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Subscribe to RSSUndeterred by international condemnation, the Syrian military continued its unrelenting shelling of the city of Homs. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
A journalist for Britain's Channel 4 News said Friday he was set up by Syrian rebels to come under fire from government forces as violence continues unabated in the country.
The report comes on the heels of two massacres of civilians in the last two weeks, which have added urgency to talks between foreign powers. A U.N.-backed ceasefire, supposed to have taken effect on April 12, has failed to stop the bloodshed.
Anchor and chief correspondent for Channel 4 News Alex Thomson wrote on Friday that he traveled earlier in the week to the western town of al Qusayr with U.N. officers, who were meeting with civilian and military leaders there. When their meeting dragged on and his reporting deadline approached, Thomson and his team broke off to return to Homs, aware of the risk they ran without a U.N. escort.
Read the full Channel 4 News story: Set up to be shot in Syria's no man's land?
NBC Nightly News
Channel 4's Alex Thomson.
"Suddenly four men in a black car beckon us to follow," Thomson wrote. "We are led another route. Led in fact, straight into a free-fire zone. Told by the Free Syrian Army to follow a road that was blocked off in the middle of no-man's land."
At that point they came under fire, he said.
Smell of death at the scene of massacre in Syrian village, UN monitors say
Although Thomson told msnbc.com that he could only speculate what the Free Syrian Army's reasons were for leading him into an ambush, he said that he could "see perfectly clear reasons for getting me killed," echoing what he wrote in his report.
"I'm quite clear the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot by the Syrian Army. Dead journos are bad for Damascus," he wrote.
Thomson and his team were able to escape unharmed.
"Eventually we got out ... and on the right route, back to Damascus," he wrote.
According to Thomson's account, the incident does not appear to be isolated. He received a message on Twitter on Saturday from Nawaf al Thani, an Arab League observer and human rights lawyer, who wrote:
"@alextomo I read your piece "set up to be shot in no mans land", I can relate as I had that same experience in Al Zabadani during our tour."
Shelling in cradle of uprising
Meanwhile, 17 people, including 10 women, were killed overnight by shelling in the Syrian town of Daraa, where the uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted 15 months ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.
Fighting was also reported in Homs and Damascus, killing a total of 44 civilians and 25 on Friday, the group said, showing neither side was respecting the ceasefire, the failure of which has left outside powers divided.
Syrian troops shell rebel city as full-scale assault feared, activists say
"We didn't sleep all night, the situation is a mess, all kinds of explosions and heavy weapons," a Daraa resident who called himself Adnan said via Skype.
"We could hear the blast from the rockets hitting in the neighborhood nearby. If we were afraid, you can imagine how afraid our children are."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was due to hold a news conference later on Saturday to talk about his proposal to a hold a meeting of nations and groups with influence on Assad's government and its opponents as a way to pressure both sides.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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There is no good side, no just side, no "they're with us" side among Arab belligerents. Muslims have no morals as we define them. The best thing that could happen in these sectarian wars is for them to kill each other off. They'll enjoy their virgins and the world will enjoy a greater measure of peace.
Just another Christian bigot, who supports the Assad government killing of children.
Thanks, Lenny, for making the point.
@SWATT--And, so what if he IS Christian? Does that automatically brand him a bigot? Why do you think that? What kind of yardstick and fuzzy logic are you using to arrive at that? Usually, the first person to trot out 'bigot' these days is trying to deflect attention from themselves.
I would never defend what the Assad government is doing, but the "rebels" and the "free Army" are not "good guys." They are each as likely as the other to lead a journalist into a free-fire zone, just like the one in the article--for the very fact stated in the article: "Dead journos are bad for Damascus." The objective of all those groups, whomever they represent and are funded by, is to topple the current regime. Somebody calls themself a "freedom fighter" and some people who post here automatically buy into that horsesh&$ without bothering to investigate what they REALLY are.
"The situation looks more and more grim. For the first time since the beginning of this crisis we see the question of foreign intervention. And our position remains unchanged. We will never agree to sanction the use of force in the U.N. Security Council." ~ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, June 9, 2012
Hello folks, despite what some people advocate, killing and abusing humanity is not
an innate trait of the human condition. That is why so many soldiers suffer
from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and why suicides among military personnel
are so high. All wars are a product of greed and corruption. War is an exercise
of power and control over another group for usually resources and wealth.
Mostly young men and woman are indoctrinated and brain washed in to believing
that they are performing a patriotic duty when in fact they are pawns in the
corporate chessboard called planet earth.
