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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Troll, much?

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
This is why I'm not participating in this thread anymore:

1) It started out biased, like "Russian Invasion of Ukraine". If there was a thread about "WAR CRIMES IN SYRIA" - of which there are a-plenty - that would be more informative. But KPO - being the anti-Russian troll that he is - zeros right in on every presumed Russian infraction, and ignores proven ones like the ones ISIL is committing right now.

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Dearie - see the thread title - no ISIL.

And major BS on your part - you're not "participating" (even though you are) because you made a grandiose horse-sh*t statement that you couldn't back up:

SIGNYM: "When I have more time, I'll detail every fact that you denied (because it came from a source that you didn't "like", especially me) that you later thought was "objective"."

And I responded because I knew you were full of it: "I can't freakin' wait! It's going to be great to see how you twist my words to make your point! Half the time you confuse what poster said what! Please tell me we expect your favorite habit of presuming the negative from a statement! So even if someone didn't say something you will say they were obviously thinking it?! Ha! It always makes you look like a desperate fool but it's worth the laugh."

And now you're feigning indignance to weasel out of it - what a pos.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

3) The thread gets its lifespan by attention. I refuse to pay attention to it from now. All of the time that I might have spent arguing minor points, I spent more productively recovering from surgery and managing my health better, going to a newly-discovered CA-native nursery, starting and re-potting plants, helping build a new computer, trying out new recipes, cleaning up, and being present for my family. What's the point of engaging fully-biased people who even REFUSE to look at a website because it might dirty their ideological skirt hems? After this, I'll refill the hummingbird feeders.

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Yes, what's the point of engaging people who disagree with you because it might dirty your ideological skirt hems?

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
5) I've found a much better discussion board- one that isn't filled by ideological trolls, like you three.

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Right - no doubt you mean where everyone agrees with you.

Again - thank god, cya bye.

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Russian and Syrian government forces appear to have deliberately and systematically targeted hospitals and other medical facilities over the last three months to pave the way for ground forces to advance on northern Aleppo, an examination of airstrikes by Amnesty International has found.

Even as Syria’s current fragile ceasefire deal was being hammered out, Syrian government forces and their allies intensified their attacks on medical facilities.

Amnesty has gathered compelling evidence of at least six deliberate attacks on hospitals, medical centres and clinics in the northern part of the Aleppo Countryside governorate in the past 12 weeks. The attacks, which killed at least three civilians including a medical worker, and injured 44 more, continue a pattern of targeting health facilities in various parts of Syria which amounts to war crimes.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
"That must be all that accuracy we keep hearing about."

"... and Syrian government forces ..."

Yes, nothing like accuracy in reporting, where they don't mention if these were SRA air strikes or Russian air strikes, because it's all the same thing anyway.

It must all be Russia's fault.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
"That must be all that accuracy we keep hearing about."

"... and Syrian government forces ..."

Yes, nothing like accuracy in reporting, where they don't mention if these were SRA air strikes or Russian air strikes, because it's all the same thing anyway.

It must all be Russia's fault.

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Originally posted by THGRRI:
Putin leaving Syria as quickly as possible and tries to put a good spin on it.

Russian Air Force: Syria withdrawal to be complete in 3 days

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Originally posted by kpo:

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Originally posted by THGRRI:
Putin leaving Syria as quickly as possible and tries to put a good spin on it.

Russian Air Force: Syria withdrawal to be complete in 3 days

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Let's remind ourselves what Signy was predicting about the Russian intervention back in October:

Signy:

"I'm not a military analyst, but my view is that as long as the USA sits out the situation in Syria, the terrorists will be mopped up in Syria and Iraq in about 6 months."

"According to Russia, it will take bout 6 months. I'll let you know when the thanks become appropriate. At that point, you probably should, because it will be no thanks to the USA, France, or NATO when that day comes."

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THGRRI

Russia can not afford a protracted campaign in Syria. Especially since they are expending resources in the Ukraine as well. Their strategy is to inflict as much pain as quickly as they can, to influence their position in negotiations.

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SIG

'll let you know when the thanks become appropriate. At that point, you probably should, because it will be no thanks to the USA, France, or NATO when that day comes."

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SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.




IN that pointless thread about Russian and Assad's war crime in Syria, KPO tries to spin even a Russian withdrawal as a "war crime".

And the three stooges go on to try and play Russia's withdrawal as a defeat, when it was Russians THEMSELVES who said they would be in Syria for about six months.

And guess what? From the beginning of October thru mid-March: Six months and change.

Top Russian officials, including Putin and Lavrov, have been saying since before the beginning of their assistance to Assad that the only final solution to Syria as a political solution. Universal, secret, multiparty elections in Syria have been proposed and re-proposed, since 2012, only the have them rejected by the United States.

