# Who is Fighting Who in Syria?



## Moonlight

Few hours ago, I came across a video of AJ+, showing just a month old baby girl, pulled out by the rescue volunteer from the rubble in Syria. It was so heartbreaking and is not the only video from Syria made me cry or enough painful to make anyone else cry. 
She was under the rubble for 2 hours. And I failed to understand her mistake or crime. What harm she has caused to USA, Russia, Iran, KSA, or whoever is involved in this war. 
She is born to a Muslim family? One sect or the other? She is born in Syria?
What exactly her mistake is? I couldn't find satisfying answer for myself. 
I have tried enough (I guess) to understand the ACTUAL reason of war in Syria? I research, read articles and news & again have no conception of it. Who actually is right and who's wrong? Who's fighting who? And who's supporting who? I am clueless. Who will cover up the damage has been caused to Syria? And no one knows for how long it will to end. Who will bring back normal lives to them and bring back their beloved ones? That emotional torture these young minds are going through will stay there forever. And who is responsible for taking their childhood away? 
While these decision makers or officials of all the countries involved in this war are living peaceful lives and their kids hear "bedtime stories" of life, love, and joy, Syrian kids are getting tortured with the sounds of bombs. Who is to be blamed? 
Whenever I try to understand this conflict, I end up with this as an answer. 





A picture shows who's fighting who in Syria. 

Now I have a humble request to all sane members of PDF to help me find my answer. Please! 
(And pardon my lack of knowledge). 

Edit: Even if I get my answer, sadly, things won't change for people of Syria. My sincere prayers for them. 

Ps: please keep this thread free of trolls & a very humble request to be sane enough and don't take it to the direction of "sectarianism". 

Regards!

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## Moonlight

@django @Arsalan @WAJsal @The Sandman @T-123456 @LA se Karachi @Tipu7 @Mugwop @waz @HAKIKAT @The Eagle @Zibago @Side-Winder & others.

@That Guy @Kaptaan @notorious_eagle


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## Chinese-Dragon

The reason is because the old weapons/ammunition of the superpowers is about to expire, so they want to get some use out of it rather than just throwing it away.

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## Moonlight

Chinese-Dragon said:


> The reason is because the old weapons/ammunition of the superpowers is about to expire, so they want to get some use out of it rather than just throwing it away.



Where is UN now? Piece of crap it is.






Statistic from 2015 only

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## django

@Moonlight The people of Syria wanted a democratic government based on the lines of Turkey, however Assad and his minority Alawites did not want this to come to fruition as it would have meant an end to their power and potentially being bought to justice for crimes that have been committed in the past, at the same time their were other players in the region that did not want to see a successful democratic regime mainly some of the Gulf arab nations as they would have felt threatened by an emerging Arab democracy in the region, all hell broke loose when Assad and his forces started to fire on demonstrators and the Gulf Arabs started to export their Wahhabi acolytes into the country, then Iran intervened for it's own strategic interests as did Turkey, Russia, USA etc.Kudos

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## Chinese-Dragon

Moonlight said:


> Where is UN now? Piece of crap it is.



The UN is there. Every P5 power (US+Russia+Britain+France) is militarily involved in Syria right now. Do you see all those cruise missiles, fighter jets, drones etc. flying all over that place?

The only exception is China, due to our status as a developing country (and our lack of power projection capabilities).

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## Moonlight

django said:


> @Moonlight The people of Syria wanted a democratic government based on the lines of Turkey, however Assad and his minority Alawites did not want this to come to fruition as it would have meant an end to their power and potentially being bought to justice for crimes that have been committed in the past, at the same time their were other players in the region that did not want to see a successful democratic regime mainly some of the Gulf arab nations as they would have felt threatened by an emerging Arab democracy in the region, all hell broke loose when Assad and his forces started to fire on demonstrators and the Gulf Arabs started to export their Wahhabi acolytes into the country, then Iran intervened for it's own strategic interests as did Turkey, Russia, USA etc.Kudos



Thanks bro. 

But both failed in their motives. And end to it? 
I don't see it in near future.



Chinese-Dragon said:


> The UN is there. Every P5 power (US+Russia+Britain+France) is militarily involved in Syria right now. Do you see all those cruise missiles, fighter jets, drones etc. flying all over that place?
> 
> The only exception is China, due to our status as a developing country (and our lack of power projection capabilities).



And if I ask you, what can terminate this war?

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## Chinese-Dragon

Moonlight said:


> And if I ask you, what can terminate this war?



This war can be terminated if the Syria/Iraq region becomes economically developed and militarily strong. Instead of divided and weak.

Right now they are just the playground of the superpowers.

China was the same way during the Century of Humiliation (and the Chinese Civil War). We escaped this fate by becoming unified and economically and militarily strong.

If the Chinese Civil War was still going on today we would be in exactly the same state as Syria.

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## Moonlight

Chinese-Dragon said:


> This war can be terminated if the Syria/Iraq region becomes economically developed and militarily strong. Instead of divided and weak.



But sir, to be economically strong you need infrastructure, developments, trade etc etc and how could it be done when there's a war already?





Chinese-Dragon said:


> China was the same way during the Century of Humiliation. We escaped this fate by becoming unified and economically and militarily strong.



Happy for that. 



Chinese-Dragon said:


> If the Chinese Civil War was still going on today we would be in exactly the same state as Syria.



But another thing, there's not a war between two countries but many countries and even the ruler of the state seems not to be much concerned about the country and civilians. 
Correct me,if I'm wrong. 

Regards.

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## Dawood Ibrahim

Lack of Unity in Muslim world especially in sectarian and i heard Russia is trying to prevent gas pipeline from Qatar and US love for war is open all this at the cost innocent life. And this all could end if sectarian war is over. But sadly it happen coz their children are not dying they don't know how it feels to loose a loved one. May Allah their make suffering easy Ameen


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## Chinese-Dragon

Moonlight said:


> But another thing, there's not a war between two countries but many countries and even the ruler of the state seems not to be much concerned about the country and civilians.
> Correct me,if I'm wrong.
> 
> Regards.



Syria right now is in exactly the same state as China was during the Chinese Civil War, we were nothing more than the playground of the superpowers during WW2.

When a country is weak and divided, then foreign militaries will come to take advantage of it. This is the way of the world.

Syria needs to be unified in order to escape this fate, which means one side has to win like the CCP did in China. But which side should win and unify the country?

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## Moonlight

Chinese-Dragon said:


> Syria needs to be unified in order to escape this fate, which means one side has to win like the CCP did in China. But which side should win and unify the country?



Exactly what confuses me. Pardon my less understanding on this particular topic. And thanks!



Doordie said:


> Lack of Unity in Muslim world especially in sectarian and i heard Russia is trying to prevent gas pipeline from Qatar and US love for war is open all this at the cost innocent life. And this all could end if sectarian war is over. But sadly it happen coz their children are not dying they don't know how it feels to loose a loved one. May Allah their suffering easy Ameen



Honestly, I detest Iran & KSA and mainly they are responsible for the sectarianism.

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## Hakikat ve Hikmet

Too much black energy has accumulated along the fault lines since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Since then the Muslim Heartlands haven't seen a single day of peace. Crime of the proxies are being paid with _Jan, Mal and Namus _of the ordinary folks. InshaAllah the era of the alphabet soup or sect based proxies is coming to an end as that black energy is being released. And, this century will not be a lost one like the previous one for _Rahmet _of Allah-u _Azimushshan _wins over HIS _Azab_...

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## Moonlight

HAKIKAT said:


> Too much black energy has accumulated along the fault lines since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Since then the Muslim Heartlands haven't seen a single day of piece. Crime of the proxies are being paid with _Jan, Mal and Namus _of the ordinary folks. InshaAllah the era of the alphabet soup or sect based proxies is coming to an end advthat black energy is being released. And, this century will not be a lost one like the previous one for _Rahmet _of Allah-u _Azimushshan _wins over HIS _Azab_...



InshAllah & Amen Ya Rab Amen.

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## The Sandman

Maybe if Assad steps down and allows someone else to come and take his place maybe than things can improve. Syria at this moment needs a strong leader who can control his own country win the trust of his people and all these countries should stop treating Syria as if their weapons testing ground and actually do something for Syrians if not than try to stay out of it maybe?
May Allah ease the sufferings of Syrians

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## 艹艹艹

*Why Syria will become so, who can say clearly*


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## Moonlight

The Sandman said:


> Maybe if Assad steps down and allows someone else to come and take his place maybe than things can improve. Syria at this moment needs a strong leader who can control his own country win the trust of his people and all these countries should stop treating Syria as if their weapons testing ground and actually do something for Syrians if not than try to stay out of it maybe?
> May Allah ease the sufferings of Syrians



Amen. 

And exactly what bothers me. I mean if the leader of Syria himself is a dictator and killing its people, who will stand up then to end this conflict?



long_ said:


> *Why Syria will become so, who can say clearly*



One liner. Again....


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## django

Moonlight said:


> Thanks bro.
> 
> But both failed in their motives. And end to it?
> I don't see it in near future.


Well I would say both have succeeded in their objectives, partially ie Saudis would have like to have seen a Sunni military junta which is anti-Iran though they did prevent a secular democracy from emerging.


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## The Eagle

@Moonlight TBH, if you want to understand the complexity by simple equation then it starts with competition among weapon dealers, then the same are distributed by war-lords for power that they are utilized by many government agencies for their interest and to support their respective weapon dealers. The cycle continues and between the same lines, the same scenario is well utilized for anti-religion purpose from west to east and everywhere and where there is no reason of religious conflicts then it is all about natural resources that starts with oil etc. These war-lords injected the fear of religious extremism into the minds that they started to create a fort for the safety while claimed many lives. From religious point of view, almost every terrorist is branded as Muslim (a fashion) while the most and top weapon manufacturers are non-Muslim states. The same top manufacturers weapons are mostly found with the most wanted terrorists groups yet these so-called super powers (top weapon manufacturers) invaded every weak country in the name of security and the same weapons. Ironically, none asked till today for justice because this is a mess and no power obey the law so we will be seeing the fight of survival by weak nations through any mean. Seeking the justice and expecting the same from their Courts by filing a petition against US & Brits for fake WMDs is something like turning the black crow into white. On other hand, every butcher and war-lord is out of the reach of world so-called powers just because of their dream of rule through fear among the people while same powers and war-lords are responsible for the lives of innocents on this earth.

