|
Mans posted:How could someone trust AQ member not to slice their throats during any process of the negotiation? Because no one will pay a ransom in future kidnappings if that happened.
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 09:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 15:10 |
|
|
This has to be the most well produced video I've seen from the Syrian opposition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ltrIzC6yTI
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 11:23
|
|
|
There's been reports of explosions in the Turkish town of Reyhanli, where there's a large number of Syrian refugees. Currently 18 people are reported dead, with dozens injured. The Turkish authorities in the area are claiming it was at least one car bomb, with 4-5 explosions reported in total. I've collected photographs and videos from the attack 
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 13:48
|
|
|
Xandu posted:Apparently $4m went to the tribal mediators, but yeah they were just random citizens studying arabic. The Finns were a Finnish Defence Forces officer working on his PhD on terrorism, who was supposed to go to Saudi Arabia but somehow ended up in Yemen, and his wife who is an employee of Neste Oil petroleum company and also has a military background. Apparently the kidnappers had no clue of their backgrounds. Finnish military industrial complex 
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 13:57
|
|
|
Anita McNaught of AJE filmed an excellent interview with soon-to-be former SNC leader Moaz al-Khatib, where it's pretty clear the amount of fuckery going on in the SNC is making it worthless and toothless, among other things. Well worth a watch.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 14:52
|
|
|
quote:Egyptian police have arrested three al-Qaeda militants planning a suicide attack on a Western embassy, the country's interior minister says. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22495369#TWEET751987
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 15:04
|
|
|
Nenonen posted:a Finnish Defence Forces officer working on his PhD on terrorism, who was supposed to go to Saudi Arabia but somehow ended up in Yemen It's like he's the United States after 9/11.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 15:11
|
|
|
40 dead, 100+ injured (at least 29 heavily) in the Turkish car bombings now.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 15:22
|
|
|
Oh man, that can't be good. Turkey's gonna go apeshit over this.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 16:26
|
|
|
-Troika- posted:Oh man, that can't be good. Turkey's gonna go apeshit over this. Well these Turks have decided to go apeshit on the vehicles of Syrians in Reyhanli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJpqTFvJU0
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 16:30
|
|
|
A third explosion just happened in Reyhanli. No word on casualties yet. Sounds like poo poo is really going down there- unconfirmed reports of gunfights between Turkish residents and Syrian refugees.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 17:39
|
|
|
Has anyone claimed responsibility for this, or are people just assuming it's the Syrians?
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 17:51
|
|
|
paragon1 posted:Has anyone claimed responsibility for this, or are people just assuming it's the Syrians? Not yet, it's assumed to be either the Syrians or PKK related. Here's the damage from one of the initial blasts  This video just caught the 2nd explosion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qakpdmR2P9s Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 17:59 on May 11, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 17:53
|
|
|
ef;b
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 18:07
|
|
|
Brown Moses posted:Not yet, it's assumed to be either the Syrians or PKK related. With the PKK pullback and Reyhani's status as a refugee hub I'd place my bet on it being something to do with the Syrians.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
AJE is reporting it as being suspected Assad regime elements, but they've had a hard-on for hating Assad for a while: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/05/2013511121047931174.html
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 18:28
|
|
|
Jesus that's a hell of a bombing 
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 18:36
|
|
|
SedanChair posted:Is Assad really going to weather this? I think he could - at least until his term is up next year, which is a point where he can legitimately retire without losing face and claim victory. (Of coure he likely won't do that and will try and fight on forever). The only real prospect IMO for a quick opposition victory was if the army substantially collapsed or turned against the Assads. Obviously neither of those is now going to happen. The number of defections has probably bottomed out now too, anyone who really wanted to join the revolution will have done so. Of course you'll still get 'defections' from troops in besieged and doomed bases, but nothing strategically useful. Also notably those beseiged and doomed bases tend to fight to the bitter end. What's more, in the past month or two the army has really managed to turn things around, at least halting the decline and managing to parry a number of opposition advances on core regime territory. They've managed to at least partially open a route to the North: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/01/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE92013G20130301 At least temporarily break the siege on the large army bases in Idlib: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Wadi_Deif#cite_note-61 Take more of central Homs: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/03/world/meast/syria-violence And with Hezbollah help, are advancing through rebel held countryside aroumnd Homs: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130511/syria-troops-hezbollah-advancing-qusayr The town of Qusayr is looking pretty screwed. (I wonder how it must feel, to be in a besieged city where the enemy is closing in and relief seems impossible, and where you have good reason to believe that if the enemy does get in they'll carry out a massacre?) They are also advancing south of Damascus. : http://www.dnaindia.com/world/1831886/report-bashar-al-assad-s-forces-capture-strategic-town-in-southern-syria A lot of the Syrian army's recent tactics, particularly around Homs and Damascus, seems to be to cut off supply lines to opposition forces. It may be working, ITN reporter Tim Marshall in Damascus says it is quieter now than anytime for months. With the political opposition riven with infighting and the actual fighters on the ground increasingly jihadist, I can't see any opposition victory soon, and certainly not one that is good for the Syrian people. I hope that this diplomatic push is able to go somewhere, but it looks like the opposition has already poo-poohed it. (I don't know if the Assad Government has officially responded.) EDIT: Of course whilst the regime does seem to be regaining territory around the core cities of Homs and Damascus, it is still facing a pretty dire position in the north around Aleppo. There's still fighting ongoing at the Mengh airbase, and I can't imagine it won't fall soon. mediadave fucked around with this message at 18:59 on May 11, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 18:42
|
|
|
Muffiner posted:With the PKK pullback and Reyhani's status as a refugee hub I'd place my bet on it being something to do with the Syrians. If it's actually connected to Syria... I don't know if the Assad Regime would be THAT stupid.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 18:55
|
|
|
You know, that's one hell of a casus belli. What would happen if Turkey decided to declare war on Syria, conqered it, and absorbed it? It might actually be good, insofar as stability is concerned.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:02
|
|
|
Taerkar posted:If it's actually connected to Syria... An operation of this magnitude by any actor is stupid or desperate, you just know that not only Turkish authorities will be working on solving it. Is there yet any assumption of intended targets? If the blasts happened near opposition offices then it's near certain that the attacks were done by Syrian government or related groups like Hezbollah. Warcabbit posted:You know, that's one hell of a casus belli. What would happen if Turkey decided to declare war on Syria, conqered it, and absorbed it? It might actually be good, insofar as stability is concerned. 