Our country is broke and weary of war. If Israel wants to start a
war, let them finish it alone. They are the common denominator in most of the
Middle Eastern wars. We must admit that we are their lackeys and the Oil,
Banking, Corporate and Industrial Military Complex cartels benefit exorbitantly
from any war as they fund and arm both sides. The elite are ratcheting up the
rhetoric and the warmonger sheeple are getting sucked in to the propaganda.
Since World War II, 90% of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians. 1/3 of them
children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestine to Afghanistan to
Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next target may be, their murders are not
collateral damage, they are the nature of modern warfare. They don't hate us
because of our freedoms. They hate us because every day we are funding and
committing crimes against humanity. The so-called "war on terror" is
a cover for our military aggression to gain control of the resources of western
Asia.
This is sending the poor of this country to kill the poor of those Muslim countries.
This is trading blood for oil. This is genocide, and to most of the world, we
are the terrorists. In these times, remaining silent on our responsibility to
the world and its future is criminal. And in light of our complicity in the
supreme crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing violations
of the U.N. Charter in International Law, how dare any American criticize the
actions of legitimate resistance to illegal occupation.
Many of our soldiers don't fight for America, they fight for their lives and their
buddies beside them, because we put them in a war zone. They're not defending
our freedoms, they're laying the foundation for permanent military bases to
defend the freedoms of Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum.
Face it we're Imperialists pure and simple. The elite look down on all of us as
expendable chattel.
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy" Henry
Kissinger
I’m not asking you to hate war but to love peace. War, what is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!
What makes him a bigot is not whether or not he is a Christian. It doesn't make him a bigot pointing out that both sides of this particular conflict may not be the good guys. What makes him a bigot is the labeling of all Muslims based on the actions of a few.
I think the rebels do this to make the Syrian government look bad. They want us (NATO, U.N.) to get involved to help them overthrow Assad, but its not to free the people, its just so they can form their own, islamist, government.
kountryking
I agree. But I think also a lot of people are being manipulated by the "rebels", they hope for freedom, and they get involved in protests with the "rebels", and then get killed because of those "rebels" who don't have freedom in mind, the worse the Syrian government looks, the happier they (the "rebels") are, they don't actually care about people getting killed, as long as it helps their cause. It is like the Taliban in Afghanistan, setting bombs right in people's doorsteps hoping to kill NATO soldiers, they don't care if civilians get killed either, they only care about ruling Afghanistan again.
Some people probably want to overthrow Assad for good reasons, however it seems extremists have taken over, and you are certainly right, they are not "with us".
I hope we won't get involved this time.
Well let's see here. Dead Syrians not a huge news report. Dead western reporters big news item. Can't really blame them can you? It's not like they executed the reporters themselves. Clue civil wars are trecherous and dangerous.
Thompson and his crew wanted a story. The rebels led them to it!
Anna, Our involvement will be determined in November. Invading two muslim countries may not be enough for one of the political parties.
You are so right. The mistake we make in the middle East after a war is trying to rebuild their countries. What we should have done in Iraq and Afghanistan is to destroy then and level their infrastructure and then just leave. while they are trying to rebuild they country they can't be messing with anyone else in the world. At least for a short time we would have peace.
Hey SWAT - swat this. I hope you can't vote!
Not with the American right wing around , they LOVE violence, the last thing these idiots want is peace, and their corporate backers LOVE the profits they make .... and all they had to do was fool a few ignorant rubes and the rubes will do everything their masters wanted.
like make statements like these:
Kountryking: There is no good side, no just side, no "they're with us" side among Arab belligerents. Muslims have no morals as we define them.
You go wrong due to your assumptions, if not flat out 'KKK-ism'. Not all Arabs are belligerents. Not all Arabs are Muslims and in fact many are not. Not all Syrians are Arabs or Muslims. So your problem is that you paint everyone in Syria as "Arab belligerents that have no morals because they're Muslim". That would be like saying that 'every American that lives in a red state is a red neck and stupid'. Is THAT true? No.
I'm not happy with the situation of putting journos in harm's way in order to prove that the government IS the one killing its own people; but this seems to be a desperate attempt by the Syrians who are dying to get some kind of relief from the rest of the world (albeit shockingly). That said, ANY journo that goes to the Middle East in the middle of a conflict zone for the last three decades have gone KNOWING that this could end up being a possibility. You accept that risk when you go: you do NOT trust any side. I hate to break your neatly crafted 'hate them all' bubble, you ignorant pompous arse, but there are clearly 'sides' in Syria as much as there are in America. Your ignorance is astounding, stupid and upside-down.
i wonder how much this guy was given to write this article. he should be fired.