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## T-123456

@Moonlight ,there are a couple of reasons,

The first and most important one is that we the people of the ME are *stupid* enough to be played by the western powers.
The term ''Divide and conquer'' was used from the beginning of mankind until human development came to a level that one could gain enough knowledge(not intelligence but knowledge) to question everything,see the reasons why things are what they are and decide for himself,however our people in the ME due to the lack of human development for obvious reasons like bad governing,culture,traditions etc still have this ''sheep herd mentality'',one decides for all and no matter the intellectual level of the ''followers'',the ''leader'' decides.

Ask the question,''why dont we see any wars in the western developed world?''
Doesnt the West have sects?
We are just to dumb to let others come to our lands and cause divide,its our fault,we let them do this to us and we must stop blaming others but ourselves.
One could say''Its in our genes.''

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## Moonlight

The Eagle said:


> @Moonlight TBH, if you want to understand the complexity by simple equation then it starts with competition among weapon dealers, then the same are distributed by war-lords for power that they are utilized by many government agencies for their interest and to support their respective weapon dealers. The cycle continues and between the same lines, the same scenario is well utilized for anti-religion purpose from west to east and everywhere and where there is no reason of religious conflicts then it is all about natural resources that starts with oil etc. These war-lords injected the fear of religious extremism into the minds that they started to create a fort for the safety while claimed many lives. From religious point of view, almost every terrorist is branded as Muslim (a fashion) while the most and top weapon manufacturers are non-Muslim states. The same top manufacturers weapons are mostly found with the most wanted terrorists groups yet these so-called super powers (top weapon manufacturers) invaded every weak country in the name of security and the same weapons. Ironically, none asked till today for justice because this is a mess and no power obey the law so we will be seeing the fight of survival by weak nations through any mean. Seeking the justice and expecting the same from their Courts by filing a petition against US & Brits for fake WMDs is something like turning the black crow into white. On other hand, every butcher and war-lord is out of the reach of world so-called powers just because of their dream of rule through fear among the people while same powers and war-lords are responsible for the lives of innocents on this earth.



Pea-brained reason to take lives of so many. And yes I agree with your words. 



T-123456 said:


> The first and most important one is that we the people of the ME are *stupid* enough to be played by the western powers.



So basically ignorance is the MAIN reason of this conflict or any conflict Muslim world is facing? 



Add to that, unfriendly relations of Muslim countries with each other, specifically, KSA and Iran is another major reason of small Muslim countries are facing the chaos and destruction. No?


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## VCheng

What is happening in the Middle east is just the start of an extensive makeover of the _entire _region. Many countries will change drastically over the next few years.


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## T-123456

Moonlight said:


> Pea-brained reason to take lives of so many. And yes I agree with your words.
> 
> 
> 
> So basically ignorance is the MAIN reason of this conflict or any conflict Muslim world is facing?
> 
> 
> 
> Add to that, unfriendly relations of Muslim countries with each other, specifically, KSA and Iran is another major reason of small Muslim countries are facing the chaos and destruction. No?


Yes,its us not them.

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## fitpOsitive

Moonlight said:


> Where is UN now? Piece of crap it is.
> 
> View attachment 339559
> 
> 
> Statistic from 2015 only


UN was not created for this type of matters. It was created to implement demands of bigger organizations(World bank, Bilderberg , Crown-corporation, Goldmen Sachs etc) to micro level. So for muslims and poor countries in general, can get a benefit from this white elephant if and only if it is also in favor of bigger organizations. Here I am using the word organizations, not countries, because in my view, countries are just cages now, bigger organization are the ones, who run this world. So UN? not for us.

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## Moonlight

Syed.Ali.Haider said:


> What is happening in the Middle east is just the start of an extensive makeover of the _entire _region. Many countries will change drastically over the next few years.



Toward good direction ?



fitpOsitive said:


> UN was not created for this type of matters. It was created to implement demands of bigger organizations(World bank, Bilderberg , Crown-corporation, Goldmen Sachs etc) to micro level. So for muslims and poor countries in general, can get a benefit from this white elephant if and only if it is also in favor of bigger organizations. Here I am using the word organizations, not countries, because in my view, countries are just cages now, bigger organization are the ones, who run this world. So UN? not for us.



I find it useless, tbh.


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## Joe Shearer

fitpOsitive said:


> UN was not created for this type of matters. It was created to implement demands of bigger organizations(World bank, Bilderberg , Crown-corporation, Goldmen Sachs etc) to micro level. So for muslims and poor countries in general, can get a benefit from this white elephant if and only if it is also in favor of bigger organizations. Here I am using the word organizations, not countries, because in my view, countries are just cages now, bigger organization are the ones, who run this world. So UN? not for us.



Are you serious about this, or just trolling? Should I reply? I would like to raise a few questions but am scared. Please don't sucker me into a discussion where you are metaphorically leaning back lazily and using your toes on the controls?


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## Chauvinist

The scuffle was of Asad and syrians in which so called super powers jumped to bring peace...But actually they jumped to show off their powers as they always do...And in that militants got a chance to invigorate themselves..

Syria has become a fighting ring where all tom and jerry fighting to defeat them..And in that Syria is dying with flesh and blood apart.

*I must say if someone has to see the most cruel face of human..he must see the Syria he would forget what happened at Schwartz camp or Heroshima..Humanity died there and wild animals got independent to eat innocence.*


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## Moonlight

Joe Shearer said:


> Are you serious about this, or just trolling? Should I reply? I would like to raise a few questions but am scared. Please don't sucker me into a discussion where you are metaphorically leaning back lazily and using your toes on the controls?



Do give me your comments on my original questions, please.



Chauvinist said:


> The scuffle was of Asad and syrians in which so called super powers jumped to bring peace...But actually they jumped to show off their powers as they always do...And in that militants got a chance to invigorate themselves..
> 
> Syria has become a fighting ring where all tom and jerry fighting to defeat them..And in that Syria is dying with flesh and blood apart.
> 
> I must say if someone has to see the most cruel face of human..he must see the Syria he would forget what happened at Schwartz camp or Heroshima..Humanity died there and wild animals got independent to eat innocence.



Exactly what I was saying the other day, to all jingoistic want Pakistan and India to nuke each other and experience what war looks like, *PLEASE GO SEE SYRIA. *


And what role Assad is playing?

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## Joe Shearer

Moonlight said:


> Do give me your comments on my original questions, please.
> 
> 
> 
> Exactly what I was saying the other day, to all jingoistic want Pakistan and India to nuke each other and experience what war looks like, *PLEASE GO SEE SYRIA. *
> 
> 
> And what role Assad is playing?



If you are sure. Be warned that I tend to be verbose.


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## Moonlight

Joe Shearer said:


> If you are sure. Be warned that I tend to be verbose.



I am ready to hear as long as a religion is not targeted and what I mean by that is, its because a religion promote war or anything like that.
But go ahead. I do want to seek knowledge and understanding on this matter.

Regards!



Chauvinist said:


> Hunnnh..Asad ??? He is a coward moron....hiding behind the crutches of superpowers to hold his so called "rule". Each drop of Syrians blood is on him.



Exactly. But one of my friend out of forum never second me on this. I am looking for some solid evidences. With my limited understanding and knowledge on this particular matter, he's one culprit. To remain in power killing citizens of Syria, his own people.

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## fitpOsitive

Joe Shearer said:


> Are you serious about this, or just trolling? Should I reply? I would like to raise a few questions but am scared. Please don't sucker me into a discussion where you are metaphorically leaning back lazily and using your toes on the controls?


Go ahead please  I am ready.


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## royalharris

django said:


> @Moonlight The people of Syria wanted a democratic government based on the lines of Turkey, however Assad and his minority Alawites did not want this to come to fruition as it would have meant an end to their power and potentially being bought to justice for crimes that have been committed in the past, at the same time their were other players in the region that did not want to see a successful democratic regime mainly some of the Gulf arab nations as they would have felt threatened by an emerging Arab democracy in the region, all hell broke loose when Assad and his forces started to fire on demonstrators and the Gulf Arabs started to export their Wahhabi acolytes into the country, then Iran intervened for it's own strategic interests as did Turkey, Russia, USA etc.Kudos


Regime change games, but too many involved, out of control

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## Moonlight

royalharris said:


> Regime change games, but too many involved, out of control



Agree. 

Some are to show we are super power, some to gain power, some for lobbying. But no one cares about innocent lives being taken away.


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## Erhabi

Every Syrian I have met in KSA is against Assad's regime including my project manager in the company I work for. He is a 60 years old man prays 5 times a day in mosque doesn't even have beard(If anyone thinks he is one of those extremist guys) Assad have alot of innocents blood in his hand. If Syrians dont like him I dont understand why Iranians are still helping him ? Iran will have to pay a huge price for this.


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## Joe Shearer

fitpOsitive said:


> Go ahead please  I am ready.



Tomorrow, please. I just emerged from a short, exhausted sleep after surviving a MOST unpleasant, noisy thread, where both sides were behaving like delinquent juveniles. Utterly exhausting, intensely dismaying.


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## Moonlight

Malik Abdullah said:


> Every Syrian I have met in KSA is against Assad's regime including my project manager in the company I work for. He is a 60 years old man prays 5 times a day in mosque doesn't even have beard(If anyone thinks he is one of those extremist guys) Assad have alot of innocents blood in his hand. If Syrians dont like him I dont understand why Iranians are still helping him ? Iran will have to pay a huge price for this.



