Syria {Masterlist}
first posted June 14, 2015
last updates June 21, 2017
A rather impressive amount of research has been done on many episodes and patterns of the Syria conflict at the ACLOS wiki (A Closer Look On Syria), by collecting and analyzing work, reports, and videos by others. So far only select highlights have been brought to this site, with ACLOS links on these crossover subjects given with each post, usually. While not perfect or final, the quantity, quality, and consistency of our results increasingly make these side-lined "pro-regime" analyses much stronger than the pro-opposition versions sold at the time. This is more the shape any reasonable history book will take on the subject. The sharing invites the reader to get ahead of the curve.
The sharing works well when it's two-way. Readers with valuable info, or relevant opinions, are encouraged to submit it in the comments. Preferably they'll be in a post about just that subject (note - not every subject has a post here, and comments sometimes get a bit random, let's limit that a bit more.) General Syria comments could best go in comments under this masterlist, for example.
The sharing works well when it's two-way. Readers with valuable info, or relevant opinions, are encouraged to submit it in the comments. Preferably they'll be in a post about just that subject (note - not every subject has a post here, and comments sometimes get a bit random, let's limit that a bit more.) General Syria comments could best go in comments under this masterlist, for example.
See also: all posts tagged Syria
7 Leading Propaganda Claims Addressed
Some of our best work has been in tackling the events in Syria that came closest to triggering outright military intervention to "stop Assad" or get cited the most by those arguing for such moves. This is my top 7 from among these (re-ordered May, 2016). Note: this assembled material makes this post a valuable resource to bookmark, peruse, and share.
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| Executed police thrown in river, Hama, August 1 (Rebellion...Hama pt. 1) |
* The Peaceful Protests of 2011 {Masterlist} (forthcoming)
* Baniyas The Baniyas Ambush of Syrian Soldiers, April 10, 2011
* Daraa Re-Considering Hamza al-Khatib and the Events of April 29, 2011 Arrested from a peaceful protest and tortured to death? Seriously - that's a question mark at the end.
* Hama Deaths by Shooting: The Rebellion Starts in Hama, part 1
* Hama Robert Ford, Weapons Inspector: The Rebellion Starts in Hama, part 2
* Hama To Kill a Mock-Nightingale: The Rebellion Starts in Hama, part 3
* Hama Crushing the Rebellion at al-Mazarb Bridge: The Rebellion Begins in Hama, part 4
* Jisr al-Shughour: Peaceful Protests in Jisr al-Shughour (forthcoming) (See Harmoush defector profile)
2) Chemical Weapons Allegations, Sarin to Chlorine to Sarin Again
* 2.A Idlib Chemical Massacre, 4-4-2017: Alleged sarin attack in Khan Sheikhoun said to kill over 100, including 43 children, triggering the first direct (overtly intentional) US military strikes against Syrian forces ... heavy stuff, ongoing investigation. How did the White House already find out the truth so quickly? They couldn't have. They just took the rebel-claims, which might have concealed a fairly well-planned terrorist false-flag massacre of their own captive civilians.
* Red Flags report: 138 CW incidents, 159 gathered question marks (up to early 2017)
* 2.B Syria Chlorine Allegations (March-??, 2016, emphasis on the first incident, March 16 - overview.
* Terrible Flaws in OPCW's Syria Chlorine Investigation (summarizes all below, adding on the idiocy of the chlorine barrel bombs allegation and the possibility of on-site synthesis)
(3 proper sub-posts)
* Red Flags report: 138 CW incidents, 159 gathered question marks (up to early 2017)
* 2.B Syria Chlorine Allegations (March-??, 2016, emphasis on the first incident, March 16 - overview.
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| Mohammed al-Taleb, treated then dead |
(3 proper sub-posts)
* 1 Why Chlorine?
If hundreds allegedly killed by Sarin didn't get rebels a NATO air
force, why would they bother faking barely-deadly chlorine attacks?