Finally we have someone exposing the truth about these so called rebels. They are nothing but power hungry Islamists who want control for themselves. The last thing any of them want is a free society. They want to control things and will do whatever they have to in order to achieve that goal. They will even set up journalists to be killed and execute women and children and try and blame the government if it advances their cause. We need to stay out of this and let Assad deal with these @!$%#s however he sees fit. Trust me Assad, like Mubarak in Egypt, is far better than the alternative which is an Islamic republic run by Muslim fanatics.
freedman1
"The situation looks more and more grim. For the first time since the beginning of this crisis we see the question of foreign intervention. And our position remains unchanged. We will never agree to sanction the use of force in the U.N. Security Council." ~ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, June 9, 2012
...........So tell us freedman, can Mr. Lavrov explain to us why his country had no problem sanctioning the use of their own force against the sovereign country of Georgia in 2008? Is "hypocrisy" a word in the Russian language, or is it just a basic characteristic of Russian behavior which they choose to ignore?
....P.S., to all you asswipes, quit compressing other peoples quotes, just because you don't agree, doesn't give you the right to censor them.
Where have we seen this story before? uhm.. how about Gaza? Arab attention whores trading lives for headlines. I guess it all makes sense when you believe they all have a fun afterlife ahead of them.
oh no kill that British reporter . he is telling the truth about these thugs call innocent protesters. you all will find out the truth , if our government allow us to know it. Hillary and McCain and lots of our politicians should be out on trail for keep lying to us , and trying to get into another war . wake up people , before its too late. Alqaeda and these Muslim brother hood are terrorizing Syria , And just today Alqaeda in Yemen announced they will bring the fight to the US HOME LAND .
That's the bad news. The good news is that the cost of the war on terror will drop when we don't have to ship all the ammunition and drones overseas before we use them.
My thought as I reading this is if they set up reporters to get killed by the Syrian government, what would stop them from setting up civilians to be shot, or worse do their own massacring. It certainly makes one wonder.
You are absolutely right. I just hope that in the big countries like U.S. or China no blood sucker are going to the top stage, controlling the state power.
Iraqi wars like hoaxes are being invented, played and given full blast publicity for doing dirty jobs in Syria and Iran by Sunni Saudis, oil companies and their puppets like Hillarys, McCains and others.
Assad is compartively the best ME ruler.
If atrocities and barbarism on girls, children and women are the criteria, then the most despotic, autocratic and bigoted Sunni Saudi ruler with his 5000 princes and princesses, Kuwaiti, UAE and other Arab League Sunni rulers and their rich sheiks are the biggest culprits in the history.
Through the Muslim immoral trafficking gangs, these barbarians have assembled all varieties of poor and helpless girls and women from all over the world in their harems and brothels.
If the US, Britain and others support such Sunni barbarians and beasts who treat girls and women as cheap sex slaves, then one can only conclude that Saudis, oil companies and their lobbyists determine what to see, how to lecture and where and when to act.
Rest like “human rights”, “killing of children and women”, “militants”, “terrorists”, “WMDs”, “chemical weapons” and so on are a pure hoax.
Only the extremely naïve would think that the so-called rebels are any better than Assad. This is a civil war by two groups fighting for power and anything democracy is not in the equation.
However, use of the term "democracy" is many times useful to con the west into providing ordinance and other aid.
People who said they were rebels who were obviously some covert intel people trying to drag another country into a war because some journalists got shot up. Never heard that one before. Almost as old as the ship got attacked story.
SWATT . What are you a Muslim bigot or a Jews one , The only way you hate Christians, you can not handle the truth about these Alqaeda thugs in Syria . you make me sick .Christians are are getting murdered in Syria by yours and Hillary's army .
my turn is 100 percent right. Wake up before it is too late.
Before worrying about Syria and Iran, please consider the costs of Iraqi wars.
They are not our problems or wars. Let them handle their Shiites vs Sunni battles.
IRAQ WARS
Net results of Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, oil companies and their lobbyists directed 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars are
WINNERS
1. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other rich ME sharks became richer by manipulating oil prices too high.
2. Oil companies and their lobbyists also benefitted. Oil prices, which were hardly $30 a barrel before 1991, shot up to $140 a barrel.