Thank you so much! It is a very helpful post. Any way of contacting this uncle?



Malik Abdullah said:


> If Syrians dont like him I dont understand why Iranians are still helping him ? Iran will have to pay a huge price for this.



Exactlyyyy what my question is.

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## Erhabi

Moonlight said:


> Thank you so much! It is a very helpful post. Any way of contacting this uncle?
> 
> 
> 
> Exactlyyyy what my question is.



Giving his contact like this might land me in trouble but I will surely ask him if he is okay with it. I will let you know within a week InshaAllah.


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## Moonlight

Malik Abdullah said:


> Giving his contact like this might land me in trouble but I will surely ask him if he is okay with it. I will let you know within a week InshaAllah.



Yes please. Any email? It would be really helpful. JazakAllah.


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## fitpOsitive

Joe Shearer said:


> Tomorrow, please. I just emerged from a short, exhausted sleep after surviving a MOST unpleasant, noisy thread, where both sides were behaving like delinquent juveniles. Utterly exhausting, intensely dismaying.


Ok ok .. but I will be waiting. Really want to hear on this from you.


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## Joe Shearer

It began with the Ottoman Turks. Ruling a swathe of territory from north Africa to the present Yugoslavia to the borders of Persia, and throughout the Arab peninsula, they had all kinds of ethnicity within their empire, and had worked out ways of coping with this diversity without losing control. As Empires do, they declined, with an increasingly unhealthy court culture, redolent of overfilled harems, and eunuchs with excessive power and clashes between rival princes and their mothers, while their provincial governors arrogated more and more power to themselves and distanced themselves as safely as they could from central authority. 

The decline of this Empire was clear through the second half of the nineteenth century, interrupted by the emergence of outstanding talent from some of the later Emperors. The pressure on their western borders, represented first by the Hapsburgs from Lepanto onwards, grew and grew; slowly the western empire was whittled down, and gave way to what in today's world we know as Romania, Bulgaria, the constituents of the former Yugoslavia, Greece herself and Moldavia. 

But our story is about the 'Middle East', or rather, the Levant.

When I read T. E. Lawrence, a noted Arabist, he described the state of the Levant beautifully. He described a chequerboard, divided from east to west, actually starting far beyond the Levant in Basra, but for the purposes of his account, from roughly where Iraq is today, to the sea-coast; again, from the north, the mountains around Anatolia, demarcating today's Turkey, down to the Sinai Peninsula in the south. Each cell was filled by a different ethnicity, and very often by a different sect; so Alawi, and Druze, and Sunni jostled each other in those narrow confines. I will not even dare to classify and list them all, being too discouraged and too pessimistic about the fate of humanity to put in further effort. Suffice it to say that as was the case in Mughal India, there was a general societal consensus, and there was generally a PaxTurcica, to use a term from modern days to those times before the First World War.

In that war, the Triple Entente, Great Britain, France and Imperial Russia, took on the Triple Allliance, Germany, Austria and, ironically, the greatest enemies of Austria, Turkey. At a fairly advanced stage of the war, the French and the British decided that they were winning, and sat down to discuss what to do with the defeated Ottoman Empire. Their thoughts turned naturally to what colonialists in those days were prone to do, to divide out the territories and swallow them up. And that, more or less, is what they did. Two diplomats, Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot, (guess who represented which country?) sat down and discussed the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire.


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## punit

The Sandman said:


> Maybe if Assad steps down and allows someone else to come and take his place maybe than things can improve. Syria at this moment needs a strong leader who can control his own country win the trust of his people and all these countries should stop treating Syria as if their weapons testing ground and actually do something for Syrians if not than try to stay out of it maybe?
> May Allah ease the sufferings of Syrians


if Assad steps down. it will be disastrous many times over ! that will be the end of State of Syria officially.

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## Joe Shearer

Of course, in doing all this, they stabbed Lawrence and the Arabs in the back. A small detail. Not really relevant. To summarise the situation, this is what was happening then:

There was an existing, old *agreement between the European powers and Ottoman Turkey* to internationalise Beirut, and to separate it, in some way, from the Vilayet of Syria (Syria was everything between present-day Turkey and the Sinai, and up to Mesopotamia to the east), under a Christian Governor, the Mushir, the first one being a Turkish Christian named Daud Pasha, to head the Beirut Mutassarifate; this protected the Maronites, the Greek Orthodox, the Greek Uniates, the Druze, from attack;
This was the result of the Christian massacre of 1860, when the Emperor of France decided to intervene. 12,000 European troops were posted to Palestine, and the Ottoman Emperor agreed to carve out a separate district from the Syrian Vilayet to protect the Christians;
George Curzon, the former Indian Viceroy, then active in managing British foreign affairs, pointed out that this was flatly contradicted by the Sykes-Picot agreement;

Based partly on Lawrence's assurances to the Arabs, Henry McMahon had in an *agreement with Sharif Hussein* of Mecca, later called King Hussein by the British, agreed that the Arabs would be given sovereignty and independence, over Arabia itself, and over what is today Jordan, Syria, Iraq (=Mesopotamia) and the coastal strip of Palestine;
It is not clear what would have happened to the Mushir and the Mutassarifate of Beirut;

*Sykes and Picot* had contradicted this, according to the French, and gone beyond this without excluding it, according to the British, by suggesting that the northern part, Syria, and the northern part of Mesopotamia, today's Iraq, should be part of the French sphere of influence. How the British thought that these two could be reconciled is something that only a Briton can tell us. However, one clue is that the agreement provided for an Arab state, or a confederation of Arab states, in the British and the French areas jointly. This was for Areas A and B, the British and French areas; nothing stopped the imposition of suzerainty (British Crown over the Indian princes is an example) over the rest of Arabia, say, southern Mesopotamia and peninsular Arabia, today's KSA
There was still room for reconciling the McMahon Hussein agreement and the Sykes-Picot agreement, if the French could be persuaded to go along;

Another agreement, the *Anglo-French agreement*, between Lloyd-George and Clemenceau, made a further hash of things by flatly contradicting the McMahon Hussein agreement.



This is the point where the Balfour Declaration came in and finished things off.

@Moonlight
@fitpOsitive

Is this OK so far? I have to get past this to the 50s for the present hungama to make complete sense, but this is where the complications started.

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## fitpOsitive

Joe Shearer said:


> Of course, in doing all this, they stabbed Lawrence and the Arabs in the back. A small detail. Not really relevant. To summarise the situation, this is what was happening then:
> 
> There was an existing, old *agreement between the European powers and Ottoman Turkey* to internationalise Beirut, and to separate it, in some way, from the Vilayet of Syria (Syria was everything between present-day Turkey and the Sinai, and up to Mesopotamia to the east), under a Christian Governor, the Mushir, the first one being a Turkish Christian named Daud Pasha, to head the Beirut Mutassarifate; this protected the Maronites, the Greek Orthodox, the Greek Uniates, the Druze, from attack;
> This was the result of the Christian massacre of 1860, when the Emperor of France decided to intervene. 12,000 European troops were posted to Palestine, and the Ottoman Emperor agreed to carve out a separate district from the Syrian Vilayet to protect the Christians;
> George Curzon, the former Indian Viceroy, then active in managing British foreign affairs, pointed out that this was flatly contradicted by the Sykes-Picot agreement;
> 
> Based partly on Lawrence's assurances to the Arabs, Henry McMahon had in an *agreement with Sharif Hussein* of Mecca, later called King Hussein by the British, agreed that the Arabs would be given sovereignty and independence, over Arabia itself, and over what is today Jordan, Syria, Iraq (=Mesopotamia) and the coastal strip of Palestine;
> It is not clear what would have happened to the Mushir and the Mutassarifate of Beirut;
> 
> *Sykes and Picot* had contradicted this, according to the French, and gone beyond this without excluding it, according to the British, by suggesting that the northern part, Syria, and the northern part of Mesopotamia, today's Iraq, should be part of the French sphere of influence. How the British thought that these two could be reconciled is something that only a Briton can tell us. However, one clue is that the agreement provided for an Arab state, or a confederation of Arab states, in the British and the French areas jointly. This was for Areas A and B, the British and French areas; nothing stopped the imposition of suzerainty (British Crown over the Indian princes is an example) over the rest of Arabia, say, southern Mesopotamia and peninsular Arabia, today's KSA
> There was still room for reconciling the McMahon Hussein agreement and the Sykes-Picot agreement, if the French could be persuaded to go along;
> 
> Another agreement, the *Anglo-French agreement*, between Lloyd-George and Clemenceau, made a further hash of things by flatly contradicting the McMahon Hussein agreement.
> 
> 
> 
> This is the point where the Balfour Declaration came in and finished things off.
> 
> @Moonlight
> @fitpOsitive
> 
> Is this OK so far? I have to get past this to the 50s for the present hungama to make complete sense, but this is where the complications started.


Very nice sir, really appreciated. 
But my statement about UN...waiting for you reply.


----------



## Joe Shearer

fitpOsitive said:


> Very nice sir, really appreciated.
> But my statement about UN...waiting for you reply.



sure. but was it useful up to this point? I will come to the UN very shortly, after I return from a meeting at 17:30.


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## fitpOsitive

Joe Shearer said:


> sure. but was it useful up to this point? I will come to the UN very shortly, after I return from a meeting at 17:30.


Yes sir.


----------



## Moonlight

@Joe Shearer very informative post. Thanks!



Joe Shearer said:


> this OK so far? I have to get past this to the 50s for the present hungama to make complete sense, but this is where the complications started.



Yep it does. Looking forward to read the other half of your post. 

Regards.

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## Joe Shearer

Moonlight said:


> @Joe Shearer very informative post. Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> Yep it does. Looking forward to read the other half of your post.
> 
> Regards.



Your comments, yours and that of @fitpOsitive , made me really happy. Incidentally, there is a very well-read Turkish member - I will remember his name in a minute, Sinan perhaps? - whom you should tag. He will correct whatever I have said, and put in the Turkish perspective; really intelligent person. But let me finish this, to give you a full picture. The importance of the Ba'ath party in the Middle East was pivotal.


