PELHAM

Translation: 1 dictator who is easy to manipulate as we promise to support him no matter what he does, spends disproportionate sums buying our weapons, who will always vote with us at the UN, who's excesses draw attention away from Russia's own curbs on freedom. What's a million deaths to Russia when it needs to prop up these regimes to bolster it's economy and fix the vote at the UN? I just wonder when they will develop some sort of conscience and the wit to stop betting on the losing side lol.

What she says about time running out for Assad is true. The recent defector, Brigadier-General Manaf Tlas, was one of his closest friends at one time and a member of the Central Committee of the Baath Party. They were at military college together and have often been photographed in each others company. I wonder if the Captain will go down with his ship this time as well? Funny isn't it how these 'much loved' dictators find themselves alone and friendless in the end.

Hmm a few minutes studying the history of the Congo conflicts would have shown you what a complex problem it was. No less than 8 foreign governments took part in the 2nd war and under those circumstances with so many different factions and different forces on the ground it's not really something that anyone could solve with a simple military action, however $Billions have been spent by the EU, US and many others through the UN trying to solve the problem. You may remember the blood diamond scandal and the other illegal mining operations. If you look at the Second Congo War wikipedia page you will notice a familiar list of dictators that were involved in prolonging the conflict while growing very rich. For this reason Military operations and diplomatic efforts made by the UN, African Union and Southern African Development Community failed to make any headway (surprise, surprise) until UN members from outside the AU started getting involved after 2002, with authorisation from the UN Security Council. This actually included EU troops: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EUFOR_RD_Congo Best to get your facts straight before commenting, it isn't that people don't want to do something, diplomatically they are prevented as the African leaders don't want outsiders snooping in their affairs as it curtails their business interests. The OAU/AU puts a veneer of legitimacy on some very corrupt chapters of the continents history. Critics have argued that the OAU in particular did little to protect the rights and liberties of African citizens from their own political leaders, often dubbing it the "Dictators' Club". They have also stopped cooperating with the International Criminal Court due to a warrant being issued for the President of Sudan over Darfur. They did very little to prevent the mass slaughter in southern Sudan and effectively turned a blind eye to it. All the time, usually you find a series of dictators supported and armed by Russia, China, North Korea at the expense of the ordinary people living in the country who usually go without food, education, medicine and other essentials to pay for the excesses and mistakes of their corrupt leadership.

Well said, thank you for that holistic view that is not narrow minded at all. Yes the USSR set a very good example by forcing these people to live like 'Europeans', if only they had learned from that democratic example. ---------- Post added at 05:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:32 PM ---------- Quite right, can't understand why Syria has to be next just because it has the highest death rate from non-natural causes. Which of course, is no one else's business.

Well said, I think it's blatently unfair that these Syrian Sunnis should que jump! Who the hell do they think they are, demanding this and that. Why should they get democracy first when so many other nations are waiting for it? What about the Iranians, Chinese, Russians, North Koreans, Cubans and Zimbabweans? The Syrians Sunnis should learn from the others example and wait patiently for freedom just like everyone else.

Obviously you have fallen for the propaganda in the Western Media Prof. Didn't you know that Comrade Putin is a great man who has been awarded several accolades for his selfless work on world peace and freedom? After China set up it's own version of the Nobel Peace Prize he was among the first to be awarded it for his "iron hand and toughness" in bringing peace and freedom to Chechnya, his membership of the KGB and tireless support of other men of peace such as Gadaffi. 2011 Winner: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin The Confucius Peace Prize: Promotion of world peace from an Eastern, Confucian perspective; to declare China's view on peace and human rights to the world. No doubt after years of brain washing by the Western Media you will not believe this? Link here to your own corrupt BBC's twisted version of events: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15750979 ---------- Post added at 12:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ---------- Well said, the ordinary people of Syria will only fully appreciate Democracy after an extended period of oppression, torture and death. It is the only process that will make them mentally ready and able to accept the responsibility. I personally don't think they will be ready for freedom for at least another 150 years.

Prove it!

Where do you think they got the rubber for the artificial rubber corpses hmmm? Rubber doesn't just grow on trees you know!

