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Here's another example of a massive IED, this time using a bus to carry the explosives, and driven into a Syrian Army outpost. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiRiN0q-udU
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Sep 6, 2012 09:31
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Got to love the intros to the videos the more organized groups do. With music and everything.
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Sep 6, 2012 09:33
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Why/how is Iraq letting Iran use their airspace? I thought there was deep seated conflict between the two nations?
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Sep 6, 2012 09:43
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Brown Moses posted:Here's another example of a massive IED, this time using a bus to carry the explosives, and driven into a Syrian Army outpost. This will mean more cars full of civilians being shot up for getting too close to a checkpoint. A win-win for the rebels, just too bad for the people in that vehicle.
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Sep 6, 2012 09:54
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quote:
Russia and China disgust me. I can't believe anyone ever defended their stance on Libya in the previous threads. How could anyone ever take the UN seriously with these two oppressive dictatorships on the 'security' council..
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Sep 6, 2012 12:09
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Lascivious Sloth posted:Russia and China disgust me. I can't believe anyone ever defended their stance on Libya in the previous threads. How could anyone ever take the UN seriously with these two oppressive dictatorships on the 'security' council.. Do we have to go over the US veto list again?
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Sep 6, 2012 12:47
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The real stupidity is that permanent seats or a single-country veto exists at all. The UNSC should be a rotating body with a collective veto on the General Assembly's motions decided by a majority vote.
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Sep 6, 2012 13:04
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TheBalor posted:The real stupidity is that permanent seats or a single-country veto exists at all. The UNSC should be a rotating body with a collective veto on the General Assembly's motions decided by a majority vote. None of the nations on the Security Council would ever let that happen, and that includes the western nations on the SC. That's not to say I don't agree it would probably benefit the UN, but the Security Council was not designed with an equitable distribution of power in mind. New Division fucked around with this message at 13:23 on Sep 6, 2012 |
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Sep 6, 2012 13:20
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Lascivious Sloth posted:Why/how is Iraq letting Iran use their airspace? I thought there was deep seated conflict between the two nations? There isn't really. Saddam went to war with Iran but his Iraq was dominated by the minority Sunnis. Now the Shias are in charge and they generally like Iran. Also Iraq can't even keep the lights on so they're in no position piss off Iran. Rosscifer fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Sep 7, 2012 |
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Sep 6, 2012 14:14
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TheBalor posted:The real stupidity is that permanent seats or a single-country veto exists at all. The UNSC should be a rotating body with a collective veto on the General Assembly's motions decided by a majority vote. It is working as designed and the major powers would never abide a body like that with serious teeth. As mentioned the Americans barely tolerate it as is and generally only treat it as a rubber stamp to lend their actions more legitimacy and ignore it when they either can't get the rubber stamp or they try to restrict US freedom of action in any way (or censure them for that matter).
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Sep 6, 2012 14:21
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Alchenar posted:Do we have to go over the US veto list again? Only if you want to break the forum rules. We don't need to compare every bad thing to the US. Bad can be bad no matter who it's compared to.
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Sep 6, 2012 15:14
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TheBalor posted:The real stupidity is that permanent seats or a single-country veto exists at all. The UNSC should be a rotating body with a collective veto on the General Assembly's motions decided by a majority vote. The purpose of the UNSC is to ensure that the world's superpowers are acting in a consensus manner. It is not a governing council.
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Sep 6, 2012 15:23
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Vilerat posted:Only if you want to break the forum rules. We don't need to compare every bad thing to the US. Bad can be bad no matter who it's compared to. I was being rhetorical. But the point is that if you talk about 'those two on the security council' then you've missed the point about why the institution doesn't work. e: or rather, works as a formal codification of 19th century 'Great Power' status
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Sep 6, 2012 15:28
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Alchenar posted:I was being rhetorical. But the point is that if you talk about 'those two on the security council' then you've missed the point about why the institution doesn't work. The security council should be dissolved because it literally does nothing. It doesn't even serve a useful purpose because if it says no it has no teeth and if it says yes it has no legitimacy beyond its tiny membership.
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Sep 6, 2012 15:31
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Vilerat posted:The security council should be dissolved because it literally does nothing. It doesn't even serve a useful purpose because if it says no it has no teeth and if it says yes it has no legitimacy beyond its tiny membership. It's basically a necessary evil for the UN to exist and I for one think that the UN is a valuable institution to have. It gives all countries a pulpit which is far more in the public light than their foreign ministry in Ouagadougou or Vientiane. This is not even to mention the various associated programs and institutions associated with it. They might very well have been established in any case but without any existing framework would have been harder to roll out globally.