----------



## Moonlight

Joe Shearer said:


> Your comments, yours and that of @fitpOsitive , made me really happy. Incidentally, there is a very well-read Turkish member - I will remember his name in a minute, Sinan perhaps? - whom you should tag. He will correct whatever I have said, and put in the Turkish perspective; really intelligent person. But let me finish this, to give you a full picture. The importance of the Ba'ath party in the Middle East was pivotal.



Thank you. You are one old member and even older in age than almost all of us. After getting to know about your age, I got respect for you.
And trying to seek knowledge from you. Yes I do disagree on many of your posts or say with your views related to Kashmir or India. But thanks for helping me to learn.
And I won't mind apologizing, if I ever got rude with you in past. Lastly, yes give us your second half of the post, then I will tag this member Sinan.

Regards!


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## Joe Shearer

Moonlight said:


> Thank you. You are one old member and even older in age than almost all of us. After getting to know about your age, I got respect for you.
> And trying to seek knowledge from you. Yes I do disagree on many of your posts or say with your views related to Kashmir or India. But thanks for helping me to learn.
> And I won't mind apologizing, if I ever got rude with you in past. Lastly, yes give us your second half of the post, then I will tag this member Sinan.
> 
> Regards!



Be as rude as you want. You will never get a harsh word in return. I was rude to our most beloved member once, and the remorse haunts me to this day.

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## Moonlight

Joe Shearer said:


> Be as rude as you want. You will never get a harsh word in return. I was rude to our most beloved member once, and the remorse haunts me to this day.



Actually I did get rude reply.  
Anyhow, it's past now.


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## Joe Shearer

Moonlight said:


> Actually I did get rude reply.
> Anyhow, it's past now.



I did not know I was addressing a lady. When I realised, there was that moment of horror. I wish women members were distinguished from others in some way. Otherwise, I take no prisoners, and might be led into a horrible situation.

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## Moonlight

Joe Shearer said:


> I wish women members were distinguished from others in some way



Such as?


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## Joe Shearer

Moonlight said:


> Such as?



A tag, or some indication; different coloured frame to the DP, anything to tell old barnacles, "Watch your manners and stop drooling into your food; there are ladies present."

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## The Sandman

Joe Shearer said:


> A tag, or some indication; different coloured frame to the DP,


I agree with this good suggestion.

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## Moonlight

Joe Shearer said:


> A tag, or some indication; different coloured frame to the DP, anything to tell old barnacles, "Watch your manners and stop drooling into your food; there are ladies present."



But I always try to keep a girlish dp, so no one gets confused. And have mentioned in my profile "female" and always correct members calling me brother. 

Hota hai, chalta hai, dunaya hai. 



The Sandman said:


> I agree with this good suggestion.



Me too.


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## The Eagle

The Sandman said:


> I agree with this good suggestion.



Thum bhee....


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## The Sandman

The Eagle said:


> Thum bhee....


What?


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## Moonlight

@Sinan Hey, can you please give me your comments on this? 

Thanks!


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## Moonlight

Technogaianist said:


> We deal with enough sh*t as it is, don't need to stand out anymore. But I see where you're coming from and sympathize with your desire for such a distinguisher.
> 
> What I'd like way to distinguish moronic members from the others, then I wouldn't have to waste my time on this forum's imbeciles and I could focus on the more important things here... like trolling.
> 
> 
> 
> I used to do that too, but after a while, meh. So what if people confuse me for a man?
> 
> On the internet:
> 
> Men = Men
> Women = Men
> Children = FBI Special Agents
> 
> And so does PDF follow.
> 
> Once you become well known enough people usually stop referring to you as a guy though, and I've been lucky enough to have reach that point. Now only new members make the mistake, but in time, if they pay enough att



Hello. Never seen you around before.
I usually see the profile before calling brother or sister. 
And most of Pakistani, well I think most of them know this account is used by a female. 
And some Turkish and even Indian members know. But still I am called brother by some members.
Naaa' I must correct them.

I don't like being called brother when I am sister.

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## Moonlight

Technogaianist said:


> Nah, you've probably seen me around, just under a different name recently.
> 
> Maddy Lynn was what I was going by until just a few hours ago when Webmaster was kind enough to help me restore access to my original account.
> 
> But I haven't been around too much recently either, having taken a mutli-month break from PDF to deal with being pregnant. Now I'm back, and many members here will recognize me.



Oh yeah. Have seen this Maddy Lynn around. So that's you?
Welcome back to your original ID, sister.
So how was your break? You are a mama bee now? :p

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## Moonlight

Technogaianist said:


> Very nice for a while, then two months ago I had my first child - a daughter - and it's been  ever since. Hectic I guess would be the best word to describe it. Very hectic.



Aww. Congratulations.
Must be around her all the time.
Consuming most of your time. 



Technogaianist said:


> Nihonjin, Jhungary, Sven, Gufi, a lot of good members either inactive or very infrequent.



I know few of them. Some left, some busy in making careers and don't know about others.


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## usernameless

Malik Abdullah said:


> Every Syrian I have met in KSA is against Assad's regime including my project manager in the company I work for. He is a 60 years old man prays 5 times a day in mosque doesn't even have beard(If anyone thinks he is one of those extremist guys) Assad have alot of innocents blood in his hand. If Syrians dont like him I dont understand why Iranians are still helping him ? Iran will have to pay a huge price for this.


Iran is absolutely not helping the average Syrian on the street out of whatever sympathy, in fact Iran has nothing to do with Syria ethnicity and religion wise (majority of Syria is sunni). It's pure interest for them; Assad is a pawn and Iran needs a pro-Iran Syria in order for Iran to upkeep the 'Iraq-Syria-Lebanon' chain.

Hezbollah and Iran used to have a degree of sympathy and support from sunnis before this conflict (due to Israel), but after this i wouldnt be surprised if no sunni gives a rats *** about Hezbollah and Iran anymore.

Agreed. Assadists claiming Assad has support of the people, why Assad is then heavily and crucially dependant on Iranian, Afgan etc. soldiers and mercenaries if 20m+ Syrian population (majority sunni) is behind him all these years and was even on the brink of losing? He shouldn't have local manpower shortage, if the locals truly loved him.

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## Moonlight

usernameless said:


> Iran is absolutely not helping the average Syrian on the street out of whatever sympathy, in fact Iran has nothing to do with Syria ethnicity and religion wise (majority of Syria is sunni). It's pure interest for them; Assad is a pawn and Iran needs a pro-Iran Syria in order for Iran to upkeep the 'Iraq-Syria-Lebanon' chain.
> 
> Hezbollah and Iran used to have a degree of sympathy and support from sunnis before this conflict (due to Israel), but after this i wouldnt be surprised if no sunni gives a rats *** about Hezbollah and Iran anymore.
> 
> Agreed. Assadists claiming Assad has support of the people, why Assad is then heavily and crucially dependant on Iranian, Afgan etc. soldiers and mercenaries if 20m+ Syrian population (majority sunni) is behind him all these years and was even on the brink of losing? He shouldn't have local manpower shortage, if the locals truly loved him.



What part Russia is playing? Iran and Russia are helping people of Syria?


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## Semerkand

*Kurtulmus: Russia and the US Could Start a War due to Syria*
*If the war in Syriacontinue through intermediaries, the Turkish authorities fear that the world could descend into a global war in which the conflicting parties will be the superpowers Russia and the United States, the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.*
*"If the war through intermediaries continues, I openly claim that the US and Russia will be on the brink of war", Kurtulmus pointed out in an interview with the Turkish news agency "Anatolia".*

*He warned that the Syrian conflict will lead the world "on the verge of a major regional or world war."*

*Kurtulmus cited that Turkish troops in camp Basica in northern Iraq "are legitimate" and would remain there "as long as necessary".*

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## mike2000 is back

Peaceful uprising originally, turned into an armed bloody civil war due to a leader's lust for power. So here we are, all because of ONE SINGLE MAN. lol

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## Moonlight

mike2000 is back said:


> Peaceful uprising originally, turned into an armed bloody civil war due to a leader's lust for power. So here we are, all because of ONE SINGLE MAN. lol







Semerkand said:


> He warned that the Syrian conflict will lead the world "on the verge of a major regional or world war.



I partially agree, but countries like USA and Russia will avoid regional and/or world war. As long as their countries aren't burning, they are fine bombing other states. And world war won't spare them too. To remain in power or super power or first world counties, they will take a step back once they fear it's taking a turn into a world war.

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## T-Rex

punit said:


> if Assad steps down. it will be disastrous many times over ! that will be the end of State of Syria officially.


*
Things simply can't get worse in Syria. So "the sky will fall if assd steps down" is a lame excuse.*


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## Moonlight

T-Rex said:


> *Things simply can't get worse in Syria. So "the sky will fall if assd steps down" is a lame excuse.*



Second it.


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## Moonlight

@Khafee since you are active nowadays. Please do give me your thoughts on this subject. 
And I hope you were doing fine the time you were inactive on forum.

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## Khafee

Moonlight said:


> @Khafee since you are active nowadays. Please do give me your thoughts on this subject.
> And I hope you were doing fine the time you were inactive on forum.



Thank You, but unfortunately Syria is something I'm not allowed to comment on. Except that ISIS are not Muslim, and have nothing to do with Islam. I hope you understand.

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## Moonlight

Khafee said:


> Thank You, but unfortunately Syria is something I'm not allowed to comment on. Except that ISIS are not Muslim, and have nothing to do with Islam. I hope you understand.



Ok totally understandable.

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## saurav jha

Syria is a place where plebiscite is genuinely needed. Outsiders should get out of Syria and plebiscite should be held under UN. let syrian people decide what they want. It's ideal solution but no one will agree to it. No one cares about Syrian people all they care is their own interests.