Spooky is probably right, eg this is clearly fake. It may look like a 180mm shell landing in the city of Homs but what in fact happened is they got all the old ladies in the neighbourhood to shake out their rugs at the same time. It fools the international community on every occasion. What many might not know is they also have an 'army' of special effects experts equiped with various sizes of artificial rubber corpses, 1:1 scale helicopters, aircraft and tanks, they really have you all fooled. There are also complaints from environmentalists that people are despoiling the landscape digging up rocks and sand so they can pile debris in the streets, President Assad has accused the FSA of environmental terrorism. Latest headlines: Syrian sand and sandbag shortage! Persistant activities by the Syrian FSA of filling sandbags, wrapping them in sheets and burying them in cemeteries has lead to a national shortage of sandbags and sand. However, President Assad dismissed reports of red paint and white bedsheet shortages as 'western propaganda'.

Well I guess the logic follows that if you have found a couple of videos that are fake it must all be made up. Russia, China and Syria are right and the vast majority of the rest of the world have fallen for a massive hoax by some Syrian Terrorists. I'm not sure why everyone can't see that 1 example or 1 fake video cancels out everything else, are you all stupid or something? Listen to what Spooky says, he's got this nailed down from back to front, you can't argue against his overwhelming evidence. Just look at the number of countries that fell for it! I apologise for calling you a mushroom spooky, I got it completely wrong: 16 Feb 2012 General Assembly Adopts Resolution Strongly Condemning ‘Widespread and Systematic’ Human Rights Violations by Syrian Authorities Text Passes by 137 Votes in Favour to 12 against, with 17 Abstentions Strongly condemning continued widespread and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, the General Assembly today voted overwhelmingly to call on both the Government and allied forces and armed groups “to stop all violence or reprisals immediatelyâ€. Adopting an Arab-backed resolution by a recorded vote of 137 in favour to 12 against, with 17 abstentions, the Assembly expressed grave concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria, and condemned a raft of violations carried out by the authorities, such as the use of force against civilians, the killing and persecution of protestors and journalists, and sexual violence and ill-treatment, including against children. The Assembly called on Syria to abide by its obligations under international law, and demanded that the Government, in line with the 2 November 2011 Action Plan of the League of Arab States, and its decisions of 22 January and 12 February 2012, without delay, stop all violence and protect its people, release all those detained during the unrest, withdraw all armed forces from cities and towns, guarantee peaceful demonstrations and allow unhindered access for Arab League monitors and international media. In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Zambia. Against: Belarus, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Iran, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

Yes but embers can be dealt with easily if there is still a working water supply, radiant heat and direct flame contact are big trouble and more difficult to deal with if you allow the fire to get close. The trick is to reduce the amount of combustible material close to the houses so you have a safe area to work from. If you look at most of the houses in the pictures they all have pine trees in the gardens or even touching the houses which looks nice but it's lethal in a bush fire. If it were me I'd chop them down and move them away providing you get enough warning of course. Getting trapped with not enough time to do the job is not a good idea, if you can see smoke it's too late.

I have often wondered what I would do in this situation, if you had a chainsaw and worked together with the neighbours, would it be possible to cut down all the nearby trees and drag them away with cars and trucks? Maybe that would cut down on radiated heat near the houses and save some? I have been close to some forest and grassland fires, the heat they put out is amazing. It's unbearably hot 50 - 100 yards away. If you drive past it burns you even through the windscreen and windows. Being trapped alive in one is unimaginable.

