoot down a Russian aircraft?

Russian planes are precisely what they'll be hoping gets hit, onward to mutually assured destruction, hail to the chief!

 

[Dave]

Russian planes are precisely what they'll be hoping gets hit, onward to mutually assured destruction, hail to the chief!

And unfortunately the chances are policy won't change if Hillary is next POTUS.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

And unfortunately the chances are policy won't change if Hillary is next POTUS.

I doubt the policy will change regardless of who is the next drone-strike overlord, only the severity of the warmongering fluctuates, but there's always warmongering.

On the upside, my mind is entertaining itself by subconsciously erasing the "TU" every time I read POTUS, makes for a more accurate acronym

 

[Dave]

On the upside, my mind is entertaining itself by subconsciously erasing the "TU" every time I read POTUS, makes for a more accurate acronym

Don't sit on the fence there, you should be more open with your feelings

 

[Unhappy438]

Syrian HNC offers to share transition equally with government

Syria's main opposition group is willing to share membership of a transitional governing body with current members of the government of President Bashar al-Assad, but not Assad himself, the group's spokesman told Reuters in Geneva.

"There are many people on the other side who we can really deal with," Salim al-Muslat, the spokesman for the High Negotiations Committee, said on the second day of a round of U.N.-mediated peace talks in Geneva.

"We will have no veto, as long as they don't send us criminals, as long as they don't send us people involved in the killing of Syrians."

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-oppostion-exclus-idUSKCN0XB1H7

 

[Grant]

.. they can save us all a lot of time and much BS propaganda by just declaring war on Russia instead of trying their damndest to make it happen covertly (at least that is the best justification I

hahaha

who is us ?
are you now sitting on the un security council, or some irrelevant putin fanboi keyboard warrior ?

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

hahaha

who is us ?
are you now sitting on the un security council, or some irrelevant putin fanboi keyboard warrior ?

chillax sir, "us" = the members of public who are not quite as gullible as the general excuse for objective media would like to believe

if you honestly believe supplying yet more tons of weapons to Islamic extremists is a great idea as long as you continue to call them "moderates" then peace be with you

it clearly worked so well the last few times it should be done again ...

 

[Dave]

if you honestly believe supplying yet more tons of weapons to Islamic extremists is a great idea as long as you continue to call them "moderates" then peace be with you

I think you are wrong there, supplying tons of weapons to these Islamists is a really good idea.





Just so long as the weapons involved are some form of JDAM that you drop on them from 30000 feet .

 

[Noah]

Just so long as the weapons involved are some form of JDAM that you drop on them from 30000 feet .

Speaking of, some unfortunate journalist got hit by a small piece of shrapnel from an airstrike.

NSFW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHdOkqgzWuo
http://imgur.com/a/H644G

Shrapnel is pretty scary.

 

[Dave]

Speaking of, some unfortunate journalist got hit by a small piece of shrapnel from an airstrike.

NSFW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHdOkqgzWuo
http://imgur.com/a/H644G

Shrapnel is pretty scary.

Hopefully he gets danger pay .

 

[Unhappy438]

In joint operation, Kurdish and US Special Forces kill top ISIS leader in Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish and US Special Forces killed a top leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) and two of his assistants in a joint operation in Mosul on Monday.

“In a special joint operation during which Kurdish Anti-Terror Forces and American Special Forces landed in the center of Daesh-held territory in Hamam Alil south of Mosul by helicopter, Daesh military leader Salam Abd Shabib al-Jbouri known as Abu Saif and two of his assistants were killed,” the Kurdish forces said in a statement.

http://rudaw.net/mobile/english/kurdistan/180420162

 

[Unhappy438]

Pretty big news, Assad cant afford to take on the Kurds as well.


50 killed, wounded in YPG-Syrian army clashes in Rojava's Qamishli

At least 50 people were killed and wounded in clashes which erupted between the Syrian army and Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) on Thursday in the Kurdish city of Qamishli in Rojava, northern Syria.

A well-placed source close to the YPG confirmed to Rudaw that since "5pm clashes have stopped at Qamishli. 30 people were killed, among them six are civilians and others are Syrian army soldiers."

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/210420161

 

[Unhappy438]

Not much love for Assad in Kurdish controlled Qamishlo

https://twitter.com/GissiSim/status/723219212425109504