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## mishal arif

Israeli missionary are fighting in Syria


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## Abdul Basit Bullo Baloch

I came across a video of AJ+, showing just a month old baby girl, pulled out by the rescue volunteer from the rubble in Syria. It was so heartbreaking and is not the only video from Syria made me cry or enough painful to make anyone else cry.
She was under the rubble for 2 hours. And I failed to understand her mistake or crime. What harm she has caused to USA, Russia, Iran, KSA, or whoever is involved in this war.
She is born to a Muslim family? One sect or the other? She is born in Syria?
What exactly her mistake is? I couldn't find satisfying answer for myself.
I have tried enough (I guess) to understand the ACTUAL reason of war in Syria? I research, read articles and news & again have no conception of it. Who actually is right and who's wrong? Who's fighting who? And who's supporting who? I am clueless. Who will cover up the damage has been caused to Syria? And no one knows for how long it will to end. Who will bring back normal lives to them and bring back their beloved ones? That emotional torture these young minds are going through will stay there forever. And who is responsible for taking their childhood away?
While these decision makers or officials of all the countries involved in this war are living peaceful lives and their kids hear "bedtime stories" of life, love, and joy, Syrian kids are getting tortured with the sounds of bombs. Who is to be blamed?
Whenever I try to understand this conflict, I end up with this as an answer.
View attachment 339558

A picture shows who's fighting who in Syria.

Now I have a humble request to all sane members of PDF to help me find my answer. Please!
(And pardon my lack of knowledge).

Edit: Even if I get my answer, sadly, things won't change for people of Syria. My sincere prayers for them.

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## Gunfu

Chinese-Dragon said:


> Syria right now is in exactly the same state as China was during the Chinese Civil War, we were nothing more than the playground of the superpowers during WW2.
> 
> When a country is weak and divided, then foreign militaries will come to take advantage of it. This is the way of the world.
> 
> Syria needs to be unified in order to escape this fate, which means one side has to win like the CCP did in China. But which side should win and unify the country?



China is still not United under one Chinese rule. Because of this.
1. Hong Kong is under British rule
2. Taiwan is under USA rule
3. Mainland China is under communist rule

In other words. There are 3 Chinese nations.



The Sandman said:


> Maybe if Assad steps down and allows someone else to come and take his place maybe than things can improve. Syria at this moment needs a strong leader who can control his own country win the trust of his people and all these countries should stop treating Syria as if their weapons testing ground and actually do something for Syrians if not than try to stay out of it maybe?
> May Allah ease the sufferings of Syrians



This method did not work well for Lybia. Assad must stay for stability. If he is removed. Syria will become Libya.



T-Rex said:


> *Things simply can't get worse in Syria. So "the sky will fall if assd steps down" is a lame excuse.*



Please take a look at Lybia. Gadafi was removed. Well look at Lybia now.

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## T-123456

Gunfu said:


> 1. Hong Kong is under British rule


No its not,its under Chinese rule.

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## Aramagedon

Saudi Arabia (wahhabi, Najdi) ideology and Zionism trick


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## Gunfu

T-123456 said:


> No its not,its under Chinese rule.



Kurdish soldiers attacking Turkey border.





Hong Kong is still a British colony. China cannot do whatever it wants. Because then Britain will declare war on China. Taiwan is American colony. If China Attacks Taiwan then USA will declare World War 3.


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## Major d1

On 11/10/2016, last month, Ghoutah witnessed a terrible crime which was extremely cowardly and vile, against the carriers of the Da’wah calling to the implementation of the Shar’a of Allah and remaining form upon the Haqq (truth). This was manifested in the abduction of the thinker and politician Al-Hajj Abu Maalik, a member of Hizb ut Tahrir in the Wilayah of Syria, who had not been dissuaded previously, when he was detained by the tyrant of Shaam before the revolution, from continuing to procced towards his objective of resuming the Islamic way of life to please Allah ‘Azza Wa Jalla. However, his perseverance upon the Haqq (truth) and his proclaiming of the word of Haqq disturbed the sleep of his abductors and shook their tyranny, which drove them to perpetrate their crime, believing that through this action, they could extinguish the light of Allah and silence the voice of truth, in an effort to please their masters.


The heads of the armed groups who have control over Ghoutah and claim to be protecting it, bear the responsibility of this heinous crime. That is because they have been asked to pursue his abductors and prevent the repetition of these despicable crimes. Otherwise, they do not deserve to be in the position of responsibility in respect to providing security and protection to the people and they should leave this responsibility to those who deserve it, from amongst the noble and honourable people of Ash-Shaam who do not fear the blame of the blamers in Allah’s way.

The hope, and all hope, rests in our people in East Ghouta, those who mobilised against the corrupt situation that brought difficulties to the land, delayed the victory and made their suffering go on for longer, that they now mobilise again to prevent the current oppression and to take the oppressors to task to purify the revolution from them. And their mobilisation and protests needs to be productive with a clearly defined objective that everyone adopts. That means making Ash-Shaam the support point for the Ummah’s project of the rightly guided Khilafah state upon the methodology of the Prophethood.


----------



## خره مينه لګته وي

USA was pouring funds to rebels including Al-Nusra (which was Alqaeda affiliate group) to topple Assad govt.
• Sheiks of middle-east were also supporting some rebel groups (Al-Nusra,FSA etc) 
• Iranians + Russians were backing Assad regime & helping assad to hold the ground but later iran brought in Hammas + sent it's forces + hired ppl from the refugees camps to fight their war in Syria & in return Iranian nationality for their families + jobs !! & Sent their army Commanders,soldiers to train & fight against different rebels groups & later Russia officially entered into Syria...
• in 2014 isis/daesh emerged when Al-Nusra fighters joined Isis/daesh,it gained publicity after executing 100s of ppl & violently taking over towns,cities & enslaving yazidi + Kurdish women's as a sex slaves !! 
• there are other groups fighting in Syria I.e YPG,pkk,alqaeda..
• few months ago Al-Nusra split away from Alqaeda was a blow for already dead alqaeda..
• just in one country a lot of Terrorist groups fighting with each other !! More than 10 countries involved... that's messed up !! Every country want to show the size of his Duck through Terrorist groups or by invading the country, no one care for the innocent syrians who are suffering in all this diK measuring contest !!

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## samsara

Gunfu said:


> Kurdish soldiers attacking Turkey border.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Hong Kong is still a British colony. China cannot do whatever it wants. Because then Britain will declare war on China. *Taiwan is American colony. If China Attacks Taiwan then USA will declare World War 3.



"How will the Great Britain declare war on China?" Declaring war by what? I mean fighting using what kinds of British military assets? 

