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Young Freud posted:Honestly, next time they get one of these guys captured, they need to shoot him in the leg. Good luck escaping with a bum leg. The best kind of holding cell is a round in the kneecap.
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Aug 23, 2011 07:27
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Xandu posted:Stupid question, but don't they usually only suspend trading when it crashes? Any rapid, massive shift in the market usually trips a killswitch like this because with everything being mostly automated and computerized it could very well be the result of a non-human technical issue.
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Jun 25, 2012 12:39
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SexyBlindfold posted:The Egyptian Supreme Court has made public their response to Morsi's decision to re-open the parliament: "hahaha nope" What's their rationale for this? Just the MB scare? Or is it that his actions run counter to that scare?
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Jul 10, 2012 17:48
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young Tlass looked like some arcane mix of Ralph Macchio and Stallone. Old grizzled Tlass looks like a dude who has already thought of 70 ways to kill you and hide your body by the time he shakes your hand.
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Jul 12, 2012 09:26
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dundun posted:Yeah but seriously, thats extremely unrealistic. Even though China and Russia look pretty bad, they aren't going to jeopardize their BRIC status over a country like Syria. I really wonder if Russian relations are all that's keeping the US from intervening a la Libya. Using air power to restrict the movement of regime forces and their ability to use artillery and armor, or is the makeup of regime forces significantly different from Libya?
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Jul 13, 2012 23:24
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Corny posted:Wait, Bruno, what are you doing here? I thought we agreed at the secret Zionist Meeting For Control Of The Middle East you wouldn't reveal yourself until later! You've ruined the entire plan! How can the Zionist war machine continue on now! To be honest the Protocols have instructions on how to deal with these types.
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Jul 16, 2012 15:13
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Brown Moses posted:Do you think the Syrian people are incapable of understanding how to appeal to certain audiences in the West? How a sign in English is more likely to be featured in English language news services? How modern media and communication allows for an image from a town in Syria to be seen across the world? Perhaps Bruno was expecting Esperanto. International business is conducted in English. It's taught at an early age in practically all developed countries and most if not all developing countries. If you want to talk to someone in another country, you try English first. FAUXTON fucked around with this message at 09:48 on Jul 17, 2012 |
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Jul 17, 2012 09:32
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Bruno posted:I know that,however i was questioning the way the sings and with English words they were used in those protest signs. Do phrasebooks and the internet not exist in Syria? "rear end" is a well known term for mule or donkey, and has been in use as that descriptor for hundreds of years, the word itself having been left largely unchanged from the original Sumerian "ansu." It was only used to describe a clumsy idiot since ancient Greek times, so let's cut the difference and say "rear end" has been used to describe idiots for thousands of years in one form or another. As for eggplant it's likely a direct translation as Arabic for "eggplant" is "al-badinjan" phoenetically. It's the actual source of the name "eggplant" as it got bastardized into Aubergine in French. People are uploading youtube videos from war-torn neighborhoods, it isn't like they couldn't ask Google for a translation of something.
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Jul 17, 2012 10:09
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Bruno posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF-RS07EkSc&feature=player_embedded More like the Norinco CQ model assault rifle which is known to be issued to Syrian Army soldiers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norinco_CQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norinco_CQ#Countries Do you even think about these things before typing them out in a post?
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Jul 17, 2012 10:29
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It also bears mentioning that the Norinco is known to be issued to certain units (special forces) in the Syrian army. But hey let's pretend the CIA brought it in.
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Jul 17, 2012 11:03
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McDowell posted:I'm hoping this ends with the formation of Kurdistan. Because it wasn't until the loving 90's that that part of the world stopped being a goddamn game of checkers between the US and USSR. It didn't help that Nasser knew he was the prom queen and played the US against the USSR every chance he got. It's all hosed up now because all the cold warriors on both sides haven't died off or gotten too old for government and for some reason still think having that port in the Mediterranean means poo poo when it's about as strategically useful as any port in the black sea considering Turkey is in NATO.
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Jul 17, 2012 19:47
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Alchenar posted:Welcome to the history of Western Europe, from around 800 to 1945. poo poo, Western Europe was a goddamn powder keg for at least 500 years prior to that, Rome was pretty much deep loving schizo by about 150 years into the Empire, and by the 4th century it was a coin toss on whether whatever rear end in a top hat was wearing the purple at the time would send an army North.