RE the O'Dwyer thing, I don't really give two hoots either way, but, there is much untruth posted all over the internet regarding the case and many of the facts are left out. You all know how that irritates me lol. I would suggest reading the actual Judgement before making up your mind on this. -Earnings from the website are over $230,000. -It is in fact a crime in the UK, the fact that the CPS has not chosen to follow through a case or prosecute one does not nullify the Statutory Act of Parliament. -While physically in the UK, The US believes a crime under US law was committed in the US. They are therefore perfectly entitled to seek extradition. That is what extradition is for, it stops criminals using borders to get away with it. -Arguments as to whether O'dwyer has committed a crime or not, his guilt or innocence aren't really relevant to an extradition hearing, those arguments are decided at a trial. The US only has to provide significant evidence and they have it, much from O'Dwyers own statements to police. -Some websites claim no US citizen has ever been extradited to the UK - untrue. -Some websites claim the UK has never refused an extradition request - untrue. -Some websites claim the Home Secretary has the power to intervene, she does, if there is a doubt over human rights, there isn't one at the moment. She signed the extradition document after the Judgement and hearing as she was obliged to do. Unless the evidence shows that extradition would breach the European Convention on Human Rights it would be unlawful for the Home Secretary to refuse extradition. While I don't think crucifying this kid is the right thing to do, they could have just taken his money from him in a civil case?, the Media giants want to set an example and unfortunately for O'Dwyer they can do it perfectly legally. Guilt or innocence aside - he willfully got himself into this mess and made matters worse by opening up another website when the 1st was shut down and taunting the US authorities on it! We all know where that gets you and Judges take a particularly dim view of people putting 2 fingers up at the law. The Government of the United States of America -v- O'Dwyer Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Ruling of District Judge Purdy dated 13th January 2012. Extradition Act 2003. Issues: (i) Extradition offence/dual criminality see S.78 (4) (b)/137 (ii) passage of time: S.82 (iii) Human Rights: disproportionate: Article 8 ECHR/forum? Section 87(2). http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/judgments/2012/usa-v-odwyer-ruling Detailed judgement is in the pdf at the bottom. It's worth a read to get the full picture. A detailed study of the US/UK extradition treaty was undertaken recently by an independent member of the Judiciary and it was found to be balanced. He recommended few changes: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/9900651

Well maybe the level of reporting of each case reflects the frequency of it occurring? As the Syrian government is more organised, better funded, has the man power and purpose built facilities maybe they arrest and torture more people? They also have the benefit of experience, after all they have been governing using these methods for decades. It's hard to argue that there is something wrong with the reporting when the actual frequency of the event is so one sided also.

Interesting read - it's fallen out of common memory in the UK for obvious reasons lol, I don't think I have ever heard it mentioned and am only aware of it from US TV and film. I didn't realise we had such a hand in the downfall of the American Indians but given events elsewhere it doesn't surprise me. End result looks like a draw to me? ;)

Errr it's a little deeper than environmental.....Just wondered why 100,000s of ethnic Kazahks were systematically exposed to radiation for 50 years, their presence in the area covered up, illnesses ignored and left untreated until well after the end of the USSR. The formal policy of the USSR might make it look like a utopia of equality but it's what happened in practice that counts. The people that initiated this and continued the practice were all members of the politburo/presidium so saying it wasn't official policy is rather naive. The only thing non sequitur is this:

Clue is in the video - he ate British pub food which can do that to you. What he has observed about the english is all true lol.

No the Iranians jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. They had an Islamic revolution against a totalitarian monarch and got themselves a totalitarian socialist/religious regime. Instead of executing religious people as the USSR did, the Iranian socialists formed a pact with them which is far more of a problem than communism was. You see if you commit a basic freedom in Iran not only will it be a crime against the people, it will also be a crime against god. Then as they say, your ass is grass, squared. Same for anyone that challenges them internationally, you are going up against totallitarian socialism and god's authority. It's this double headed irrationality that gets everyone so worried. All they need to justify whatever they do is a convenient Fatwa from the men that speak for god. @maturin Everything I wrote is all well recorded history. Yes immigrants to the UK receive free translation and tutoring in their own languages at school. Many have a translator that sits beside them during lessons. (Indigenous Welsh and Gaelic speakers also have their own schools.) Not really comparing like with like there are you? The people in the USSR were living in their own countries and were suddenly told their language, religion and culture no longer officially existed. They also didn't get a say in the matter, it was forced upon them. Not sure why the issue of the empire of the USSR is debated, it's blatently obvious if you look at a timeline and a map. So, all the bad things happened under Stalin and the USSR was all good after that? Can I ask about the Kazakh people who were not evacuated, warned or educated about the damaging radiation they were exposed to from 1941 to 1991 at the Semipalatinsk test site? The story of the atomic lake in 1965 is particularly interesting. On January 15, 1965, a nuclear device was detonated to create a lake. The Soviet nuclear device was buried under the Chagan River, a waterway that seasonally evaporates then refills. The huge blast created a crater 100 meters deep and 408 meters wide. The Soviet government was proud of Lake Chagan. They made a film with a happy athletic looking man swimming across it. The government also stocked the Lake with fish and encouraged local people to eat them. The full impact of radiation exposure was hidden for many years by Soviet authorities. The general consensus of health studies conducted at the site since it was closed is that radioactive fallout from nuclear testing had a direct impact on the health of about 200,000 local residents. Specifically, scientists have linked higher rates of different types of cancer to post-irradiation effects. Likewise, several studies have explored the correlation between radiation exposure and thyroid abnormalities. Can I ask if this sort of thing happened anywhere near Moscow or was this reserved specially for ethnic minorities living in the far east?