A past story about the British - China negotiation on returning Hong Kong to China. If British ran out of military options in the 1980s, how can it has one nowadays?

~~~~~~~

*Hard-fought Sino-British negotiations over Hong Kong revealed in declassified files | South China Morning Post (2013-08-18)*

She continued that "there would certainly be a wholesale flight of capital from Hong Kong" and that "this money, having left Hong Kong, would not return". Thatcher concluded: "We believe that that plan would lead to the collapse of Hong Kong as a financial centre."

To maintain investor confidence, Britain wanted to continue administering Hong Kong after 1997 under Chinese sovereignty. Thatcher said: "Confidence in Hong Kong, and thus its continued prosperity, depend on British administration."

Unsurprisingly, China rejected this. Zhao is recorded in the British minutes of the meeting as responding: "China would not let others administer Hong Kong on its behalf nor place Hong Kong under the trusteeship of others".

_Thatcher even requested from her civil servants an assessment of the military capability to defend Hong Kong should China seek to over-run the colony - a surprising request given China's much larger armed forces. The assessment concluded: "The [Hong Kong] garrison could deal with a small-scale incursion but would be limited to establishing the facts of any large-scale attack."_

The British prime minister believed China could be persuaded to let British administration continue in return for gaining sovereignty over all of Hong Kong. Under the 19th century treaties between Britain and China, Thatcher argued Hong Kong Island and Kowloon could remain British. The New Territories were ceded to Britain in a lease which expired in 1997.

But China did not recognise these treaties and demanded the return of all of Hong Kong in 1997. Substantive negotiations resumed in the summer of 1983 but tensions remained high.

Zhou Nan, one of China's negotiators, said Britain's attempt to continue administering Hong Kong after 1997 reflected "a colonialist and imperialist attitude [which] was outmoded, lacking in reality and would get nowhere with the Chinese government or people." Zhou added: "If British administration was so good why had so many people in former British colonies fought for independence?"


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## Moonlight

2800 said:


> Saudi Arabia (wahhabi, Najdi) ideology and Zionism trick



You belong to Iran so is that the only reason you are putting this all on SA? What role Iran is playing? Supporting Assad? Who's killing its own people? 

Just curious...

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## samsara

Running weapons and stingers with Hillary Clinton and Petraeus from Libya to ISIS in Syria:

From Benghazi to Syria





Where is Eric Braverman?

Here are some good websites that are also covering Syria:

Moon of Alabama
http://www.moonofalabama.org/

The Vineyard of the Saker | A bird's eye view of the vineyard
http://thesaker.is/

SouthFront: Crisis News, World Events, Political Survey
https://southfront.org/

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## Moonlight

That's beyond heartbreaking. 







__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=859307937544048

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## what

Miller Hain said:


> Morons against Morons - Allah belani versin CABATLI_53
> 
> Damned ateists commies, hiding behind Atatürk
> 
> 
> 
> WHAT
> 
> @what
> 
> ateist - komünist
> 
> @KediKesenFare
> 
> RAT
> 
> kedikesen fare - oportünist fırsatçı dönme
> 
> @cabatli_53
> 
> @T-123456
> 
> *Omurgasız sahtekarlar !*
> 
> @Horus
> 
> Neckless Comedian
> 
> @WebMaster
> 
> Zero level spy
> 
> *[TR]AHMET*
> 
> Where is your solidarity ?
> 
> @Selim I
> 
> @Zulkarneyn
> 
> *You are all neckless Ateist and Alevite ESSAD and FETÖ traitors in service for some services who sponsor your website.*



At least once in your sad life you got something right, yes I am an atheist. 
Go get your meds.


----------



## Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr

In regards to the Syrian conflict, specifically Daesh, I have found this short book to be quite an insightful read. I urge all those seriously interested on the topic to get a copy:

*The Islamic State, Islamic or Not?: An Investigation on the Islamicity of ISIS*
*




*

If you guys have any other book suggestions please let me know, I am doing research on this issue.


----------



## خره مينه لګته وي

*US military investigating if airstrikes caused nearly 300 civilian deaths*

Washington (CNN) The US military is investigating whether it was responsible for the deaths of nearly 300 Syrian and Iraqi civilians in three different sets of airstrikes this month.

Civilian casualties have been alleged in all three instances, but each situation is different and complex, a US defense official said. So far, there is no indication of a breakdown in US military procedures governing airstrikes, the official stressed, and the US is not contemplating a pause in military operations.

But the potential that the US is responsible for some, or all, of the deaths is considered serious enough that Central Command, which oversees operations in Iraq and Syria, is working around the clock trying to assess exactly what happened, the official said.
The possibility of US military responsibility in civilian deaths illustrates the growing challenge of conducting increased airstrikes in the densely populated neighborhoods of both west Mosul and Raqqa, officials said.

The most extensive case involves western Mosul. The US military is trying to determine if sometime between March 17 and March 23, bombs dropped in a neighborhood by US warplanes resulted in the deaths of more than 200 civilians. The incidents military officials are looking into are based largely on local reports and social media accounts of the strikes.

"The coalition conducted several strikes near Mosul and we will provide this information to our civilian casualty team for further investigation," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said.
Coalition forces announced Saturday that they have opened a formal investigation into the alleged civilian casualties in western Mosul, saying data from that time frame confirms military strikes hit ISIS forces "at the location corresponding to allegations of civilian casualties" on March 17.

The coalition "takes all allegations of civilian casualties seriously" and opened the investigation "to determine the facts surrounding this strike and the validity of the allegation of civilian casualties," the statement said.

Separately, a US defense official told CNN the military is trying to determine how many civilians were killed in the Mosul strikes and how it may have happened. Some of the questions the military is asking are: Did the US strike the buildings that the civilians were allegedly killed in, and if so, why did the US not know civilians were there? Did US forces strike the wrong buildings and not what they meant to target? How many civilians might have been killed? Were they killed by US bombs, or was there a secondary explosion from the bombing or blast waves that caused further destruction?

The US has not ruled out the possibility that ISIS was using some people as human shields, but the official who has direct knowledge of the investigation said there is urgency to find out if the US was responsible because of the scope of what may have happened.

However, US officials cautioned that local reports can be difficult to verify because the US does not have anyone on the ground, and may be unreliable because they lack the precise detail the military wants to have to determine what happened.

The chairman of Nineveh Provincial Council in Iraq, Bashar al Kiki, told CNN that at least 200 people were killed in the western Mosul neighborhoods of al Jadidah, al Amel and al Yarmouk in airstrikes by the US-led coalition and Iraqi Air Force on March 22 and March 23. The Iraqi official demanded an end to military operations in the area until civilians' safety can be guaranteed.

"Most of (those) killed are civilians, among them children and women," al Kiki told CNN. "Nineveh Provincial Council members call on Iraqi security forces to stop the military operations in these areas immediately and until we guarantee the safety of hundreds of thousands of civilians."

And Basma Bassem, a member of the Mosul City Council, told CNN that the death toll could rise significantly because rescue operations are still underway.

The Pentagon spokesman said the US is studying the allegations. "The coalition has opened a formal civilian casualty credibility assessment on this allegation, and we are currently analyzing conflicting allegations and all possible strikes in that area," Pahon said.

The US military also has begun a formal investigation into a March 16 airstrike in northern Syria, where local reports say a mosque was struck and more than 40 people died. For days the Pentagon said there were no civilian casualties in the March 16 incident, even as numerous social media reports showed images of bodies being carried out of the rubble.

In the initial hours following the strike by US drones and aircraft, the Pentagon had been adamant that it had only hit a building some 40 feet away from the mosque, where it said al Qaeda members were holding a meeting.

"We do not currently assess there were any civilian casualties," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters on March 17, the day after the strike. "As always, you know we take extraordinary measures to mitigate the loss of civilian life in our operations."

At the time, Davis also showed a photo of the still-standing mosque and a larger building a short distance away. Half of that building had been clearly destroyed in an airstrike. The Pentagon could not say if that larger building had any religious use, and would only say it was certain that a meeting of al Qaeda operatives was underway when it was struck. Defense officials said then that they were convinced the target was legitimate and no civilians were present based on lengthy overhead surveillance before and after the strike.

The investigation into the March 16 airstrike will be conducted under Army rules in a so-called "15-6" fact-finding investigation, named after the regulation governing how it will be conducted. Two US defense officials confirmed the investigation has been initiated by the Joint Special Operations Command which conducted the mission. The investigation will eventually be reviewed by Gen. Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command, who oversees all military operations in the region. Votel can either accept the investigation's findings, or send it on for further review by military legal authorities, the officials said.

This is not a criminal investigation. But by using this method, an investigating officer is appointed who then has the ability to question US military personnel and review classified material -- in this case to determine if civilians were killed. If that determination is made, it will be up to Votel to decide if further action is warranted.

The same investigatory process has been used by Central Command recently in two highly controversial cases. In 2015, a US Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing several people. The investigation found that military procedures were not followed, leading to the wrong building being attacked. Most recently, an investigation into the shooting deaths of three Army Special Forces soldiers in Jordan found they were behaving correctly when they entered a Jordanian military base, something that was originally disputed.

In a third instance, Central Command is also reviewing an airstrike against a school building Wednesday near Raqqa. Local activists have said an airstrike may have killed more than 30 civilians seeking shelter there. The US was conducting strikes in the area, the defense official said. Central Command is trying to determine if it hit the correct building, and if civilians whom US military officials did not know about may have been inside.


CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report.


http://edition.cnn.com


*________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________*



*US Marines join local forces fighting in Raqqa*






(CNN)US Marines have arrived in northern Syria with artillery to support US-backed local forces fighting there, two US officials told CNN.

The US-backed fighters are preparing to move in the coming weeks to assault the city of Raqqa, ISIS' self-declared capital, according to the officials. The Pentagon and the Marine Corps have declined to confirm the deployment because of security concerns in the region. They have also declined to specify the exact location of the forces or how many are there.
The Washington Post was the first to report the deployment of the Marines.





*Photos: Life inside Raqqa*
In this photo from November 29, 2015, provided to CNN by the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, residents assess the damage to a building in the northern Syrian city -- ISIS's headquarters -- which has been the target of French airstrikes in recent weeks.

The deployment does not come as a surprise. Military commanders have discussed for weeks the possibility of putting artillery forces into the area, with the goal of accelerating the capabilities of the US-backed Arab and Kurdish forces there. A similar deployment last year near Mosul, Iraq involved several hundred Marines equipped with artillery guns that fire shells to provide covering fire for advancing forces.

Because Marines were already deployed to the region, the movement into Syria did not have to be specifically approved by President Donald Trump or Defense Secretary James Mattis -- but both the White House and Pentagon were aware of the plan, officials said.
The Marines deployed from ships in the Persian Gulf region.

This is the second major expansion of US ground forces in northern Syria in days.