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Sep 6, 2012 15:48
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Munin posted:It's basically a necessary evil for the UN to exist and I for one think that the UN is a valuable institution to have. It gives all countries a pulpit which is far more in the public light than their foreign ministry in Ouagadougou or Vientiane. I agree. I was referring to the security council. If you want worldwide legitimacy throw it to the world body.
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Sep 6, 2012 15:53
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Vilerat posted:I agree. I was referring to the security council. If you want worldwide legitimacy throw it to the world body. He's also talking about the UNSC. Without the UNSC the UN could not exist. You cannot make global decisions that do not have the tacit support of each of the world superpowers. It leads directly to conflict and war.
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Sep 6, 2012 15:59
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Kaal posted:He's also talking about the UNSC. Without the UNSC the UN could not exist. You cannot make global decisions that do not have the tacit support of each of the world superpowers. It leads directly to conflict and war. Nonsense. A few of the superpowers could just up and do whatever they want.
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Sep 6, 2012 16:06
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Vilerat posted:Nonsense. A few of the superpowers could just up and do whatever they want. Yes, and a few of the other superpowers could just up and fight back. That's why they created an avenue where they could attempt a diplomatic resolution to potential conflicts.
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Sep 6, 2012 16:08
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I think the real problem is that if the great powers wouldn't have the veto and the SC they'd just up and leave, and the UN as an institution would cease to be effective (don't give me the rah rah please) and the world worse off as a result. I think it couldn't be solved though.
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Sep 6, 2012 16:33
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Lascivious Sloth posted:Why/how is Iraq letting Iran use their airspace? I thought there was deep seated conflict between the two nations? Iraq doesn't have their new air force together yet. The old one is mostly in pieces covering random parts of Iraq and Kuwait.
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Sep 6, 2012 17:14
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-Troika- posted:Iraq doesn't have their new air force together yet. The old one is mostly in pieces covering random parts of Iraq and Kuwait. Or a bunch of old MIG-21's buried under tons of sand and worthless. Although it appears that they're getting a major upgrade with the addition of an F-16 squadron in 2014. Military.com posted:Iraqi Air Force F-16 Training Takes Off in Arizona
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Sep 6, 2012 17:23
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Claiming first on thisquote:Signs Syria used cluster bombs - arms monitor group
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Sep 6, 2012 20:40
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Munin posted:It is working as designed and the major powers would never abide a body like that with serious teeth. As mentioned the Americans barely tolerate it as is and generally only treat it as a rubber stamp to lend their actions more legitimacy and ignore it when they either can't get the rubber stamp or they try to restrict US freedom of action in any way (or censure them for that matter). Yup. UNSC wasn't designed as a "living" body, it's a diplomatic artifact of WW2. Sort of like another global political structure with foundations in the balance of power at the end of that WW1... Mans posted:Got to love the intros to the videos the more organized groups do. With music and everything. Putin has definitive proof that America and the Saudis are providing copies of Final Cut and 3DS to Syrian Insurgents I love the childishness of international politics "Why should I change my mind? Maybe you should change your mind  "
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Sep 6, 2012 21:12
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This video makes me incredibly angry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LwTWcymEJs
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Sep 6, 2012 22:21
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Brown Moses posted:This video makes me incredibly angry The bullets are a bad idea, but the larger shells just seem to be casings. Not really dangerous except as a metal tube with sharp edges is dangerous. Girl is adorable though.
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Sep 6, 2012 22:45
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I scanned this thread a few times but heard no mention of these guys so I figured I'd go ahead and bring them up as they are genuinely fascinating,especially considering all the talk of dehumanisation that's going on. I don't want to detract from the thread I just think anyone interested in the Middle East conflicts should give Mashrou' Leila a listen, they were introduced to me by a close Lebanese friend whose been visiting family in Tripoli all summer and she says they really do an amazing job of capturing some of the mindset of the youth in Lebanon(and to a lesser extent Syria). Their music is also genuinely really emotive stuff and even if you can't understand the lyrics I find it really powerful ,a welcome respite from dry facts and data to a real look at some of the people on the ground. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMjem_VhIeI (Lyrics for those of us who are linguistically impaired http://feelnotes.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/mashrou3-leila-the-english-lyrics/ )
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Sep 6, 2012 23:18
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Brown Moses posted:This video makes me incredibly angry I'm going to be optimistic here and i'll say that the Syrians are simply trying to give the kids toys because they lost everything. Guns into toys and what not. That's until the day a child sees an unexploded ordinance and wants to play with it 
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Sep 6, 2012 23:36
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Mans posted:I'm going to be optimistic here and i'll say that the Syrians are simply trying to give the kids toys because they lost everything. Guns into toys and what not. Did I see that one of those bullets is unfired as well? 