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Jul 18, 2012 20:56
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Golbez posted:The only thing he can do at this point, apart from a total purge which won't happen, is to leave. He has to know this. And by leave, I don't mean step down, I mean... well, Latakia, and then Tunis or Tehran. It's over, Bashar. Let it go. I doubt Tunis would let him in except to drag him into the Hague for using cluster bombs on residential areas/the numerous massacres of civilians/women/children specifically. The new guy just gave a speech in France about how Tunis is now cool with the West, I doubt they'd want to poo poo all over that position by giving Assad shelter after all that's happened. e: Speaking of the Hague, a sobering thought is the idea of Assad gassing Damascus because he'd rather die by his own fumes/live in a cell than die at the hands of the rebels. I'm pretty sure international war crimes tribunals don't impose the death sentence anymore. FAUXTON fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Jul 18, 2012 |
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Jul 18, 2012 22:01
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Golbez posted:I was just including that because Tunisia offered asylum to Assad back in February and March, basically saying, "We are giving you an out: You can live here in luxury, and Syria gets freedom". Of course, that was before he started massacring his people wholesale, so the offer probably no longer stands. Yeah, Tehran or Beirut might be the top destinations. Moscow and Beijing are a little too close to the international community to be unmoved by negotiations, I think.
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Jul 18, 2012 22:09
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The Scarlet Hot Dog posted:To be honest I think the general media is trying to bunch a dozen groups into one simple package as the 'Free Syria Army,' for convenience. It's just not that simple. There are a huge amount of groups including true freedom fighters, fundamentalists and all kinds of other splinter groups currently in play in Syria, each with their own agenda. Just another way Assad is holding the country together 
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Jul 19, 2012 01:26
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MoonTuna posted:HSBC is laundering money. Between LIBOR and this we really should just start the  and be done with it in a quick and clean manner.
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Jul 19, 2012 02:51
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Chamale posted:I wouldn't dismiss this yet. The situation around these attacks remains unclear, and it may have been a coup attempt rather than an FSA bombing. Are there any photos of the bombed area? That video captured near the site really does look as though nothing happened. If it's the one that killed Assad's brother in law, it was reported on Maddow tonight as having been inside the office during a meeting. I tried the Embed code and it would be a dick move to post it in here because it's a wall o' code, but here's the URL from the video popup for the segment: Violence escalates in Syria
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Jul 19, 2012 09:15
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Authorman posted:Or they got Indira Ghandi'd. Some people when they are digusted at the regime they serve run to the hills to join the guerillas. Others stay put and wait for the chance to mow down some brass. Sometimes they do it of their own accord. Pretty sure it had been reported earlier in the thread that it may have been the bodyguard of one of the dead minsters, but there were other reports saying it was hidden in a water cooler.
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Jul 19, 2012 10:06
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Young Freud posted:A .50 caliber doesn't make someone go flying into the air ragdolling like that. That has to be an explosive. Yeah, there's definitely a dude right behind where the sniper is - just keep an eye on the part of the roof where that big lightpost is.
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Jul 19, 2012 17:58
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keyframe posted:There is no loving way its a 50cal bullet or a grenade, half the roof explodes in the video. It looks like something impacts the sandbags before whatever it is launches the sniper into the air. There may have been a guy back there but on a closer viewing I don't think he tossed a grenade. Maybe spotting for someone who planted some explosives on the inside of the building.
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Jul 19, 2012 18:08
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Zeroisanumber posted:Chilling, but I could give a gently caress about what happens to any of those bastards after what they did in Houla and Al-Qubair. It's a great idea to let the people with the nerve gas know it's better to take everyone down with you than get captured. e: I can't stop laughing at this loving title every time I post.
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Jul 19, 2012 20:16
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Valley Troll posted:I could only get the cashed version of this for some reason, but apparently according to Syrian state media all those videos that Brown Moses and others have been posting were all produced in Qatar: I must know where they got those realistically murdered women and children in their fake cities. I plan on winning the neighborhood decoration contest this Halloween. I was thinking of making a 'Home Sweet Homs" themed display.
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Jul 20, 2012 07:16
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Brown Moses posted:CJ Chivers has put a post up on his blog about my earlier post on handling UXO, so I guess I can give a little more information about what I've been up to recently. Oh so now you're saving lives in addition to being the go-to place for news on two of the biggest stories in the decade? Brown Moses, I salute you.
