Meanwhile, in Syria
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
Nov 19, 2011 at 9:50pm
These are defectors. They're showing their military ID cards to prove that they were officers.
This video from Daraa, which I won't embed, is almost unwatchable in its horror. A Syrian news agency is reporting that Russian warships have entered Syrian territorial waters to forestall NATO "aggression," but I don't put much stock in Syrian news agencies.
In a stunningly tone-deaf comment, an anonymous source from the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Hürriyet that
... people in Syria are not afraid of the regime anymore. Amid killings every day we observe more people taking to the streets every other day. We know what the Baath is, but when that critical moment comes, it will collapse like houses built by bad contractors in an earthquake.
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Dec '10
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
The end of the Baath. What a pleasant thought. This is Obama's chance to look like cares about freedom. He won't take it.
Oct '10
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
Obama has been oddly passive when it's come to the greater Iranian threat and that passivity has extended to their Syrian client state. Libya warranted directly military action, but Bashar al-Assad was labeled as a reformer up until recently.
This is why we really need the next President of the United States to have a serious understanding of foreign policy. Maybe this isn't the time for a former pizza executive to be elevated into the job?
Jun '10
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
Did they use this metaphor because they are familiar with what happens to houses in Turkey in an earthquake?
Edited on Nov 20, 2011 at 9:09amSep '10
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
Putting themselves on video like this is an act of real courage. They know that if they lose, there will be no mercy.
Claire's description of the linked video is an understatement. I made it as far as a little more than 1:10 (shudder), then I had to close the window.
Nov '10
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
To be commended for their courage. But the last phrase, the chant, "Allahu Akbar" should remind us that yet again we are likely to witness yet another transfer of power from tyrant with wishy-washy islamic roots to an Islamist dominated regime. The disease is, indeed, very bad. But the cure may be worse.
Apr '11
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
I think that they can be forgiven for praying under those circumstances.
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
James Of England
I think that they can be forgiven for praying under those circumstances. · Nov 20 at 5:33pm
To put it mildly. All we can conclude from that phrase is that they're Arabic-speakers. Phrases such as "Oh, my God," and "God bless you." are uttered in English by people across the spectrum of political and religious belief. It's a cultural and linguistic inheritance. I too am deeply concerned that what succeeds Assad may be as bad or worse--in a wide range of ways, foremost of them a civil war that further destabilizes this whole region--but not because I heard to words "God is great."
My first words on seeing that video were "My God." Weren't they yours?
Re: Meanwhile, in Syria
tabula rasa
Did they use this metaphor because they are familiar with what happens to houses in Turkey in an earthquake? · Nov 20 at 9:08am
Edited on Nov 20 at 09:09 am
If I had to guess, I'd say it was an unconscious slip. But I don't know. It seems to me everyone in Turkey is simultaneously thinking about it all the time and trying to push the thought out of their heads.