3. Since 2003, future traders, rating agencies, Wall Street and oil companies and their lobbyists transferred five trillion dollars from oil importing countries to oil exporting nations.
4. Rich Sunni ME sharks (Saudi Arabia in particular) funded Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques and Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world. These Sunni Islamic radicals and terrorists are rampaging all over the world. World's 80 percent of problems are due to them.
LOSERS
1. General US and European nations' public. There have been high unemployment, cut in welfare measures, housing market collapse and more miseries. Since 2001, US spent three trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghan wars. Did the Saudis and co foot the bill?
2. Poor soldiers killed and injured and their families. In Iraq and Afghan wars 6300 soldiers were killed and 40000 injured.
3. High budget deficits and heavier borrowing. Many nations (PIIGS) and people are on line to bankruptcy!
Jonathan,
The biggest losers are the Iraqi people, over a million civilians killed, and their home destroyed and ravaged. This was a result of US-lead invasion on false pretences.
You do not count them as losers because they are not westerners?
A self-aggrandizing piece of egotistical bull. The writer and his friends got bored, so they drove off into a war zone. What did they expect to happen? That all would bow down before them? And exactly how did "four men in a black car" become Free Syrian Army Rebels? And why, if they were rebels, wouldn't they set him up? He had just left a meeting with "civilian and military leaders".Guess what: The Rebels are fighting the "military leaders". Anyone who hobnobs with the Army the Rebels associate with Assad.
oldnaqssau67 Why don't question Anderson Cooper and all the other reporter , or you just little of the truth that you do not want to believe in , You have been accepting all the other reports from the rebels , now this one you do not like , Hypocrites that what you all are.
Death to Assad, his death Syrian squads, and his "covert" Iranian death squads.
I sincerely hope the rebels win, and kill not just the Assad family, but all of these soldiers families. Then, I hope they turn their sights to Iran who has been instrumental in the slaughter of so many Syrian people.
May be the Assad death squads would turn on to you because of your bad mouthing them.
Horrific account of being in a place where you are obviously not wanted! Now if we could just send all the reporters from the NYT and MSNBC along with others of the lib-drivel journos school of thought, we could lose an element of the biased, slanted, politically left spewed garbage called news at the hands of the government or the insurgents, whom ever comes first, then get some realistic, objective truth, as it were!
@Robert2241664--Right on! Much of the media in this country is SO unapologetically liberal, they can't even see it anymore--they think of themselves as "balanced."
There was a multimillion dollar fundraiser that the Democrats held in Hollywood recently, which was attended by none other than Les Moonves, News Division Director of CBS. Sure, he's free to attend as a private citizen--but some of the statements attributed to him on the less-than-liberal news outlets, that the trend in news is undoubtedly partisan was very telling. Ok, I guess freedom of the press gives them that--my point is don't put yourself out there as the "balanced" and "fair" version of the news if you slant it deliberately liberal. I honestly think they consider themselves so "intellectually superior" they've crowned themselves the guardians of the "real truth"--so much so that they can't even recognize how liberally slanted they've become.
So you are advocating the deaths of people that don't agree with you?
Cris
Just how did you come up with that from the post?!?!
@tedcrawford,
From Robert's post:
"Now if we could just send all the reporters from the NYT and MSNBC along with others of the lib-drivel journos school of thought, we could lose an element of the biased, slanted, politically left spewed garbage called news at the hands of the government or the insurgents, whom ever comes first, then get some realistic, objective truth, as it were!"
Now, that is wishing death on people because they are liberals. That's exactly where I came up with that from the post.
Oh--I thought Robert was using irony to make the point that most of the news we are fed by the mainstream sources he named are deliriously slanted toward the liberal side. My bad.
Momcat, please. If it's good enough for Rupert Murdoch and his 'fair and balanced' Fox News Network then it's good enough for everyone else. Fair is fair.
Robert and Momcat.. you just named 2 news reporting agencies NOT owned by the KocH Bros. U 2 working for ALEC 2??
Could it be they are balanced and it is you that has the bias un-educated view.
This just adds credence to the Rebels doing the massacres to gain international attention. If the reporters had been killed by government troops, the media would have been outraged. Now it will simply die on page 3.
There is not a shred of proof that they were rebels, except the word of some so called "reporter".
Syrian rebels are supported by the most barbaric and bigoted Sunni Islamic militant/terrorist groups like al-Qaida, MB and other Saudi invented ones.