So, what is the military situation? Yes, ISIL in on the run: with their trade routes blocked and oil infrastructure bombed, the terrorist mercenaries are looking at their vastly reduced paychecks and sending in 11-year-olds to do the fighting for them while they prepare fake passports. But Aleppo hasn't been fully freed and Raqqa is still in jihadist hands.

So my guess is that it's not the "military" objectives that Putin has fulfilled, but the political ones: Peace talks are going on in Geneva, The USA is on board with peace, and the Saudis, Turks, and Qataris have had their nose bloodied and seen their project being fought to a standstill with a minor fraction of Russian airforces and nearly no ground troops.

So let's see what happens. With most side of the proxy war agreeing to step out, maybe peace will break out in Syria.

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Originally posted by THGRRI:
I'm still waiting for SIG to give us the go ahead to thank Putin for fixing Syria. I have my clapping emoticon and profound thank you Putin post ready to go.

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Before the uprising, Daraya was a sleepy middle-class suburb for Damascus residents. By 2011, it had become an epicenter of peaceful protests, as thousands marched in the streets calling for Assad to step down from power. As a member of the Syrian Christian community, I was overwhelmed with excitement to join this grassroots people’s movement that called for democracy, freedom and rights for all Syrians, no matter our differences.

Syrians were united then. The church bells rang in Daraya in solidarity with the protesters. From their balconies in the narrow streets, Syrian Christians showered protesters below with rice and flowers. They marched hand in hand.

A holy war, this was not.

By 2012, the Assad regime intensified its armed crackdown against the unarmed protesters in Daraya. A terrible massacre occurred there on Aug. 24, 2012, as Assad’s regime sent troops, secret police, and members of the elite 4th Division to prevent residents from fleeing the city by any means necessary. Families were executed in their homes, whole buildings of women and children were machine-gunned in the streets, and residents were even decapitated — long before the so-called Islamic State even existed.

The state-run media launched an aggressive propaganda campaign claiming Muslims were massacring Christians, aiming to stoke fear of the opposition in the Christian community. As regime soldiers went door to door, searching for people to murder, it was the Christian community of Daraya that opened theirs to protect those fleeing the atrocities. One Catholic church treated the injured and prepared food for them.

Assad attempted to break Daraya with chemical weapons in 2013, launching a horrific sarin gas attack that killed over 1,000 across the Damascus suburbs — many were children still in their pajamas when the nighttime attack happened. Images of asphyxiated children lined up on the ground are etched in our memories of that night. The international community was on the verge of holding Assad accountable for that atrocity, but the Russians intervened at the eleventh hour with a negotiated settlement. Before the ink was dry, Assad instituted a brutal starvation siege upon Daraya and neighboring Moadamiya...

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160323-why-are-people-so-incredibly-
gullible

Why Are People So Incredibly Gullible?

Based on the research to date, Newman suggests our gut reactions swivel around just five simple questions:

Does a fact come from a credible source?
Do others believe it?
Is there plenty of evidence to support it?
Is it compatible with what I believe?
Does it tell a good story?

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Obviously you didn't read the article. It explains how 'source' and 'number of people who believe' are irrelevant to the truth or falsity of a claim.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
article:

Why Are People So Incredibly Gullible?
Based on the research to date, Newman suggests our gut reactions swivel around just five simple questions:

Does a fact come from a credible source?
Do others believe it?

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You quote me here 1kiki and while you did not change my point, you do add text. Just so we are clear that, that is misleading. Your approach to making your point can confuse.

Thuggr
The first three you list (includes: Does a fact come from a credible source?
Do others believe it?) are important.

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kiki

Obviously you didn't read the article. It explains how 'source' and 'number of people who believe' are irrelevant to the truth or falsity of a claim.

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Thuggr

OK, let me explain it for you My post is about what I say and not your stupid subjective link. Learn to read, below is what I said.

Obviously you didn't read my post. I commented on your list and what was relevant in judging a source. Also how you listed things that would be based on opinion instead of facts. I then cited KPO's link as a good example of fact based reporting.

I would add that your link is nothing more than subjective posting because it is completely off topic.

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Originally posted by kpo:
Footage of a 'double-tap' airstrike on a mosque in rebel-held Douma that almost hit rescue workers - https://www.facebook.com/Douma.Revolution.2011/videos/vb.1116324955843
41/1021849494562632/?type=2&theater

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by kpo:
Images of the destruction of rebel-held Aleppo by Assad and Russia - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35921164

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Above the finger pointing... "Destruction" is the rule in the ME. "Creating?" Doesn't seem to exist in that part of the world at this time. You have to be able to Create to live and grow.

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Originally posted by THGRRI:

While I know who is bombing who and we are generally if not more on the same side of the argument, there is no way to know who was in that vehicle and where they were from what we see.