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:05
|
|
|
That Russia/Soviet Union fakeout switch from the Simpsons except with Maximum Ottoman? 
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:08
|
|
|
Nenonen posted:An operation of this magnitude by any actor is stupid or desperate, you just know that not only Turkish authorities will be working on solving it. Is there anything there that might justify Assad taking such an insane risk?
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:38
|
|
|
Taerkar posted:If it's actually connected to Syria... It being a suspected car bomb makes me think it wasn't them. I don't think they've utilized them very often, if at all. BM, you remember probably about a year ago now when that opposition figure was killed and a bomb went off at his funeral procession? Regime snipers opened up on the survivors. Wasn't that a car bomb?
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:43
|
|
|
Pimpmust posted:That Russia/Soviet Union fakeout switch from the Simpsons except with Maximum Ottoman? Too bad about the development of Turkish nationalism I guess.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:50
|
|
|
I wouldn't completely rule out the PKK. It could be that some of them decided that they weren't fans of peace with Turkey and want to derail the pullback.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:59
|
|
|
Turkey is saying it's Syrian intelligence wot done itquote:It was confirmed that the perpetrators were linked to the Syrian regime and intelligence agency, Güler was also quoted as saying by the public broadcaster TRT.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 19:59
|
|
|
Either Turkish intelligence cracked the case really quick or they've just decided to pin this on the Assad regime regardless of who actually did it.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 20:07
|
|
|
I don't think Assad is so dumb to attack a NATO ally.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 20:07
|
|
|
New Division posted:I wouldn't completely rule out the PKK. It could be that some of them decided that they weren't fans of peace with Turkey and want to derail the pullback. As sad as it might be if this was the case I think it's more likely then the regime or one of it's proxies blowing poo poo up in Turkey. Besides the obvious negative consequences, what would be the upside for the Syrians for doing this? edit: I need to refresh the thread before I post.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 20:10
|
|
|
New Division posted:Either Turkish intelligence cracked the case really quick or they've just decided to pin this on the Assad regime regardless of who actually did it. Regardless of who did it, in the short term I find this announcement a positive development. At least Syrian refugees in Turkey will be safe from reprisals for the time being. cafel posted:As sad as it might be if this was the case I think it's more likely then the regime or one of it's proxies blowing poo poo up in Turkey. Besides the obvious negative consequences, what would be the upside for the Syrians for doing this? Depending on the target, possibly taking out the opposition leadership? Though given the method of attack (three bombs at different times) I doubt it. It seems more like Al Qaida MO than anyone else. But why would AQ target Reyhanli?
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 20:25
|
|
|
Maybe this operation was a long time in the making. For all we know, Assad regime agents could have pinpointed a base of ops for the FSA in Turkey and finally identified it and attacked. Makes sense with all the syrian casualties. I highly doubt this was a regime-to-regime provocation from Assad.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 20:33
|
|
|
Nenonen posted:Regardless of who did it, in the short term I find this announcement a positive development. At least Syrian refugees in Turkey will be safe from reprisals for the time being. Remember that documentary about the bombing of al-Bara posted a couple of weeks ago? Where one of the Syrians shows the filmmaker his bloodstained car and talks about going into the Alawites' villages and killing one of them for every person killed in the bombings? Even though the perpetrators of the bombings were completely obvious (government jet pilots), he still vowed to take revenge on people a couple of villages over. I certainly hope that Syrian refuges will be safe(-ish) now, but I don't see it happening. People aren't really rational in situations like this. Nenonen posted:Though given the method of attack (three bombs at different times) I doubt it. It doesn't take away from your point, but just for completeness's sake: AJ are reporting that the third explosion was a fuel tank exploding, not a car bomb.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 20:43
|
|
|
I think it's more likely that it's a group with ties to the Assad Regime but isn't an actual part of it. Like say perhaps a group that exists in a country south of Turkey.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 21:09
|
|
|
DAS Super! posted:I don't think Assad is so dumb to attack a NATO ally.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 21:24
|
|
|
On NPR yesterday there were reports about there was a decline in the amount of arms being provided to the secular and moderate rebels. The report claimed it was intended to force those rebels to the negotiating table with Assad.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 21:52
|
|
|
The Turkish FM just announced the people responsible for the bombing have just been arrested, this should be interesting.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 23:03
|
|
|
Warcabbit posted:You know, that's one hell of a casus belli. What would happen if Turkey decided to declare war on Syria, conqered it, and absorbed it? It might actually be good, insofar as stability is concerned. This is the least likely thing to ever happen in the entire middle east.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 23:04
|
|
|
Yes, it probably is. I was going for 'worst possible outcome' and realized that 'wait, actually that might not be so bad.' midway through. Turkey's going to respond somehow, though.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 23:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 15:10 |
|
|
So in the space of about a week, Syria's pissed off both Turkey and Israel?
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2013 01:23
|
|