Look at the damages al-Qaida, MB and others are doing in Africa, Egypt and other places.
Can you trust a word of them or those doing drum beatings for them?
zipperthecat I bet you an Israeli soldier that scared to face the Iranians and Syrians by your self , So you have to lie to friend here so they go and fight for you . People like you are in Syria killing kids and women . and people like you lying to us about what's really happening in Syria , I do not think the Syrian army NEEDS ANY HELP , They have enough troops to get the job done . I hope they destroy these Alqaeda thugs , Because sure in the hell we are not doing . And I hope they will take care of them Saudis and Qataris cowards , All what they do is use their money to kill innocent people , They did that here , I just hope our people here will realize that and pay them back , Off course they can not do while our politicians getting paid from them .
Wow, you really don't like Jews, do you? And your English isn't very good, either. Is that how they teach it in Damascus?
How is your Araabic?
NFIL No I like the Jews just fine , I do not like Israel policy when it comes to involving us in every little country they do not like , Never Studied in Damascus , But I know Its a beautiful country and the Christians are respected there unlike in your friends countries , Israel , Saudia , Turkey and Qatar and all these no good Gulf states .
Israel is not a country we can trust either ! At its first chance it will try to draw the United States into a war in the middle east ! And we will once again be in a war we can not afford ! We must stay at home at all cost and stop being the world guardian !
I can't believe how stupid these muslims are. They are killing each other while the Israelis are cheering them on.
I am not anti-Jewish. I favor coalition of all non-Muslims against Muslims to reduce losses and quicker victory.
I am certainly against Netanyahos, zipperthecates and others who appear to be dancing along with Saudis and co as during Iraqi wars and now being played in Syria and Iran.
Netanyahos will hurt Israel's interests most. Instead of taking them all, have patience and take one by one.
What is the problem if Shiites and Sunnis are battling themselves? Let them do what they enjoy most.
If Hillarys are dancing it indicates that Jewish lobby has again started conducting the dances.
Some Jewish lobby Democrats and Republicans were doing them before Iraqi wars.
They set the tones and directions for the dances and then vanish.
john: That's because it's Sunnis against Shiites. They love killing each other because the other side doesn't practice "true" Islam. They probably hate each other just as much as they both hate the Jews.
@MyTurn--Amen! I bet oldnassau isn't even aware of the thousands of Christians who have had to flee their homes in Syria and other countries in this powder keg zone because they were persecuted because of their religion. Why? Because it's more fashionable for the media to report the "rebels" side, without bothering to find out what they have been doing and are planning to do if they come into power. There are countries in the Middle East and Africa where Christians lives are threatened on a daily basis--DAILY. We should all be grateful that whether we choose to practice a religion or not in the United States, we have a right to worship as we please--and not the way the government dictates.
I've been asking myself a couple of questions--what do you do when all the things you have a choice of are terrible? How do you pick the "least awful" solution from a bunch of bad ones? Which is less horrifying: the prospect of a totalitarian regime that will kill their own citizens or all-out civil war?
I blame our wonderful president for a lot of the unrest in all the Arab countries because he encouraged all the rebels in all the countries. He wanted the rebels to kick out their leaders, not for democracy but so the Muslim Brotherhood could get a foothold in all the countries. It is his contribution to Islam. Obama is supposed to be Christian but you never hear him object to all the Christians being killed. Instead he gives Egypt millions and on top of that a million dollars to refurbish ONE mosque that wasa damaged in the fighting. I haven't heard about his giving any money to the Coptic Christians to repair their churches ruined by the Muslims attacking them.
Bevvar are you crazy ! obama ? this president has never encouraged any rebels, and has never given anyone a United States okay for support ,not even a full support to any Allies of the middle east without NATO ! And i think that this is the policy we should continue !
Where were you when he was telling all those leaders in The Arab Spring to give up? Egypt, Libya, Yemen,Kuwait, etc. He and the media were talking about the rebels wanting democracy. His apologetic tour of the middle east and then his verbal support of the rebels and probably financial if the truth was known. He had all those dictators and Kings thinking he was a friend and then he took the rebels side.
No one knows who the people were who lead this reporter in harms way. They could just as well have been Assad supporters out to tarnish the rebel cause.
Jane in TN--Either you didn't read the British reporter's story (there's a link in the msnbc story) or you didn't understand it. It was pretty obvious by that account that it was the "free Syrian army." Really, read it to the end--the part where they say there are people involved in this who "will kill toddlers by slitting their throats back to the spine." At least this British reporter has the cojones to say it straight up. Just because the rebels purport to be anti-Assad doesn't automatically make them good.
