Photo allegedly showing ISIS killing a man in Homs, Syria, for homosexuality earlier this year (Daily Mail, 7/23/15)
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia suddenly escalated the stakes in his contest with the West over influence in the Middle East on Wednesday, as Russian pilots carried out their first airstrikes in Syria….
Russian officials and analysts portrayed the move as an attempt both to fight Islamic State militants and to try to ensure the survival of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia’s main ally in the Middle East. But Homs is not under the control of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
—New York Times (9/30/15)
A Syrian opposition activist network, the Local Co-ordination Committees, said Russian warplanes hit five towns—Zafaraneh, Rastan, Talbiseh, Makarmia and Ghanto—resulting in the deaths of 36 people, including five children.
None of the areas targeted were controlled by IS, activists said.
—BBC (9/30/15)
The Islamic State jihadist group executed nine men and a boy it accused of being gay in central and northern Syria on Monday, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the jihadists shot dead seven men in Rastan, a town in Homs province of central Syria, “after accusing them of being homosexual.”
—AFP (9/21/15)
This is a serious breach of memory-hole/doublethink discipline, Jim. Please report to Miniluv immediately.
This is analysis from FAIR is shameful. The Free Syrian Army has already stated they have been targeted by Russian air strikes. http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-34404438?live_variant=nonjs And speaking of violent homophobic forces… https://www.rt.com/politics/317045-war-on-terror-is-sacred/
So, to justify a Russian bombing campaign you would condemn were it Israel or the United States, you spent 5 minutes Googling — and ignored the fact that the FSA already confirmed it was their units who were attacked (ISIS, meanwhile, has been pretty quiet). You’d think you’d have learned the last time you wrote about Syria that maybe you shouldn’t write about something you know jack shit about: https://fair.org/blog/2013/09/01/which-syrian-chemical-attack-account-is-more-credible/
Ugh Charlie boy you sound butthurt as hell, truth hurts but get over it
RSCTRI, FSA can lie but lets hope they didn’t , they are murderers and only thing shameful here is your butthurt level, lmao point out to facts to jihadi lovers and russphobes and they have a stroke. BTW your and Charlie boys post is very similar, run out of propaganda cards?
“The dominant factions in Talbiseh and the nearby town of al-Rastan are tied to the Free Syrian Army,” or: maybe the activists were telling the truth when they said, “None of the areas targeted were controlled by IS.” (http://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-seeks-parliaments-approval-for-use-of-force-outside-russia-1443600142)
Without even reading it you can see that they are saying that at a minimum, ISIS was where the Russians bombed and doing terrible things there. With that story they do two things at once. They appear to justify the Russian bombing, even if it turns out to be a mistake, and they put the spotlight back on ISIS and its terrible crimes, and the picture they provide is the proof.
The only problem is that a Google search of this image quickly reveals that the consensus of opinion is that it presents ISIS crimes in Palmaya, not Homs as the FAIR caption incorrectly states. That caption is not the one used by the Daily Mail, that caption was created by FAIR, although, to be fair, the Daily Mail article does say the images were “thought to be in Homs, Syria.”
While Palmyra is in Homs province, it is far from the area stuck by Russia, as the map below shows. This is the BBC map of the area hit by the Russian air strike, I superimposed a map of Syria on to this to locate Palmyra on the BBC map except it wasn’t even on the map! As you can see, I had to extend the canvas far to the right to show Palmyra. It is so deep into the blue IS area of the BBC map that they don’t show it. The FAIR article also implies the picture was taken last week when it is more than 2 months old.
I find this piece of fraudulent journalism one of the worst I have ever seen for two reasons: 1) It’s coming from a group that use to be a watch dog for precisely this sort of thing, a group named Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, 2) It is being done to apologize and excuse a new case of imperialist aggression in what is already the worst humanitarian disaster since World War II and is becoming the Paris Commune of the 21st century. What scum some of these “anti-imperialists” have become.
Brilliant RT.com imitation, Naureckas. You nailed it.
Clay Claiborne, wow, and this is the level of Western secret services operatives, you’re showing here? A pretty low level, I’d say. Trying to deflect the attention from the Western media/bloody jihadists to a picture, that DOES NOT say it was taken and is picturing an event IN RASTAN. It says in plain English: “Photo allegedly showing ISIS killing a man in Homs, Syria, for homosexuality earlier this year” Got it?!
Fact checking is hell, ain’t it?
Clay said “I find this piece of fraudulent journalism one of the worst I have ever seen.” Really is your list that short? Where is it even specified the picture was supposed to show the same event? The relevant report says ISIS shot 9 men dead in Rastan, 9 days before rebels claimed no ISIS “control” in Rastan Just a commander, once abducted and released by ISIS … and this report … and what else? I should dig. You seek to bury instead. Huh. The photo shows a gravity execution, not a shooting, and doesn’t claim to be Rastan, just Homs (city or province? I can’t know so I’ll presume the honest one) So I see nothing against the relevant point, no cause for dismay, no good reason for your dramatics there. I presume there is a reason you have to keep striking that pose, but not knowing what it is … whatever, man.
and to follow up … with this article, Clay incoherently whines, “They appear to justify the Russian bombing, even if it turns out to be a mistake, and they put the spotlight back on ISIS and its terrible crimes, and the picture they provide is the proof.
The only problem is …” That wasn’t it at all, itb was one of those irrelevant illustration photos that confuse a few people sometimes. And so your distraction is noticeable. Did you notice that you were distracting and muddying the waters? Why didn’t you stop yourself if you noticed it? And if you didn’t, take note you’re senses might be fading.