Here's why.
* 2 What Killed the Talebs?
March 16: Rebels and allied medical activists said it was chlorine
dropped by the government, but the visuals suggest the children at
least were killed instead with a drug overdose, assisted by medical negligence.
* 3 Where was Dr. Tennari?
The main source for the apparently false chlorine claims of March 16 is
the director of the hospital where the children died. By the video
record, doesn't even know where he was that night. Or is this
intentional dishonesty?
(and also April - May, 2014)
* Syria Chlorine Allegations: 2014 Attacks Target IDPs
* February, 2017 HRW report assessed
** The Baytounji Family
Something you have to wonder why noone has noticed it so far ... most chlorine deaths are chalked up to people just sitting there and dying in their homes ... but this makes no sense from a scientific perspective. Ooops. That makes these stories read more like (poorly-researched) fiction than like fact.
* 2.C Ghouta Massacre(s) {masterlist}
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| Victims assembled in Douma |
Perhaps the best lead was discovered by an ACLOS ally in his own detailed study that established one batch of victims -in Kafr Batna - was almost surely gassed by rebels with carbon monoxide or hydrogen cyanide gas, in a rebel-held basement. And one victim was executed by a cut throat in the morgue upstairs, after he survived, and in between propaganda videos blaming "Assad" for all of it. So a good guess is: "Assad" was responsible for none of it. See The Ghouta Massacre's Sarin Myth, Brightly Lit: Exploring Kafr Batna's... Rebel Gas Chambers?
Other great leads along the same lines:
* Visual Evidence that the victims were prisoners (of the rebels)
* Death Toll(s) and estimates - body recycling (interrelated, needs clarified)
* by district {masterlist} (12 districts considered in detail in 10 posts - victims from, died in, clinical signs, background and observations - 5 posts up, 5 pending, more overview pending. See Part 2 Jobar for a telling example)
* Zamalka district: medical and media staffs decimated? bizarre allegations considered
* The false-flag gassing of Alawite hostages seized from Latakia just days before... apparently didn't happen. See bottom of the post about them.
* Preceding events: quite troubling, in context: Was the Syria Chemical Weapons Probe "Torpedoed" by the West? (Yes! Re: March, 2013 Khan Al-Assal sarin attack, by rebels - written May 2013, with post-Ghouta incident notes added in 2016)
* The false-flag gassing of Alawite hostages seized from Latakia just days before... apparently didn't happen. See bottom of the post about them.
* Preceding events: quite troubling, in context: Was the Syria Chemical Weapons Probe "Torpedoed" by the West? (Yes! Re: March, 2013 Khan Al-Assal sarin attack, by rebels - written May 2013, with post-Ghouta incident notes added in 2016)
2.D The First Bodies Tossed Across Obama's Red Line
November 2012 to March, 2013, the first 43 people killed, on both sides, by Syrian CW attacks that now come under critical review, in 4 parts.And following the last of those ...
the Syria Chemical Weapons Probe was "Torpedoed" by the West - check my May, 2013 prediction at the end of that.
3) Mass prison torture defector photos allegation
Fail Ceasar: Exposing the Anti-Syria Photo Propaganda
This has been prominent recently, and is now well-covered - detailed and explosive report forthcoming.
4) UN-SARC Convoy Attack {masterlist}
This hasn't remained a central issue, but it is of some importance in context, and fairly well exposed. September 19, 2016: a truck convoy carrying medical aid is attacked, with perhaps everyone killed and most aid destroyed, allegedly by Russian or Syrian bombing. But they had powerful disincentives (the attack derailed a Russia-backed plan to widen the fight against Jabhat al-Nusra), and local Islamist rebels in turn had the real motive (to kill that cease-fire and keep their JaN allies protected). The supposed proof of a Russia-Syria attack apparently does not exist, and many signs say it could very well be the terrorists with the motive - and/or perhaps a sympathetic air force - that carried out this false-flag attack.