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Jul 20, 2012 09:35
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zero alpha posted:^^Beaten. Case in point: Qaddafi/Qadaffi/Ghadafy/Gadhafi/etc.
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Aug 9, 2012 10:55
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gently caress loving gently caress. You know what, it took a goddamn year of carefully cultivated international support for a lot of those Arab Spring uprisings to pull through. Syria's still in the grip of a loving civil war, and for a lot of the countries that overthrew their tyrannical governments, it looked pretty hopeful that there would be some non-theocratic governments emerging from the rubble. Even Morsi has been looking like he really doesn't want to do the fundamentalist state thing. But throw this Bacile son of a bitch into the goddamn mix, you piss off a lot of people on a religious level, and you've plunged the place into turmoil and we may well see some fundamentalist groups gaining influence in the wake of this. I know the consulate attack in Benghazi is shaping up to have been a planned and coordinated attack, but from the looks of ALL THE OTHER RIOTS happening at US embassies in the region, that loving film has gone and pissed away a lot of progress that was made over a very goddamn long time. It should be Bacile, whatever his real name is, and anyone else responsible, who get put in a loving grave for this. Not Vilerat, not the Ambassador who basically can be thanked for Benghazi even existing today, and not any of the other servicemembers who were there doing their job as diplomats. They and people like them are -were- living examples of the best America has to offer. They are an often-needed reminder that making war is not all we as a nation can do. They approached situations not with swords and ultimatums, but with plowshares and negotiations, and to know that some piece of poo poo halfway around the world from them is responsible for possibly unraveling or at the very least setting back a significant amount of work done by them and their colleagues is stomach-turning to say the least. I'd be lying through my teeth if I said that there isn't a small part of me that hopes Bacile and his co-conspirators end up facing gruesome consequences for their actions.
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Sep 13, 2012 10:03
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Kaal posted:Iraq was an anomaly all the way around. Saddam had massive quantities of chemical and biological weapons in the 1980s, and was not particularly compliant with UN inspectors who were charged with destroying the stocks after the first Gulf War. There was every possibility that he had hidden some in reserve, and Saddam gave off plenty of intimations that such had been the case. In 2003, Rumsfeld knew this and played on it, leaving Saddam looking like the Boy Who Cried Wolf. That is why it was so shocking that so little was found. It'd be like North Korea being disarmed and swearing that every secret artillery piece had been found and therefore UN inspectors had to stop looking for them - difficult to believe. I think the bigger surprise was the lack of skepticism with which many exiled Iraqi sources of intelligence were treated when they were saying Iraq had weapons. That's what bugs me the most about all of it. We'd essentially gotten embroiled in a war based on a deliberate confirmation bias applied to intelligence and induced to the media. Instead, basically everything we've found out since lines up with the stuff Blix/UNSCOM/UNMOVIC were saying, as well as what Saddam's son in law said back in the 90's when he defected and told the UN he'd ordered and overseen the complete destruction of their bio and chem stocks. Essentially, Iraq had no weapons stockpiles of consequence but was not unconditionally declaring disarmament. Statements from the regime regarding disarmament are rife with evidence to this, and point towards the regime possibly believing that unconditional/complete disarmament would be interpreted by certain parties to mean conventional disarmament as well. As for Syria and Assad, there is no question about the possession of chemical weapons, and quite likely bio as well. While you can't really be Nero-level crazy and maintain a stable country for as long as Assad did, long-term dictators can be pretty unpredictable when faced with rebellion/revolution, since their power doesn't get questioned on that level. Assad really seems like an unknown on that front. He's ordered some heinous poo poo, refuses to abdicate or flee, and it's an open question why. Does he have a Romney thing going where he's surrounded by yes-men? Or does he have broad knowledge of the fight yet still believe himself to be capable of victory? Who knows. Unchecked and unquestioned power breeds some hosed-up people. FAUXTON fucked around with this message at 10:20 on Dec 6, 2012 |
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Dec 6, 2012 10:10