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Sep 7, 2012 00:10
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Mans posted:That's until the day a child sees an unexploded ordinance and wants to play with it They won't even have to be conditioned for that to happen. The Russians still make and sell that "butterfly mine" green-plastic anti-personnel submunition that's a rip-off of the Dragontooth.  Look, it's saying "Play with me, kids!"
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Sep 7, 2012 00:11
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Mans posted:Got to love the intros to the videos the more organized groups do. With music and everything. Actually I really dont like these high production videos. They remind me way too much of the jihadist videos that used to come out of Iraq that the insurgents made when they attacked American troops.
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Sep 7, 2012 05:54
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limited posted:Did I see that one of those bullets is unfired as well? It's nearly impossible to just make an unfired round of small-arms ammunition go off. You have to either stick it in the oven and heat it up, or take a hammer and punch and bang directly on the primer. It's not going to go off on its own.
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Sep 7, 2012 06:08
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Bunch of videos here that may or may nor be easily found on YouTube without watermarks: http://www.military.com/video/search?vsk=syria Front loading bucket tractor technical: http://www.military.com/video/guns/machine-guns/talk-about-improvised-aa-gun-bucket/1822784818001/ Rebel tank used as siege artillery: http://www.military.com/video/combat-vehicles/combat-tanks/fsa-attacks-syrian-army-building-with-tank/1824494415001/ Soldier gets sniped while messing with his hat: http://www.military.com/video/specialties-and-personnel/snipers/rebel-sniper-attacks-syrian-checkpoint/1814879210001/ Edit: nearly forgot this one: http://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/improvised-weapons/fsa-hits-assad-militia-vehicle-with-ied/1826468788001/ (looks like they hit a fuel convoy escort with an IED. I can only assume they went after the fuel trucks themselves shortly after? Invalido fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Sep 7, 2012 |
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Sep 7, 2012 06:32
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Invalido posted:Soldier gets sniped while messing with his hat: Filming your victim like that is pretty loving cold. Random sniper attacks seem pretty skeevy to me. I can understand - it's an easy tactic against a superior enemy - but unless it's against high-value targets or in support of an assault it's really nothing more than terror tactics. The actions of the soldiers afterwards also betray a lack of professionalism and/or experience. Your buddy just got dropped by an unseen sniper, and you just sort of wander out into the open street?
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Sep 7, 2012 07:57
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Guerilla and terror tactics are pretty similar. They're trying to erode the morale of the Assad forces, and one way of doing that is sniping them randomly on the streets. So long as they're shooting actual uniformed soldiers I can't get angry about that.
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Sep 7, 2012 08:31
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Al Farouq Battalion made a Jihadi Jideadiquote:Assassination Highlights Rifts Facing Syria Rebels
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Sep 7, 2012 08:54
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Brown Moses posted:Al Farouq Battalion made a Jihadi Jideadi I have this sinking feeling that this is a civil war that will bring down the government only to turn in on itself and become a civil war between the political extremes of the rebels. Whether Syria's new government ends up being Islamist or secular, it's going to built on the bodies of a ton of the people who fought to make new government possible to begin with.
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Sep 7, 2012 14:47
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Welcome to a popular based civil war. Angola had clear cut political parties and it was a bloodbath, can't imagine what an extremely varied populace with extremely varied ideologies with an immense amount of resistance forces independent from each other will result in after Assad is gone.
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Sep 7, 2012 15:13
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Gah, just missed out on being interviewed live on Al Jazeera Newshour tonight because I can't Skype tonight. Apparently someone from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines recommended me, AJE wanted to interview me about cluster bombs in Syria. I think it's time I shave more frequently and get a haircut.
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Sep 7, 2012 18:27
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So I listened to this podcast from Swedish Radio about Syria (if you speak swedish it's here: http://sverigesradio.se/topsy/ljudfil/4121637.mp3) One point they made is that the Kurds are all organized and ready to go, should Assad's regime fall, and if there's any obvious potential winners of this civil war it's the Kurds, with a new hope of a little Kurdistan happening in some shape or form. Who's to say what's possible and not in this age? It's perhaps somewhat similar to the muslim brotherhood winning the elections in Egypt partly because of an organisation already in place when the power vacuum happened. There was also some French journalist who claimed that the Alawites have been planning a retreat to the coast since the 80's, putting stuff like airports, ports and powerplants in a certain coastal area 
Invalido fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Sep 7, 2012 |
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Sep 7, 2012 18:55
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