5 Houla Massacre {masterlist}
(Taldou, al-Houla, Homs, May 25, 2012) Alleged: 108 Sunnis killed, including 49
children, by army shelling and home invasions by Alawite Shabiha
militia.
Fail Ceasar: Exposing the Anti-Syria Photo Propaganda
This has been prominent recently, and is now well-covered - detailed and explosive report forthcoming.
4) UN-SARC Convoy Attack {masterlist}
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| signs torn off by Russian bombs? |
5 Houla Massacre {masterlist}
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| 2014 report, best evidence |
Instead,
it seems "rebels" or "terrorists" did it, just after they took over all the town's
security posts. This was the last part of Houla the rebels didn't hold
yet. Check and see, they finally took Taldou too, and it happened on May
25, 2012. And despite rebels trying not to show that happening,
carefully analysis of the few videos of the day they did release, shows rebels taking over on that day.
The
witnesses who correctly describe the battle for the Houla Massacre say
the victors killed Sunnis who converted to Shi'ism, Sunnis who supported
the "Alawite regime," and - in a nearby town, killed by other rebels -
Alawite civilians.
6 Al-Bayda and Baniyas Massacres, May 2013
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| Victims near the mosque, opp. photo |
But surprise, the terrorists whose agenda is furthered by mayhem in every province of Syria - it seems - actually caused this mayhem as well.
* Syria's al-Bayda-Baniyas Massacres and "Targeting Specific Communities" They killed a controversial, outspoken government loyalist Imam and dozens of his family, comprising at least half of all victims (counts are very complicated with this one, ranging from 70 to 250+) This seems to be the main target. Sunni, but no longer on the wrong side.
* Bayan Jalloul, Martyr for Truth? In
the next massacre, the alleged Alawite militias did kill an alleged opposition activist and her
family. The story tries to counter the one above, but it's bizarre and
falls apart. Note: this time the 200 dead seems less debatable, but could well include laundered Alawite victims from the city, and maybe lots of them, depending.
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| 40 male alleged attack victims gathered by about the attack time (see here) |
August 16, 2015: an alleged government fighter jet missile attack on 3 crowded public farmer's markets - 550 wounded, 112-125 or more killed, Syrian government universally blamed, no proof there was a jet involved, and serious questions about what really happened.
Why does the pattern of alleged jet strikes look more like the arc of a surface rocket attack?
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| arc of attack mapped to firing loc. (see here) |
Why did the bombs kill almost exclusively men and older boys? Why were they all put in mass graves? Why are the injury/death types different for different genders and ages? How did a jet missile pull one boy apart like he was drawn and quartered, then burn just his face? Why does the "world community" not seem to care about any of these questions?
* October 30 Douma Market Attack
* September 21 Aleppo market attack
* Ariha market, Aug. 3, "massacre of the jet"
===
Other/General PostsSyria, General
* "Mistakes" Behind 4 US Attacks on Syrian Forces - June 2017 shoot-down of SU-22, and three prior incidents- attack details, alleged mistakes by Syria, and clues of the true motive
* Shoukry al-Qouwatly Street Massacre, Or Perhaps Not? A real WTF moment. (Aug 2016)
* Syria Disaster Blame: "Assad" or the Regime Change Campaign?
* Responding to Eric Draitser's "Break the Silence"
* White Helmets Covering up Genopcidal Massacres?
* Was the Syria Chemical Weapons Probe "Torpedoed" by the West? (Yes! Re: March, 2013 Khan Al-Assal sarin attack, by rebels - with post-Ghouta incident notes added in 2016)
* The "Assad Files," smuggled documents said to prove orders for mass torture, rigorously assessed, along with the key witness.
* Jaish al-Islam's way of protecting the Syrian people - on the Saudi-backed "Army of Islam" that was armed to threaten the capitol\, and their record of genocidal crimes against the people in their domain.