The US has also deployed approximately 100 Army Rangers in and around Manbij, Syria. US officials have taken the unusual step of publicly talking about the Ranger deployment and where they are located to protect against them inadvertently coming under fire from forces fighting in the region or Turkish, Russian or Syrian forces. The US troops in Manbij are trying to deter hostilities due to their visible presence, rather than the typical mission of training, advising and assisting local forces.

It is also not clear if the deployment of the Marines and Rangers violates the current cap on US forces in Syria. That cap broadly restricts the US to having more than 500 forces there at any one time. Until now, troops in the area have largely been Special Operations Forces.

The US believes the pressure on ISIS in Raqqa is working. A US official told reporters Wednesday that intelligence indicates some ISIS leadership and operatives continue to try to leave the city. There is also US intelligence that indicates the city is laced with trenches, tunnels, roadside bombs and houses and buildings wired to explode, the official said. If correct, it indicates that the US has likely been able to gather intelligence from both overhead surveillance aircraft and people on the ground.

However, the official also noted that "Raqqa will probably not be the final battle against ISIS," and added that the group still has some personnel dispersed in areas south and east of the city.

ISIS could have as many as 4,000 fighters in Raqqa, according to very rough US estimates, the official said.







By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent


http://edition.cnn.com/marines-raqqa-assault-syria/.html


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## MilitaryAttractions

Vox just realeased a new video a few days ago...


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## TKK

Moonlight said:


> Few hours ago, I came across a video of AJ+, showing just a month old baby girl, pulled out by the rescue volunteer from the rubble in Syria. It was so heartbreaking and is not the only video from Syria made me cry or enough painful to make anyone else cry.
> She was under the rubble for 2 hours. And I failed to understand her mistake or crime. What harm she has caused to USA, Russia, Iran, KSA, or whoever is involved in this war.
> She is born to a Muslim family? One sect or the other? She is born in Syria?
> What exactly her mistake is? I couldn't find satisfying answer for myself.
> I have tried enough (I guess) to understand the ACTUAL reason of war in Syria? I research, read articles and news & again have no conception of it. Who actually is right and who's wrong? Who's fighting who? And who's supporting who? I am clueless. Who will cover up the damage has been caused to Syria? And no one knows for how long it will to end. Who will bring back normal lives to them and bring back their beloved ones? That emotional torture these young minds are going through will stay there forever. And who is responsible for taking their childhood away?
> While these decision makers or officials of all the countries involved in this war are living peaceful lives and their kids hear "bedtime stories" of life, love, and joy, Syrian kids are getting tortured with the sounds of bombs. Who is to be blamed?
> Whenever I try to understand this conflict, I end up with this as an answer.
> View attachment 339558
> 
> A picture shows who's fighting who in Syria.
> 
> Now I have a humble request to all sane members of PDF to help me find my answer. Please!
> (And pardon my lack of knowledge).
> 
> Edit: Even if I get my answer, sadly, things won't change for people of Syria. My sincere prayers for them.
> 
> Ps: please keep this thread free of trolls & a very humble request to be sane enough and don't take it to the direction of "sectarianism".
> 
> Regards!



The U.S thinks that the international community is dumb enough to deem their unlawful bombings on the sovereign state of Syria as justified? I just read an article written about Russia & u.s talks relating to this horrible incident, both blaming each other! Why is the Muslim community silent? I can share the link if u guys want to have a look




Moscow tells US Secretary Tillerson not to strike Syria again - Global Village Space
Syria and North Korea are two main subjects of today’s talks between U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in…
GLOBALVILLAGESPACE.COM


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## Umaish Khan

*The Syrian Quagmire – Pakistan’s Perspective *




The Syrian quagmire is one of the most baffling war in the history of mankind. As Syria war continues and as Pakistan’s ex-Army Chief General Raheel Sharif is nominated the chief of Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT), it may be time for Pakistanis to revisit the Syrian conflict for a better understanding to reach consensus on what should be Pakistan’s Syria policy, especially after the election of Donald Trump, whose Syria strategy is still unclear even after a clear shift in policy after recent strikes on Syrian Army airbase, which were in response to a chemical attack allegedly by Assad according to U.S. and its allies but disputed by Syrian regime and its allies Russia and Iran. Pakistan, who itself is a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), condemned the chemical attack and called on all parties to find a peaceful resolution to the Syrian conflict. What initially started as a civil war has become such a nonsensical quagmire that even the parties involved have little idea where to go from here.

*Continue to read @ groundzero-pk*


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## Zhukov

Four Major Ground forces are.

Syrian Arab Army
Daesh
Free Syrian Army
Kurdish Rojawa

and Foreign players are 
Russia and Iran
Turkey
USA and Allies

Iran Russia And Syrian Arab Army are Allies and Against Free Syrian Army and Daesh

Trukey is Allied To Free Syrian Army and Against Syrian Arab Army and Daesh

USA is Allied to Free Syrian Army and Kirdish Rojawa and Against Syrian Arab Army and Daesh.

And There is a working relation amoung Syrian Arab Army and Kurdish Rojawa against daesh threat.

And Daesh is against everyone.

Hope i have summarized it in best possible manner.

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## M.R.9

Syrian rebels are fighting with the western world. Not only western world but also fighting with all non- muslim lands . And some culprit muslim lands real face came to the front line.


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## Motti

> Who is Fighting Who in Syria?



Whenever you have the US interfering in the affairs of other nations, it does not matter. All the bloody yanks want is a bloodbath!


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## Cell_DbZ

I believe there are 4 major sides:

-First of you have the Assad regime, pro regime millitia's and Hezbollah (extremist shia group). They are supported by Russia and Iran. China also gives diplomatic support to Assad.

-Second, you have the Free Syrian Army (the rebels/ 'moderate' opposition), they work together with the Syrian Al-Qaeda and other extremist/jihadist groups. they are supported bu the usa and its western allies. Al-qaeda is allegedly supported by some rich olgigarchs/imans from Saudi arabia, Qatar, UAE and Turkey.

- Third, you have the mainly Kurdish Syrian Defence Force. They are also supported by the usa and its allies. They are (partly) opposed by the Turks and the Free Syrian Army. They have an uneasy neutrality with the Assad government.

- Lastly, you have ISIS who are at war with everyone. (again they have alleged support from foreign countries).

You also have some wildcards like Israel, who aren't involved in the war, but occasionally attack Hezbollah/Assad for alleged weapon smuggling/attack to Israeli terretory.

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## Desertfalcon

ahmadnawaz22 said:


> Four Major Ground forces are.
> 
> Syrian Arab Army
> Daesh
> Free Syrian Army
> Kurdish Rojawa
> 
> and Foreign players are
> Russia and Iran
> Turkey
> USA and Allies
> 
> Iran Russia And Syrian Arab Army are Allies and Against Free Syrian Army and Daesh
> 
> Trukey is Allied To Free Syrian Army and Against Syrian Arab Army and Daesh
> 
> USA is Allied to Free Syrian Army and Kirdish Rojawa and Against Syrian Arab Army and Daesh.
> 
> And There is a working relation amoung Syrian Arab Army and Kurdish Rojawa against daesh threat.
> 
> And Daesh is against everyone.
> 
> Hope i have summarized it in best possible manner.



I think you did.

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## Synergy

I suggest to read ''The Deserter Tale'' book written by an amercian soldier joshua key who knows the ground reality which he has mentioned in this book


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## nowleak

nice infographic you need to work more


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## Ivan the Immigrant

I believe Syria war is WW3 in it's early stage.


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## jamahir

django said:


> @Moonlight The people of Syria wanted a democratic government based on the lines of Turkey, however Assad and his minority Alawites did not want this to come to fruition as it would have meant an end to their power and potentially being bought to justice for crimes that have been committed in the past



django bhai, there I disagree with you.

The Syrian government, police and military is made up of not only Alawi but also of other sects like Sunni, Turkomani etc. Bashar al-Assad's wife is Sunni.

The Syrian government is democratic even if authoritarian. For a true democracy the Syrians should adopt the direct democracy system that was present in Libya as of 2011.

---







---

@Moonlight

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## django

jamahir said:


> django bhai, there I disagree with you.
> 
> The Syrian government, police and military is made up of not only Alawi but also of other sects like Sunni, Turkomani etc. Bashar al-Assad's wife is Sunni.
> 
> The Syrian government is democratic even if authoritarian. For a true democracy the Syrians should adopt the direct democracy system that was present in Libya as of 2011.
> 
> ---
> 
> View attachment 432297
> 
> 
> ---
> 
> @Moonlight


We will have to agree to disagree on this one bhai.Kudos

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## katsung47

Russia and Assad regime are fighting with US and rebel army and I.S.

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## Security Counsil

.


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## M.R.9

* Rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are a diverse group, ranging from young civilians with no military experience to seasoned soldiers who defected from the army. But they all have the same goal, the end of the Assad regime which considers them to be terrorists- Syrian rebels are the armed wing of the opposition movement that emerged out of the 2011 uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. They do not represent the whole of Syria's diverse opposition, but they stand on the frontline of Syria's civil war.*


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## Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen

M.R.9 said:


> * Rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are a diverse group, ranging from young civilians with no military experience to seasoned soldiers who defected from the army. But they all have the same goal, the end of the Assad regime which considers them to be terrorists- Syrian rebels are the armed wing of the opposition movement that emerged out of the 2011 uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. They do not represent the whole of Syria's diverse opposition, but they stand on the frontline of Syria's civil war.*



And according to UN definition all those who take up arms against a UN member state are terrorists.


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## M.R.9

undertakerwwefan said:


> And according to UN definition all those who take up arms against a UN member state are terrorists.



Cent percent lied. In Syria there is no terrorist group. And You know UN works for whom-


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## Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen

M.R.9 said:


> Cent percent lied. In Syria there is no terrorist group. And You know UN works for whom-



It doesn't matter who the UN works for. The UN charter is extremely clear. And there's no way around it.

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## LordTyrannus

There is only one major conflict in syria

Muslims vs infidels


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## M.R.9

undertakerwwefan said:


> It doesn't matter who the UN works for. The UN charter is extremely clear. And there's no way around it.



What is clear ? a battle of shampain , What the gave to the serbian forces ?


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## Möbius Curve

Who is fighting who? 

The Syrian Government under Bashar al Assad is backed by two of its strong Allies, Russia and Iran, almost dominantly, though Syrian Government Forces is also augmented by Foreign Loyalists mostly against ISIS/Daesh and other terrorist groups. Liwa Al Quds (Palestinian Brigade: Comprised of Palestinians who were expelled after creation of Israel in 1948 and are predominantly Sunni) is also supporting Syrian Government forces.

Turky: Groups like Zinki Movement, National Front for Liberation, Jaish al Izza, Free Syrian Army (FSA), are supported by Ankara Government. They are also fighting with Syrian Government forces and their bigger nemesis are Kurds: Kurds have a chequered history of attacks on Turkish Military bordering Northern Turkey, particularly pushing for creation of independent Kurdistan. Keep in mind that Turkey had been a major Gateway for the entry of Jihadist Groups from the Northern Turkey. 