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cymbalrush posted:Don't forgot that Congress, bipartisanly* and with very few exceptions, failed to even minimally question the poo poo intelligence they were given. That's probably even more damning than an expectedly jingoist media drumming up for a war. Yeah, basically everyone was itching for war by that time, for different reasons I would imagine, but yeah, confirmation bias applies to practically everyone who had access. There's clear evidence it was editorialized to make Iraq seem a threat that they actually weren't, but that doesn't excuse the bullshit greenlighting they did. As for Iraq, that's also what I had discussed in a few of my policy/modern mideast classes back in the day, where Saddam basically said 99% of what everyone wanted to hear, and held back on agreeing complete disarmament because he still wanted to seem like the tough frowny guy with the bushy 'stache, military beret, and mirror aviators. When you consider the ethnic balance in Iraq, it was a bit like Apartheid South Africa, with a ruling minority, except with the third-party Kurds who just wanted their own place anyway, and neighboring Iran being heavily majority Shi'a with the added bonus of Shi'a government, meaning a distinct possibility of war between the two flaring back up were fighting to break out between the Sunni regime and the Shi'a majority. Saddam didn't want to outright gun down Shi'a left and right, but didn't want to give anyone the idea that he was a pushover, especially considering the enmity between Iran and Iraq. Saddam was probably aware the US would not be as willing to back him in a second war with Iran, and considering we'd decimated his military in '92 he probably knew he wasn't really capable of open warfare. I like to wonder what a book would be like, written by any of history's biggest evil men, were they to survive their fall and write it long after they had nothing to hide. Were there any last-minute phone calls seeking a quiet negotiation of peace, ending in disappointment because there would be no way to save face? What about the internals of their regime? What were the last hours like? Were they continually assured victory until their front door had been kicked down? It just seems like the makings of an interesting read.
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Dec 6, 2012 10:55
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cymbalrush posted:That hypothetical book would be absolutely fascinating. With regards to Saddam, though, I think he was probably shocked that we ended up invading; that he assumed the US was "in" on the secret truth about his lack of weapons and would back down. I honestly think he still saw himself as a regional counterweight to Iran and therefore ultimately indispensable. His diminished power went alongside Iran's growing diplomatic isolation, so he probably thought he'd been sent away from the table, but not sent home.
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Dec 6, 2012 11:22
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mynamewas posted:The revolution only happened a little under two years ago and most people viewing the situation understood that Mubarak's military remained basically unmolested and that the Muslim Brotherhood only holds power because they made a pact with the military. The people genuinely made secular demands for freedom and equality, and they know they have to fight for it. Yeah, the revolution was not a 1979 Islamist one, there were plenty of Copts in the crowds, there's a picture out there with a Priest and an Imam (correct me if these titles are wrong) standing aside each other, arms over each others' shoulders, cheering everyone on, one waving a cross and the other a Quran. It's possible people took religious considerations on a personal level but the character of the whole movement was not of one religion or another. Morsi's initial moves really gave hope for a sort of rule that was either secular or exceedingly tolerant Islamist, but it's increasingly seeming like it's more of the same. Perhaps if they overthrow Morsi they'll put in ElBaradei (as in from the IAEA) as initially rumored. Pretty sure he was in Tahrir Square in person at some point. Can't recall if there was a reason he wasn't chosen though.
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Dec 7, 2012 00:29
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Swarmin Swedes posted:From my experience and from people I had talked to El Baradei doesn't really have any support from the people of Egypt, the only people who seem to talk about El Baradei as an actual option are western journalists. He really has no grassroots support or support on the street at all. That may be changing but I don't think its as easy as just saying lets put in El Baradei because there are half a dozen other Egyptian from all stripes that have more support than he does. Thanks for the clarification. I'd imagine his work for the IAEA kept him residing somewhere outside Egypt, which makes him pretty much a non-starter if they had people in the country. I sort of assumed the revolution wasn't readily full of political leaders with national prominence as the government was controlled by Mubarak. 
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Dec 7, 2012 01:45
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SilentD posted:Libya had race based violence against Africans from Arabs, that's hardly a great thing. Furthermore a lot of the fighters and weapons are now in other African nations causing even more violence. In terms of government, Libya's current leadership is not becoming the Ghadafi regime all over again. Morsi isn't fully there yet but he's heading towards the same military-backed ongoing-dictatorship-via-ongoing-emergency that Mubarak had. Libya's just dealing with the same poo poo that happens when a totalitarian government collapses and the replacement leadership doesn't yet have the infrastructure to restore law throughout since it fell apart with the previous regime after getting caught in a war. You have to understand it wasn't like they just laid down the guns after Ghadafi died and put Parliament in session, they had to build their government from the ground up. Were you expecting a loving Libyan Presidential Debate at a school in Tripoli?
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Dec 7, 2012 02:26
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Best Friends posted:I'm slightly late on this but, I honestly believe that the US knew this and invaded anyway and what's up for debate is the reason.