* Hussein Harmoush, FSA Defector Profile
* 2012, at the listing of JaN as a terrorist group - protest solidarity: we are all terrorists - a false visual summary (see right) of a real problem.
* Lessons for the Syria Situation: Old post, before any research on Syria, summarizing a few overall findings from Libya that it was thought might be relevant.
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| Strike on SAA in Deir Ezzour, Dec. 6, 2015 |
* Second ISIS conquest of Palmyra, late 2016: Did John Kerry Collude with ISIS?
* Crushed Women in Hama? September 2016
* Omran Daqneesh episode and related: "We Mustn't Turn Away" (August 21, 2016)
* Hayan Missile Massacre: August 12, 2016: 12 children and women killed by an air-strike ... or actually dumped here days after being executed, as the second part of a mass killing of a detained family. Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda terrorists) administer the area.
* Al-Quds Hospital blast: an Inside Job? East Aleppo, April 27, 2016. We can already see no air-strikes hit the building, but there explosions inside... and security video footage basically proves it was arranged from the inside.
* Coalition Airstrike on the Saeqa Army Base near Deir Ezzour, Dec. 6, 2015
* Ter Malla Massacre: al Qaeda or Russia/Syria Bombing?
* Comparing Terrorist Victory Massacres March-June, 2015 in Idlib province: ISIS Commits victory massacres, while Jabhat al-Nusra just finds them? June 10, 2015
* Braying to Assad - later allegation based on an early 2014 event, unclear
* Laundering the Ma'an Massacre? Feb. 8-9, 2014
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| Harbinafsah, laundered? |
* Latakia Massacres, August 2013 (overview and links to 4 sub-posts)
** FSA-ISIS Teamwork in the Latakia Massacres? (August, 2013)
* The Hostages
* Ma'an Massacre, 2012: Did the Rebel Offensive Falter?
* Hama: Hasraya Checkpoint Abuse Video
* Hama: Mawas Family Massacre
* Daraya Massacre August 24-26, 2012, Damascus suburbs, claims of several hundred innocents killed as the army re-conquered a rebel-held suburb of Damascus. But it seems many were rebel fighters killed in that battle, and many others were civilian hostages held by rebels. Early post summarizing initial ACLOS research.
* Killing a Fireman in Syria, mid-2012, area unknown (Aleppo?)
* Re-Considering the case of Hamza Al-Khatib, Deraa, April/May, 2011
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Refuting Reports (some repeated from above)
* MSF, on hospital bombings
* Amnesty Int'l on Sednaya prison mass hanging
* UN, on attack on UN-SARC aid convoy
* OPCW, on chlorine attacks
* HRW, on chlorine attacks
* SNHR, on sectarian massacres ...
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| Districts of Homs city, ACLOS map |
Homs Massacres Crash-Course
- Homs Massacres (April, 2011 through 2014 - app. 1,558 - 3,089 dead). Posted June 18 - a decent recap and partial summary of the massive ACLOS page and sub-pages, since expanded more.
- Reviewing "The Societys Holocaust" June 22, after noticing a new report by the opposition SNHR, publicized on June 19. This one one was about sectarian massacres nationwide, but wound up half of them were in Homs. Check out their coverage of the Aqrab Massacre ... of 6 Sunnis. From there, largely as linked at the review, a bunch of massacres in the Homs orbit I missed before, from the SNHR report - considered in posts here, and then added to the ACLOS project.
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| homes burning after Tasnin massacre |
- Massacre of Fertilizer Plant Workers of May 31, 2012
- Joseyeh bus massacre June 12, 2012
- Qalat al-Hosn Massacre, June 2012 June 28
- Second Shammas Massacre Aug. 11/12, 2012
- Tasnin Massacre, Jan 5-6, 2013
- Mshierfa bus massacre Jan. 6, 2013
- Mallouk family massacre, May 17/18, 2013
- Sukhna Massacre, July 2013 (and follow-up in Adra, in December)