Such a brave and noble people....right!
This only prove's that we have no idea who the rebel's true leader's are. Radical islamist would not have any problem with sending journalist to their death. But would a true Syrian citizen rebel do such a thing just to attract more attention. When ''who ever'' is willing to sacrifice journalist just to add to the atrocities. It definetly make's all the act's before suspect to who was truely behind the trigger. What fool's they would make of us if, with our help, Syria was handed over to those intent on western destruction.
Our ideals and way of life have no place in that part of the world. Our shock and disbelief of what they are willing to do in the name of their God. Make us an easy prey to their deceptions in our eagerness to help. We have no place in the affairs of their world and should mind our own business!
Maddy--You are absolutely right--the problem is that when we (and by this I mean those who consider themselves part of Western Civilization) point out exactly that truth, we are accused of being bigots. Our media's unwillingness to call them as they are only empowers those "rebels".
Your point about a true Syrian citizen makes complete sense to me. They may want the Assad government to fail, but I don't think they want chaos and civil war. That is EXACTLY what the rebels want--then, because they are convinced the people can't choose what sort of government they want--it doesn't have to be a democratic republic like us: they can take over and establish a different kind of totalitarian dictatorship, with a different dictator. Then we'll be left wringing our hands and running around like Chicken Little saying "the sky is falling, the sky is falling"
What makes a bigot is the labeling of a whole people based on the actions of a few (even if that few is the most noticeable because of their actions.)
Chris--You do know there is a difference when the words "Radical Islamist" are used versus when the word "Islamic" or "Muslim" is used, right?
Maddy:
They are just following the template laid out in Egypt, Libya etc.. I have spoken to many that are from the middle east and they all tell that the trouble starts with peoples coming into their country and stirring trouble and acting as locals from other regions and country's. They however are armed and ruthless islamists that are trained to instill unrest and at the same time frighten the locals with the very real threat of violence.
Now if these persons will talk to me, a white government worker... the true question is why in the world is our government sponsoring the overthrow of all these countries and participating in the murder of the governments and armies, knowing the strong islamist connection that the "rebels" have. All one has to do to see that this is true, is to look at what is left after the regimes fall.
Obama has encouraged all the rebels so the Muslim Brotherhood can take over. He wants all those countries to be run by radical Islamists. I want to let them just fight it out. I certainly wouldn't give any money to the rebels. As you said they are not usually natives of the country. My stepfather was from Lebanon and that is the way they took over. People from surrounding countries came in, killed or ran out most of the Christians and BINGO a radical group took over. The radicals from surrounding countries rush to the latest conflict. Different names but all the same backward radicals. Read Brigette Gabriel's book "Because They Hate" for some insight into Islamic thinking.
Bevvar, why would Obama want "countries to be run by radical Islamists." You really don't believe that President Obama somehow want's our Country to fail at anything do you?
Most people know that news journalists are set up all of the time. Someone sees a dumb journalist with a photographer or cameraman and they call out on the social media to put on a show for the dimwits. You see the shows on the news every day. During the NATO conference in Chicago, news journalists roamed the streets trying to stir up some violence. Talk to a person from Chicago. They didn't see any crap from protesters. The only time crap happened was when the dimwits showed up with cameras. Truth terrorists are the worst kind of terrorists.
No matter what side they are on you have to realize it is not a sin for Muslims to lie to infidels. They think we are fools to believe them. And to see infidels killed is fine with them. BOTH SIDES. Obama grew up with this same attitude. Nothing is out of bounds to achieve the end. Which is to have radical Islamists take over. I have a friend from Africa. He and his 6 brothers were forced to join a rebel army in their country. He and one brother survived. He was trying to rebuild his life and had a wife and 3 youmg sons. One day the Muslims started attacking. They set the Christian school on fire killing all the children and teachers. When his wife rushed to the school , they slit her throat and killed her. He said never, ever trust a Muslim. They will pretend to be your friend but if their Iman tells them to kill you, they will do so. I don't know how you can overcome that kind of thinking but I don't think we even need to be trying.
Desperate times make people do desperate things to get the message out.