Awww let the Canadians be, this is often the funniest thread on this forum, as for a German Comedy thread well good luck and god speed with that. You can use this guy: _wJaCedLfdg

ROFL at least they had some 9mm pistols and an AK and didn't have to shout bang, bang, bang. AA guns don't sound like that mate, it's an obvious fake. Mushroom #2 From September to October 1937, more than 172,000 Soviet Koreans were deported from the border regions of the Soviet Far East to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan after suspicions of Japanese sympathy and rivalry for land by the small local Russian population. The deportees expected a Korean Autonomous Region to be created in Central Asia, but they never received a national territory despite meeting the criteria under the Soviet System. A significant population of ethnic Koreans still exist in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. During the 1937–38 terror campaign against the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church and of other religions it is estimated that over 100,000 priests, monks and nuns were executed. The Stalinist repression in Mongolia between 1937 and 1939. The number of people killed is estimated between 22,000 and 35,000. Nearly 18,000 victims were Buddhist lamas. Mass graves investigated in 1991 and 2003 found the corpses of hundreds of executed lamas and civilians, all were murdered with a gunshot to the base of the skull. When Nazi Germany and the USSR were the best of friends and jointly agreed to partition Poland between them in 1939, 297,280 Poles were deported to Syberia during 1940, in June 1941 another 40,000. These numbers do not include P.O.W.s, prisoners, small groups, people who voluntarily moved into the USSR, and men drafted into stroybats. Before and during World War II, Joseph Stalin deported to Central Asia and Siberia several entire nationalities for their suspected collaboration with the German invaders: Volga Germans, Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Kalmyks, and others. Shortly after the war, he deported many Ukrainians and Balts to Siberia as well. Moscow still can't understand why Baltic and Crimean peoples generally hate Russia and don't want to be in the federation. Errr they have been butchered and ethnically cleansed for over a century and are a bit sick and tired of it. After WWII the elevated status of ethnic Russian people in the Soviet family of nations and nationalities was promoted by Stalin and his successors. This was clearly given full support with Stalin's Victory Day toast to the Russian people in May 1945: This was a total reversal of Stalin's declaration 20 years earlier (korenizatsiya policy) that "the first immediate task of our Party is vigorously to combat the survivals of Great-Russian chauvinism." Although the official literature on nationalities and languages in subsequent years continued to speak of there being 130 equal languages in the USSR, in practice a hierarchy was endorsed with certain nationalities and languages having special status or viewed as having limited futures. Russification: From 1950's to the 1980's the Russian language was promoted as the official language. The number of schools teaching in native languages was gradually decreased meaning that in many regions ethnic minorities were effectively forced out of education or disadvantaged. Where schools did teach in native languages often the full curriculum was not available. Multiply that with other services such as healthcare. It is well known that the 5th line on the Soviet identity documents was a form of discrimination. If it said something other than 'Russian' people knew they could expect a lower standard of service. If children had mixed parents they were able to choose a nationality. The majority of children in mixed families chose Russian as their nationality on their internal passport at age 16, they knew it was in their best interests to do so. Afghanistan, in 1987, Soviet troops and the pro-Communist government were struggling to permanently control around 80% of the country. To reach this aim, the Soviet Union used methods of scorched earth and migratory genocide by systematically burning crops and destroying villages in rebel provinces, reprisal bombings of entire villages suspected of supporting the resistance. The USSR tried to force the local population to move to the Soviet controlled areas, to deprive the opposition of civilian support. When the Soviets withdrew in 1988, 1 to 1.5 million people had been killed, the majority were civilians and a third of Afghanistan's population had been displaced. So Russian nationalism is nothing new at all and yes there was rampant racism and descrimination in the USSR but no one could discuss it or report it. While harping on about Western colonialism and imperialism it was in fact Russia/USSR that was the largest and fastest growing colonial empire of the 20th Century.