That said it is very dramatic to see the windshield shatter the way it did.

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Russian claims to have mostly bombed Islamic State targets during its Syrian campaign were wildly out of step with reality, according to a report using aerial surveillance, crowdsourcing and other open source techniques.

The report says the almost six months of Russian airstrikes up until the 27 February ceasefire caused only peripheral damage to Isis.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160323-why-are-people-so-incredibly-
gullible

Why Are People So Incredibly Gullible?

Based on the research to date, Newman suggests our gut reactions swivel around just five simple questions:

Does a fact come from a credible source?
Do others believe it?
Is there plenty of evidence to support it?
Is it compatible with what I believe?
Does it tell a good story?

It’s always worth asking whether you have thought carefully about the things you are reading and hearing. Or are you just being a cognitive miser, persuaded by biased feelings rather than facts? Some of your dearest opinions may have no more substance than the great banana hoax of the year 2000.

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Obviously you didn't read the article. It explains how 'source' and 'number of people who believe' are irrelevant to the truth or falsity of a claim.

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As the five-year conflict in Syria grinds on, BBC Persian has found evidence that Iran is sending thousands of Afghan men to fight alongside Syrian government forces.

The men, who are mainly ethnic Hazaras, are recruited from impoverished and vulnerable migrant communities in Iran, and sent to join a multi-national Shia Muslim militia - in effect a "Foreign Legion" - that Iran has mobilised to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Many have since fled the battlefield and joined the refugee trail to Europe.

In a small town in Germany, we meet "Amir", an Afghan man in his early twenties. He was born to refugee parents in Isfahan, Iran, and is now himself an asylum seeker in Europe. Like most of the almost three million Afghans in Iran, he lived as a second-class citizen. Without legal residency or identity documents, he found it hard to get an education or a job. Fear of arrest and deportation was a daily reality. It was difficult to move around freely, get a driving license or even buy a Sim card for his mobile phone.

But one day, Amir received an offer that changed everything. "Some Afghans, who were close to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, approached me and my mates at the mosque," he said. "They suggested we go to Syria to help defend the Shia holy shrines from Daesh," he added, using an acronym for the previous name of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). "They said we'd get passports and have an easy life afterwards. We'd be like Iranian citizens and could buy cars, houses..."

Amir was drafted into the Fatemioun Brigade, an all-Afghan unit commanded by Revolutionary Guards officers. The training, he says, was very short - a fortnight of tactical movement and basic weapons handling - and conducted in strict secrecy. "The night we entered the base at Qarchak, near Varamin in Tehran province, all our mobile phones were confiscated - and after two weeks' basic training, we were driven to the airport in buses with blacked-out windows," he said.

Despite having no ,passports the Afghan recruits were flown directly to Syria on specially chartered jets. "Everything was taken care of by the Revolutionary Guards," he said. "When we arrived, we saw the bullet holes and shell damage. It was a war zone. What I did and saw there affects me still. I can't sleep - I get angry for no reason."

...

As we travelled across Europe, we met many Afghan ex-fighters like Amir, and all told similar stories. In the Moria migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, a clearly traumatised teenage veteran describes how Afghan Fatemioun fighters were used as first-wave shock troops and were effectively disposable.

"Sometimes we had no supplies, no water, no bread - hungry and thirsty in the middle of the desert," he told us. "We were light infantry and we'd have to walk 20-30km (12.5-19 miles) to face the enemy and then fight them. "We would take ground at great cost and then have to hand it over to the Syrian soldiers. But they would usually lose it back to Daesh after a day or two. "One night we were surrounded in an orchard. They fired an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] towards us and I saw my mate blown to pieces, right in front of my eyes. After that, I hated war and started to fear war. "For nights afterwards, I would picture my friend in my head and would think: 'My God, what happened to him!' I was really scared."

...

There are no official figures for how many Afghans Iran has sent to Syria - or how many have been killed there.Human Rights Watch recently estimated as many as 10,000 Afghans may have been recruited by the Revolutionary Guards.

...

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It was unclear whether the raid was carried out by government warplanes or aircraft operated by Russia, which intervened militarily in the Syrian conflict last year to bolster its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, against rebel forces. The United States backs Assad’s moderate opponents.

Footage posted by activists on social media, which could not be independently verified, shows Maarat al-Numan’s formerly bustling market area reduced to rubble and smoldering ruins. Other images showed stunned residents limping away from the attacked area, as well as emergency responders carrying away the wounded.

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Imad Salamey, a political science professor at the Lebanese American University, said Tuesday’s bombings further demonstrate how extremist groups and the Syrian government find common cause in trying to marginalize moderate opposition forces.