Very true Mullet ! It's easy for us, all safe and sound, to pass judgement. It's even easier for those who have never found themselves in harms way. If this is true, it's clearly regettable, yet on some level, understandable!
i was thinking the same thing almost. too bad most people pass judgment instead of trying to understand the circumstances
How does the reporter know they were Syrian Rebels. Do Syrian Rebels have a secret handshake, password, code?? The Syrian Government has agents to pose as rebels. Duh????? Stupid reporters!!!
No matter what any body says , You all people already been brained washed by our Media and our politicians , How come every report that comes out there Jeepster2442 When the camera comes on , YOU hear ALLAH WA AKBAR then they scream the date and the location Is a code for the rebels or , That just a FING fabrication against the Syrian Government , Haven't learned anything from the Iraq story and WMD'S and our government stories and videos of Saddam Chemical and biological and Nukes , I guess not , We are SO naive to fall for the same lies ,, LET ME ASK YOU ALL , IF ASSAD WAS SUCH A BAD MAN . WHY WOULD TAKE IN A MILLION IRAQIS !!!!! I REPEAT A MILLION IRAQIS THAT LEFT IRAQ AFTER WE ATTACKED IRAQ , MOSTLY CHRISTIANS AND INNOCENT CIVILIANS , I WONDER WHY ASSAD DID NOT KILL THEM AND TAKE WHATEVER THEY HAD , SYRIA DID NOT COMPLAIN , AND I DID NOT SEE THE TURKS AND THE SAUDIE , QATARIS AND HILLARY RUSHING TO HELP THESE PEOPLE , SHE WAS A SENATOR JUST LIKE MCCAIN NOW , GOING AROUND AND TRYING TO PICK A FIGHT WITH THE RUSSIANS AND THE CHINESE AND THE IRANIANS , WE DO NOT DO NO WRONG , WE ARE THE FREEDOM SPREADERS , LOOK AT IRAQ AND LIBYA , HOW MANY CIVILIANS DIED , I DID NOT SEE THE FINE ORGANIZATION THE UN SAYING ANYTHING ,,, HYPOCRITES , HYPOCRITES THAT'S;S WHAT THEY ARE , AND THAT'S WHAT EVERY BODY IS , YOU THE ONE FORGOT ABOUT 9/11 AND WHO'S BEHIND IT , IT WAS NOT THE SYRIANS NOR THE IRANIANS . DESPITE WHAT CLINTON AND MCCAIN SAID , LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE .
Logical thinking.
Can I repost your comment somewhere?
It is pretty cool.
You are right about 9-11. Bin Laden and all but one hi-jacker was from Saudi Arabia. If I had been president, I would have brought our ambassador home. Ordered all Americans in S.A. to come home. THEN, I would have kicked the Saudi ambassador out, canceled all Saudi visas and not allow any visas for 10 years. As for Bin Laden, I would have gone after him covertly which is the way he was finally brought down, anyway.
Greywater Go Ahead be my guest .and thanks.
bevvar: If I was in charge I would have used low level battlefield nukes on Tora Bora. Iraq was targeted for one simple reason. Al Queida, Iran and Saddam were recognized as the forces of destabilization in the mid-east. There is no easy way to invade Iran, except through Iraq. If you attack Iraq, you get rid of Saddam (nice bonus), get an Army next to Syria, get an Army on both sides of Iran (very nice), and in a dream world get Al Queida and other muslim nutcases to travel to your battlefield in Iraq instead of the battlefield that could have been in the USA. Wait, that's what happened, brillinat plan. Too bad the American people didn't understand it and support it while it was happening. Now we still have Iran in the picture and if anything ever happens with Syria or Iran we would have to start from square one to help out......
Thanks for your opinion. It makes me see that whole scenerio a little different.
well, when the rest of the world just stands by and watches and when al-qaeda are the only ones helping the rebels, im sure these types of things are bound to happen. My guess is that this reporter was lead by actual terrorists and not the syrian rebels. Of course i can also see why there would be an increased distrust of the west by the syrians because the west is not helping them when they beg for it and since most westerners look at these massacres and say "good, just more dead muslims"
The Minority Alewites (Shia) of Assad who have ruled Syria with an iron fist don't dare permit the various Sunni Rebels to win, or they will find themselves in the same boat Saddam did in Iraq, strung up for murdering their own people. This in no way suggests the various Sunni rebel groups, and they are many, will be choir boys in charge. What is imperative is that the conflict be contained to Syria and not permitted to spread to Turkey, Lebanon and adjacent Iraqi territories or it really will be a mucked up fess.
You don't sound a bit cynical to me--you sound like someone who is refreshingly clear on the subject and the situation.