I know they are not banned that's just a silly video title that some idiot put on afterwards, HRW likes to bitch about mines as they kill so many civilians. Listen to what the guy says and that's a genuine new mine - plastics still shiny, if it had been in the ground over winter it would look different.

The current regime/family dynasty in Syria was and is supported by the Soviet Union/Russia, trying to point the finger at French imperialism as the problem behind all this is rather narrow - there are all kinds of reasons including the arbitrary map drawing. Eg Russia is the manufacturer of the landmines (PMN-2, it's written on the side) recently planted along Syria's borders to prevent refugees leaving the country. Many civilians are killed and injured each day by this indescriminate weapon. Local farmers were simply told not to enter orchards without permission, they were given no clear warning of the hazard: 4YmNwIgM76U

The goal is humanitarian and the ending of Assad, once Assad is gone there will be no need to kick anyones ass. And FYI Eble, the west is not arming the rebels, it's members of the Arab league. Once again no logic. RE Afghanistan, it will be Pakistan who will have to search their conscience for giving the Taliban a safe haven from which to kill civilians, shut down schools and plant more poppies, we will have done all we could to stop it.

@Eble nice list of very flimsy examples and rare or non existent events to justify your ridiculous claims. If you dig into each item on your list you will find that: a) What you have said is incorrect, taken out of context or is only partially true. b) Might be possible, rarely happens or has never actually occurred. c) There are many good logical and legal reasons behind it. d) Much is logical fallacy, you find 1 flimsy example of something in the US and use it to justify what occurs daily to many thousands of people in places like Zimbabwe, Syria, Iran and North Korea. e) I agree with one of the comments "Rather than appealing to sound logic, Mr. Turley (and you) feeds into our fascination with conspiracy theories and our fear of Big Brother." eg: Not entirely true is it? The US attorney general outlined a three-part test for determining when a targeted killing against a U.S. citizen is legal. He said the government must determine after careful review that the citizen poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the U.S., capture is not feasible and the killing would be consistent with laws of war. Attorney General Eric Holder said that the decision to kill a U.S. citizen living abroad who poses a terrorist threat "is among the gravest that government leaders can face," but justified lethal action as legal and sometimes necessary in the war on terror. Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in Yemen where he spent many years involved with Al-Qaida, his other criminal and numerous terrorist activities are listed on his wiki page below. His contact details were found or his name linked to nearly every major terrorist attack or attempt in the past 15 years including 9/11. Not only did he provide active support and fund raising, he gave them the religious approval and reasoning to kill innocent people. Now lets look at Mr. al-Awlaki and see what he has been up to to provoke such a response: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al-Awlaki Quite a long list isn't it? Anwar al-Awlaki was given numerous chances to stop his active engagement in crime and terrorism, arrested and released several times, repeated warnings etc. but he chose to continue. As he was in hiding in Yemen, protected by a tribal network, capture was not a feasible option. What do you do when someone is involved in 1000's of deaths world wide and intends to help commit more? The argument that nothing can be done until he presents himself for arrest in the USA is laughable. Around 4 US citizens have been killed by US forces and to the best of my knowledge only al-Awlaki was targeted deliberately. So for this incident the US is as bad as Syria where 10,000s have died just because they said the wrong thing, didn't support the right leader or lived in the wrong place or were a relative of the wrong person? Apologists for a regime that executes people against the walls of their own houses on a daily basis disgust me, not sure how you missed it but the Syrian people have been suffering for decades: DjbdGx9Au94

Unfortunate that people died, but they had to fight their way through armed security guards to get into the building. The longer Assad stays the more bitter things get which is dissapointing. The article is not entirely correct, that TV station was set up as separate, government-funded entity in late 2010 by Syria’s information ministry so is not really a non-government news station at all. It's been broadcasting Government propaganda for the last few weeks which has obviously wound someone up enough to take it off air.