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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria's desperate rebels flee new northern offensive by Assad's army |
| 2012-03-03 |
| Far from bowing to international pressure over the brutal siege of Homs, Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad is extending his military clampdown across the country. he last defenders of the free Syrian village of Ain al-Beida were huddling from a biting wind in a Turkish border town. They were still covered with mud from their desperate escape over the mountains. The previous day, the unit of 50 ragged fighters were driven out of their village by 500 Syrian soldiers backed with tanks. Afterwards, President Bashar al-AssadÂ’s forces burnt the buildings and planted landmines. "WeÂ’ve never seen them fight like that before, they were crazed," said Jamal, a rebel commander, on Saturday. "You shot them and they didnÂ’t drop. They must have been drugged or something." Many other villages in Idlib province, in the north along the Turkish border, got the same treatment last week. While the world's attention was focused on the horror being inflicted on Homs, where Syrian troops were accused of "medieval barbarity" by David Cameron, President Assad expanded his scorched-earth policy northwards in an apparent bid to destroy the rebel movement altogether. "There are soldiers everywhere now," said one man who escaped out of Idlib province on Friday night. "They have flooded the countryside, shelling the villages, searching and raiding everywhere." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 Zhang Fei, Muslims are not above holding mutually contradictory thoughts. 9/11 hijackers went to a strip club before going on their holy mission. |
| Posted by: gromky 2012-03-03 22:50 |
| #6 Drugs have been used in the past. Super warrior. I have heard of this being done many times in history. "they were crazed", this will put fear into any opposition. Biting wind is because it has been snowing and cold. Some were saying the rebels cause had been lost last week. |
| Posted by: Dale 2012-03-03 20:59 |
| #5 "Sl0ts" spelled with an "o" is apparently a banned word, so I replaced it with "places". |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-03-03 18:56 |
| #4 If they really believed checking out while slaughtering infidels would be rewarded by Allah with places in heaven for them and 72 other favored friends and family, why the need for earthly compensation? Not to mention major narcotics-binging prior to the attacks? |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-03-03 18:54 |
| #3 Yes - Islamists claim to love offing themselves as we love life, but the reality is that the number who actually believe that is probably zero - just about every Islamist who has conducted a self-immolation has required major monetary payments to his family members by sponsoring terror groups/Muslim governments. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-03-03 18:52 |
| #2 "We've never seen them fight like that before, they were crazed," said Jamal, a rebel commander, on Saturday. "You shot them and they didn't drop. They must have been drugged or something." The Islamists are merely fighting for the right to liquidate non-Sunnis at their whim. The Alawites, Christians and other religious minorities who are the core of Assad's military are fighting for their lives. I would expect their motivational levels to be somewhat different. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-03-03 18:50 |
| #1 Test |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-03-03 18:49 |