“This just shows again how both extremes in the Syrian conflict — the regime and the radical Islamists — feed off each other and need each other to survive,” he said.

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Aid workers have managed to visit some long-isolated areas of Syria, but most of the besieged areas have received little of the help they desperately need. The government has continued to remove medical supplies, including nutrition kits to help save people from starvation, from shipments to areas it has under siege, aid officials said.

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An airstrike on a pediatric hospital in Syria has killed 50 people, rights and humanitarian groups say, as the United Nations warns that the situation in Aleppo has become "catastrophic" amid intensified fighting in recent days.

The U.N. special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters in Geneva on Thursday that Syria's nationwide "cessation of hostilities" is under serious threat of collapse, and that a humanitarian disaster is unfolding as violence increases in Aleppo and three other locations.

Al Quds field hospital, situated in a rebel-held neighborhood in Aleppo, was hit by a missile from a fighter jet Wednesday, witnesses said.

The airstrike killed at least 50 people, according to Pablo Marco, operations manager for Doctors Without Borders in the Middle East.

Marco told CNN that at least six of the dead were hospital staff: Two doctors, two nurses, one guard and one maintenance worker. The death toll could still rise.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the attack and pointed a finger of blame at the Syrian government.

"We are outraged by yesterday's airstrikes in Aleppo on the al Quds hospital supported by both Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which killed dozens of people, including children, patients and medical personnel," he said in a statement.

"It appears to have been a deliberate strike on a known medical facility and follows the Assad regime's appalling record of striking such facilities and first responders. These strikes have killed hundreds of innocent Syrians."

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Originally posted by kpo:
Another day, another war crime.

Air strike on refugee camp in rebel-held territory kills at least 28 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36214290

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Originally posted by G:

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Originally posted by THGRRI:
1kiki and SIG always misunderstand what they read in print. We all have witnessed that first hand in the way they misrepresent and butcher what the rest of us post here.

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Ding Ding! I'm seeing that with blinding regularity lately. Their lack of simple understanding and awareness makes me wonder how they get through a day without crashing through a storefront or electrocuting themselves or others. The Truth is right there, it's not even hard to see it. Why play hard to get? They start with a fixed position and bend the facts backwards & sideways to preserve their original opinions. It's remarkably inept and closed minded and built to fail.

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Originally posted by kpo:
Al Jazeera interviews a citizen journalist in Aleppo, reporting on continued Russian/Assad ceasefire violations impacting civilian areas - http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/hadi-al-abdallah-man-documenting
-syria-civil-war-160523110234047.html

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The bombing of the national hospital and its surroundings in Idlib city, a provincial capital wrested from regime control last year, was the latest incident in a systematic aerial campaign against medical personnel and facilities that has gone unpunished despite its intensification over the last year and a half.

“There is no use to all of this. The bombing of hospitals will continue and cannot be stopped – that much is clear,” said Zedoun al-Zoabi, head of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations, which operates a number of hospitals in northern Syria. “We have lost hope, and all we can do is build hospitals underground because there is no international decision to prevent the bombing of hospitals.”

The office of the UN high commissioner for human rights said the attack happened at 10pm on Monday, with multiple airstrikes by pro-government forces targeting the national hospital. According to first responders, at least 30 people were killed and dozens of civilians wounded, and the death toll was likely to rise as rescue operations continued, the statement said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several children were among the dead.

It was unclear whether the attack was conducted by Russian or Syrian fighter jets.

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"Hospitals" and "Civilians" always seem to in the reports.

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Originally posted by kpo:
The strikes, targeting at least two medical facilities, have been confirmed and condemned by UN officials:

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The bombing of the national hospital and its surroundings in Idlib city, a provincial capital wrested from regime control last year, was the latest incident in a systematic aerial campaign against medical personnel and facilities that has gone unpunished despite its intensification over the last year and a half.

“There is no use to all of this. The bombing of hospitals will continue and cannot be stopped – that much is clear,” said Zedoun al-Zoabi, head of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organisations, which operates a number of hospitals in northern Syria. “We have lost hope, and all we can do is build hospitals underground because there is no international decision to prevent the bombing of hospitals.”

The office of the UN high commissioner for human rights said the attack happened at 10pm on Monday, with multiple airstrikes by pro-government forces targeting the national hospital. According to first responders, at least 30 people were killed and dozens of civilians wounded, and the death toll was likely to rise as rescue operations continued, the statement said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several children were among the dead.

It was unclear whether the attack was conducted by Russian or Syrian fighter jets.

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/31/syria-idlib-national-hosp
ital-bombing-dozens-killed?CMP=share_btn_tw

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"Hospitals" and "Civilians" always seem to in the reports.

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I wonder what kiki and Siggy will have to say about that. They hate warmongers and war criminals, don't you know.

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