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Dec 7, 2012 10:21
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Ham posted:It's a drawing of one of the anti-Morsi protesters killed in the violence that started on Nov. 19th. He's now sort of the rallying cry for the opposition youth specifically. Thanks for being quick on the clarification. For a moment I had thought it was a homemade version of Our Savior Baboon Christ 
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Dec 8, 2012 00:58
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Smashurbanipal posted:Secular does not equate with leftist. The Shah was by no means a leftist leader. The primary determining characteristic of individuals the US was willing to support since the beginning of the Cold War was their anti-Communist credentials. An amusing fact is that in the early 70's the US actually attempted to work with Musa al Sadr, the Iranian born cleric who founded the Lebanese Shia political party/milita AMAL. They saw his commitment to an Islamic focus in regards to social justice as preferable than that being promulgated by the LCP, PSP and leftist leaning Palestinian factions in Lebanon. Only after the Iranian Revolution did the US begin to see Islamic rhetoric as something to be concerned with. Even after the Beirut embassy and barracks bombings, ME policy was still being processed through a Cold War anti-Soviet lens. Hell, in the last couple years of the Truman administration the US publicly supported Mossadegh and the nationalization of the AIOC (contingent on a buyout of the Anglo- part of the outfit) and sent Attlee back to London explaining that we weren't going to help them invade Iran to prevent the takeover. Later on, the CIA started working to undermine Mossadegh despite US supporting him publicly.
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Dec 9, 2012 07:30
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LP97S posted:It can become paradoxical to have a constitution that can be thrown out and re-written with haste if you view the Egypt thing a certain way. On the other hand, I'm getting pretty annoyed at every Karl, Dick, and Pamella calling every country in the middle east as "new Islamic Iran" every 20 seconds, especially since unlike Iran there isn't a figure such as Khommeni to rally so many people. Just keep in mind the number one driver of those sentiments in America is an insane and overriding desire to see America harmed as a consequence of electing a Elect the guy on an honest belief he's better suited to broker peace and uplift the disadvantaged? NO gently caress YOU, I WANT MORE WARS AND MORE POVERTY.
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Dec 9, 2012 13:13
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Muscle Tracer posted:Keep in mind this is the same force that we saw use a naval mine in place of a bomb in the last week. Perhaps the order was to mine the roads 
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Dec 12, 2012 19:37
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Charliegrs posted:Well theres the very conspiratorial alternate theory that it was actually a French intelligence/special forces operative who executed Ghaddafi. The theory being that Sarkozy had some pretty shady business deals with Ghaddafi before the uprising and didnt want Ghaddafi to end up in a court where he could make all those deals known to the world so he had him wacked. This is conspiratorial as hell and most likely untrue but maybe thats why video doesnt exist? This requires that the opposition weren't actually in open rebellion against Gaddafi and instead were just making a show of it. Also, you need to assume he was greeted with a friendly rape, like how dogs sniff each others' asses except it's Libyan citizens shoving their dong up their former dictator's rear end in a top hat. Just a way of saying hello in ye olde Jamahiriya, making sure he was OK and then "BONJOUR" yeah totally the French.
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Dec 17, 2012 13:23
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Charliegrs posted:Just to be clear, I in no way shape or form believe the "French spec ops killed Ghaddafi" theory. Its just a theory thats floating around out there and I thought it would bring it up mostly for the lulz. Oh, I know, I thought it was just as ludicrous a plot as you did. Likely thought up by the same kinds of people who think French people are week-kneed nancyboys who do nothing but eat cheese and find people to surrender to, no less.
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Dec 17, 2012 23:05
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Charlz Guybon posted:NBC News Chief Foreign Corespondent Richard Engle has gone missing in Syria! poo poo, that's not good. Engle's like THE go-to news guy for Mideast stuff. Knows Arabic, I'm fairly sure, has been in the region countless times, I would be more inclined to believe it's tech issues preventing communication but I know the situation is getting worse and worse for foreign correspondents as the fighting becomes more and more sectarian as Islamist fighting groups get into the action.
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Dec 18, 2012 02:14
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William Bear posted:CNN is now reporting the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says, after a briefing, it looks like a "high probability" that Assad's forces used chemical weapons. Are there any other sources on this? CNN is not a place I would consider a reliable source on major items.
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Mar 20, 2013 02:27
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