I call 'em like I see 'em MomCat :) As for the Cynical part, just ask my opinion of the political system here in the US..;-)
If your dumb enough to be there, you get what you deserve. These are muslim freaks. Can't trust them and they will kill all of us the first chance they get. We may as well get the war on with the freaks as they have no morals and no honor. Their phony religion is a religion of hate and perversion. And ya, I hate em all.........
As long as our media calls them "rebels" "freedom fighters" , and "anti-government forces" people will continue to associate them with our own revolutionary war, making it easier for many to think of them as the "good guys."
Whatever else is true about the "rebels", they are media and pr savvy. They know darn well that while the media will report with outrage when innocent civilians, especially children, get caught in the crossfire, they also know that a dead journalist is worth a whole lot more outrage from the media.
and to think the GOP/right/conservatives want the US to jump into the middle of this...yeah right. I guess Obama is RIGHT to stay the hell out of this...again.
What happened to the 2008 campaign promises to bring our troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq? Oh, wait--I forgot--he's expecting us to RE-ELECT him to do that.
They were brought back from Iraq, and draw downs are scheduled for Afghanistan, not as fast as I would like to see it mind you, but in the right direction.
He hasn't stayed out of any of the rebellions and he will eventually meddle in Syria if he has another 4 years. Right now, he is just coasting.
These people equate death with sitting around eating figs. Let them annihilate each other. Why spend any Country's money to intervene. Every News clip no matter where it is, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan always shows rag tag forces riding around in junk vehicles with weapons from every Country in the World. Send the idiots Xboxes. They have too much time on there hands.
Their hands...
Absolutely agree. You can't believe either side.
In this complicated conflict, everyone has blood on their hands...
If you are a European or American looking person in this area the best you can hope for is to be used to draw attention to whichever side can use you. If that means killing you in whatever form is convenient, that's no problem. You aren't a Muslim, therefore you aren't significant except as a tool.
Thank you. That is what I am trying to tell people. My stepfather was from Lebanon and I have a friend from Africa (Country is about half Muslim/ half Christian). The tales they have told. The only people that count to a Muslim is a another Muslim man. Muslim women are on the same par with their animals. And we infidels are lower than that. It is their duty to kill us. NOW THAT IS THE TRUTH. And YOU can't change it no matter what you say or do.
Bevvar Please move back home ! We in America are tied of your problems and wars ! Your uprisings and arab spring crap are your problems ! Go home ! We don't care anymore !
I am home, you fool. I work on geneaology for myself and others. My family has been here since the 1600s. Our men have fought for this wonderful country in EVERY war. Some have even died. If we compared families, mine has probably done more for this country than yours. It isn't my "spring crap". I don't believe we should meddle in any of those countries. Nor give them money as Obama does. As long as they are killing people they wouldn't get a penny and maybe not even then. Do you want to fight in Syria? I don't.
Bevvar, your just another ignorant scum. muslims are not out to kill any one you moron, they are trying to live their life like every one else. RADICAL Islamists are another problem and they are NOT muslims they are WAHHABI Practicing WAHABISM.
They almost broke the first rule of reporters, don't become the story. These guys deserve no sympathy. They have no business out there un-escorted and maybe not even escorted. Since the Western world doesn't seem to want ot get involved here the news reporters just need to stay away or risk death. The story of Syria isn't a story anymore. we know it is happening and that it is a Civil war and all is fair in love and war. Each side is trying to further it's cause and they wil do or use anything or anybody to achieve that goal. The problem for the Western world is that no matter which side wins we lose. Both sides are stil pretty much evil by our standards. we actually would be better off if both sides were to eliminate themselves from the world.
Funny how the media finds all sorts of evil in this country that doesn't produce evil, but they couldn't figure out that the brotherhood and their terrorist friends were going to take over in Egypt, or that many of the foreign fighters in Libya were in fact from countries that are our enemies... Way to sell out for oil America.
WE knew that but right now we have an administration that is all for Islam. The heck if Christians and innocent women and children get killed. The main thing is to advance Islam and have Islamic terrorists take over in all the Muslim countries.
This reporter must of ticked his boss off, on getting this assignment. I can hear him now. Okay guys I wll mark five of you as rebels, five of you police force, five of you as terrorist. Now all of you shoot your guns up in the air. Okay, that's good. I can now report I escaped a violent attack. Beer is on me guys, let's get drunk.
As the world turns with the reporters world of reporting.