Israel: the country which single handedly did the MOST damage to Syria by the creation of ISIS/Daesh. Since the creation of Deash/ISIS it gained momentum, attracted a large number of recruits from other splintering Jihadi groups, heated inter-rebel wars and stunned the world by its brutal executions, thus psychology of Fear. But their KHILAFA is crumbled as of Now and Syrian Government forces are cleaning their last resort in Eastern Syria. Here, too, keep in mind that for a long duration Syrian Presidency was target of Israel. Read about "Eli Cohan", the MOSSAD spy who penetrated the highest echelons of Syrian government.

U.S: Same tactics like Israel. They supported ISIS/Daesh as well and overtimes accidentally dropped weapons for them, apparently mistakenly. Now they support YPG, Kurdish group responsible for Terror attacks on Turkish Military.
View media item 17692Saudi Arabia: It too played a very dubious role. Keep in mind the Saudi Billion Dollars purchase of Defence hardware from America. Possibly it could have been landing in Syria too, to different Wahabist/Salafist Jihadi groups. And the scandal of Saudi Prince smuggling Captagon Pills, which ISIS fighters used during War for increased ecstasy is also eye opening.

Tonnes and tonnes of material is available on Syrian war. Pursue the independent channels and you will find what you are looking far.

Though Syria was betrayed and I always feel sorry, the way we were misfed wrong information from Western Channels, and salute to the courage of Syrian Government forces who have regained their lost territory after Eight years of bloody War, but at a very cost, definitely.



Moonlight said:


> Few hours ago, I came across a video of AJ+, showing just a month old baby girl, pulled out by the rescue volunteer from the rubble in Syria. It was so heartbreaking and is not the only video from Syria made me cry or enough painful to make anyone else cry.
> She was under the rubble for 2 hours. And I failed to understand her mistake or crime. What harm she has caused to USA, Russia, Iran, KSA, or whoever is involved in this war.
> She is born to a Muslim family? One sect or the other? She is born in Syria?
> What exactly her mistake is? I couldn't find satisfying answer for myself.
> I have tried enough (I guess) to understand the ACTUAL reason of war in Syria? I research, read articles and news & again have no conception of it. Who actually is right and who's wrong? Who's fighting who? And who's supporting who? I am clueless. Who will cover up the damage has been caused to Syria? And no one knows for how long it will to end. Who will bring back normal lives to them and bring back their beloved ones? That emotional torture these young minds are going through will stay there forever. And who is responsible for taking their childhood away?
> While these decision makers or officials of all the countries involved in this war are living peaceful lives and their kids hear "bedtime stories" of life, love, and joy, Syrian kids are getting tortured with the sounds of bombs. Who is to be blamed?
> Whenever I try to understand this conflict, I end up with this as an answer.
> View attachment 339558
> 
> A picture shows who's fighting who in Syria.
> 
> Now I have a humble request to all sane members of PDF to help me find my answer. Please!
> (And pardon my lack of knowledge).
> 
> Edit: Even if I get my answer, sadly, things won't change for people of Syria. My sincere prayers for them.
> 
> Ps: please keep this thread free of trolls & a very humble request to be sane enough and don't take it to the direction of "sectarianism".
> 
> Regards!


The more Complicated it becomes, the more Interesting & meaningful it becomes!


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## Nasr

*America Created Al-Qaeda and the ISIS Terror Group*
_
Incisive article originally published by GR in September 2014. _

_Much like Al Qaeda, the Islamic State (ISIS) is made-in-the-USA, an instrument of terror designed to divide and conquer the oil-rich Middle East and to counter Iran’s growing influence in the region._

_The fact that the United States has a long and torrid history of backing terrorist groups will surprise only those who watch the news and ignore history._

_The CIA first aligned itself with extremist Islam during the Cold War era. Back then, America saw the world in rather simple terms: on one side, the Soviet Union and Third World nationalism, which America regarded as a Soviet tool; on the other side, Western nations and militant political Islam, which America considered an ally in the struggle against the Soviet Union._

The director of the National Security Agency under Ronald Reagan, General William Odom recently remarked, “by any measure the U.S. has long used terrorism. In 1978-79 the Senate was trying to pass a law against international terrorism – in every version they produced, the lawyers said the U.S. would be in violation.”

During the 1970’s the CIA used the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as a barrier, both to thwart Soviet expansion and prevent the spread of Marxist ideology among the Arab masses. The United States also openly supported Sarekat Islam against Sukarno in Indonesia, and supported the Jamaat-e-Islami terror group against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in Pakistan. Last but certainly not least, there is Al Qaeda.

Lest we forget, the CIA gave birth to Osama Bin Laden and breastfed his organization during the 1980’s. Former British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, told the House of Commons that Al Qaeda was unquestionably a product of Western intelligence agencies. Mr. Cook explained that Al Qaeda, which literally means an abbreviation of “the database” in Arabic, was originally the computer database of the thousands of Islamist extremists, who were trained by the CIA and funded by the Saudis, in order to defeat the Russians in Afghanistan.

America’s relationship with Al Qaeda has always been a love-hate affair. Depending on whether a particular Al Qaeda terrorist group in a given region furthers American interests or not, the U.S. State Department either funds or aggressively targets that terrorist group. Even as American foreign policy makers claim to oppose Muslim extremism, they knowingly foment it as a weapon of foreign policy.

The Islamic State is its latest weapon that, much like Al Qaeda, is certainly backfiring. ISIS recently rose to international prominence after its thugs began beheading American journalists.

Now the terrorist group controls an area the size of the United Kingdom.

In order to understand why the Islamic State has grown and flourished so quickly, one has to take a look at the organization’s American-backed roots. The 2003 American invasion and occupation of Iraq created the pre-conditions for radical Sunni groups, like ISIS, to take root. America, rather unwisely, destroyed Saddam Hussein’s secular state machinery and replaced it with a predominantly Shiite administration. The U.S. occupation caused vast unemployment in Sunni areas, by rejecting socialism and closing down factories in the naive hope that the magical hand of the free market would create jobs. Under the new U.S.-backed Shiite regime, working class Sunni’s lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Unlike the white Afrikaners in South Africa, who were allowed to keep their wealth after regime change, upper class Sunni’s were systematically dispossessed of their assets and lost their political influence. Rather than promoting religious integration and unity, American policy in Iraq exacerbated sectarian divisions and created a fertile breading ground for Sunni discontent, from which Al Qaeda in Iraq took root.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) used to have a different name: Al Qaeda in Iraq. After 2010 the group rebranded and refocused its efforts on Syria.

There are essentially three wars being waged in Syria: one between the government and the rebels, another between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and yet another between America and Russia. It is this third, neo-Cold War battle that made U.S. foreign policy makers decide to take the risk of arming Islamist rebels in Syria, because Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, is a key Russian ally. Rather embarrassingly, many of these Syrian rebels have now turned out to be ISIS thugs, who are openly brandishing American-made M16 Assault rifles.

America’s Middle East policy revolves around oil and Israel. The invasion of Iraq has partially satisfied Washington’s thirst for oil, but ongoing air strikes in Syria and economic sanctions on Iran have everything to do with Israel. The goal is to deprive Israel’s neighboring enemies, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Palestine’s Hamas, of crucial Syrian and Iranian support.

ISIS is not merely an instrument of terror used by America to topple the Syrian government; it is also used to put pressure on Iran.

The last time Iran invaded another nation was in 1738. Since independence in 1776, the U.S. has been engaged in over 53 military invasions and expeditions. Despite what the Western media’s war cries would have you believe, Iran is clearly not the threat to regional security, Washington is. An Intelligence Report published in 2012, endorsed by all sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies, confirms that Iran ended its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Truth is, any Iranian nuclear ambition, real or imagined, is as a result of American hostility towards Iran, and not the other way around.

America is using ISIS in three ways: to attack its enemies in the Middle East, to serve as a pretext for U.S. military intervention abroad, and at home to foment a manufactured domestic threat, used to justify the unprecedented expansion of invasive domestic surveillance.

By rapidly increasing both government secrecy and surveillance, Mr. Obama’s government is increasing its power to watch its citizens, while diminishing its citizens’ power to watch their government. Terrorism is an excuse to justify mass surveillance, in preparation for mass revolt.

The so-called “War on Terror” should be seen for what it really is: a pretext for maintaining a dangerously oversized U.S. military. The two most powerful groups in the U.S. foreign policy establishment are the Israel lobby, which directs U.S. Middle East policy, and the Military-Industrial-Complex, which profits from the former group’s actions. Since George W. Bush declared the “War on Terror” in October 2001, it has cost the American taxpayer approximately 6.6 trillion dollars and thousands of fallen sons and daughters; but, the wars have also raked in billions of dollars for Washington’s military elite.

In fact, more than seventy American companies and individuals have won up to $27 billion in contracts for work in postwar Iraq and Afghanistan over the last three years, according to a recent study by the Center for Public Integrity. According to the study, nearly 75 per cent of these private companies had employees or board members, who either served in, or had close ties to, the executive branch of the Republican and Democratic administrations, members of Congress, or the highest levels of the military.

In 1997, a U.S. Department of Defense report stated, “the data show a strong correlation between U.S. involvement abroad and an increase in terrorist attacks against the U.S.” Truth is, the only way America can win the “War On Terror” is if it stops giving terrorists the motivation and the resources to attack America. Terrorism is the symptom; American imperialism in the Middle East is the cancer. Put simply, the War on Terror is terrorism; only, it is conducted on a much larger scale by people with jets and missiles.

_*Garikai Chengu* is a research scholar at Harvard University.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/america-created-al-qaeda-and-the-isis-terror-group/5402881_

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## Nasr

It has been reported that 600 additional zionist-american military personnel have arrived at a zionist-american military base in Syria. Report comes amid claims made by Trump administration, stating that american military will withdraw from Syria. Story still developing, awaiting further details on this news.

===========================

*Some 600 US Soldiers Arrived at Syria Military Bases Amid Pullout - Reports*

In December, US President Donald Trump declared victory over the Daesh* terrorist group and said he would withdraw some 2,000 US troops who are currently deployed in the Middle Eastern country.

Around 600 US soldiers arrived at Syrian military bases located to the east of the Euphrates, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported on Monday.

The US servicemen are now located at bases in Aleppo province, including in the Sarin region, as these are expected to become the key points where the US troops will be withdrawing from the war-torn state, Anadolu specified.

The recently-arrived American military will assist the troops during the withdrawal process.

This comes after last week, CNN reported, citing sources, that Washington has sent additional armed forces to Syria to guarantee the secure withdrawal of its troops from the Middle Eastern state.

The move follows Donald Trump's December announcement that the terrorist group Daesh had been defeated, and that he would withdraw some 2,000 US troops currently deployed in Syria. Washington, however, said that it would not disclose a timeline for withdrawing its troops, and pledged that the US-led international coalition's fight against terrorism would continue.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201901281071879593-syria-us-soldiers/


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## BATMAN

*German court hands down historic Syrian torture verdict*








German court hands down historic Syrian torture verdict – DW – 02/24/2021


A former member of the Syrian secret police has been sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for being an accomplice to crimes against humanity in his homeland. The trial in Koblenz is the first of its kind worldwide.




www.dw.com


----------

