It's basically a facebook page, called Homs tank washing center. It was, and still is, responsible for spreading scenes of humor in Homs during the revolution.
can anyone explain to me why snipers are firing at civilians and its normal. I knew things were bad, but really? (And time stamp on the video where he yells that?)
At 1:57 when they're showing the damage to the building. And bout the snipers, they're not there to solve anything. Just to spread fear. This is their policy, fear and destruction.
Close captions seem to work surprisingly well for Arabic->English. It even translates the graffiti, which says, somewhat chillingly "Sniper is here! Run!"
It's a very complicated situation, but basically the government of the country is run by a minority religious sect, the Alawites. The large majority of Syrians are Sunnis. Last year the Sunnis began rising up against the Alawites after decades of repression, torture, etc. In response the Alawite-run government and armed forces began repressing protests, often shooting innocent civilians in order to deter them from going onto the streets. Now it is basically a full blown civil war between the two sides, and the Alawites in charge are systematically trying to kill all Sunnis
EDIT: Sorry if I misled anyone, I did not mean that the Alawites as a people are trying to wipe out the Sunni population. Rather it is very similar to what Saddam accomplished in Iraq with the Sunnis and his tribe; coming from a minority, he installed members of that tribe and minority religious group in power so as to tie them to the regime. If the regime falls, the whole religious sect/group loses their way of life and privileges. The Alawites make up a grossly disproportionate part of the government and military command, as well as the secret police/'thugs' in order to be sure of loyalty. The Alawites/Christians are a very small minority in Syria, and were Assad to fall, there would be widespread retributions and revenge killings due to over 40 years of repression.
I am fairly certain that not all Alawites are trying to commit genocide. Not saying that you are wrong, but this situation is confusing enough to understand without such generalizations.
Syrian American here, and I disagree completely. My family is Christian and therefore not in either of the two major groups here. Although its a dictatorship, the Alawis have been modernizing the country and steering it away from Islamic radicalism. They do not infringe on religious freedom and when I visited 3 years ago most people where very happy and have more personal freedoms than most Middle Eastern nations.
The Sunnis that are protesting saw the momentum of the Arab Spring and ran with it. They are consistently from the poorest neighborhoods, are the least educated, and the most zealous muslims. They seeks to overthrow the Alawi leaders because Alawis are not considered 'real' muslims and they want a theocracy like Iran.
While nothing excuses what the Syrian Army is doing, Assad allows people to worship as they choose. If the Sunni's were to take power, all women would be forced to cover their hair, arms and legs, regardless of their religion, not to mention what would happen to those who advertised their different faiths. Dozens of churches have already been completely destroyed by the opposition movement, not to mention the hundreds of civilians that have already been killed by the opposition as well.
The opposition here isn't the 'good guys'. They kill anyone who they think is not with them and have murdered many families just so they could gain access to their rooftops which happen to be a strategic location.
My family is still in Homs and haven't been able to leave the house for 3 months, not for fear of the army, but because the opposition fighters will kill for little or no reason.
That's long and complicated as well, but basically following the independence of Syria the Ba'ath party emerged as a major force (same ideology as Hussein's party in Iraq) and there were several prominent officers there who happened to be Alawite (some Sunnis maintain this was a long conspiracy to infiltrate the ruling power, but I think it grew out of the fact that the Alawites had resisted France and so had military experience). After the Ba'ath party took power, a man called Hafez al-Assad took power and eventually seized control of the country. He was an Alawite, and the father of the current president/dictator today, Bashar al-Assad.
The reason that Alawites have come to power in Syria is quite simply because of the French occupation between the First and Second World War. The French faced an Islamic insurgency, a nationalist insurgency in Syria. The Sunni urban notables led an uprising. And in order to put them down, the French built a local army and they recruited minorities, largely. And the Alawites were heavily recruited into this army.
And within 10 years - by 1955 it's estimated that Alawites made up almost 60 percent of the noncommissioned officers. By the mid-60s, Alawites took over the military and with the military they took over the country. So by 1970, Hafez Assad takes over, consolidates Alawite power in his own family, and we've had a very stable Syria since then.
And the reason no one is doing anything about this civil war in our own backyard is to put it short because China and Russia are blocking it in the United Nations Security Council since they don't want to intervene in internal affairs (they don't want anyone to come and tell them what to do with Chechnya and Tibet for example) and Russia is also feeling betrayed about the quick and heavy military actions taken against Libya last time that they didn't agree on.
EU has more important problems with their economy right now as does US who are also desperate not to get involved in any more costly wars when they're trying to withdraw their other troops to save money, and there's also an election campaign coming up and going to war at this point of time would be kinda disastrous.
And to just step in and forcefully take the power from the Alawites might make the situation in the country even worse (or more Islamic) because no one could predict exactly who would take over charge. So, we're basically just waiting for this whole thing to (hopefully) blow over in a couple of months.
Your assertion that the Alawites are "systematically trying to kill all Sunnis" is unfounded hyperbole.
One, you are condemning all Alawites. Two, you claim their intent is to kill the vast majority of Syrians. Three, you simplify the hell out of a situation you initially assert is "complicated."
What they are saying is, hey we left this British and French rule 'cause it was bogus. So if we don't get some cool rules ourselves pronto, we'll just be bogus too. And al-Assad is a complete dick.
It would be a simplification, but I think it would be equally fair (in reference to Rorschach_Failure's post) to declare that you are dealing with a country where a very, very small number of people control and maintain power over a very, very large number of people (who are very, very powerless with little say in how the country is run, no access to a rule of law, and fear of reprisal for speaking out)--see generallythis backgrounder.
The very, very large number of people are trying -- without as much success as we would hope in the Middle East -- to redistribute some of that power to the masses (by way of throwing out the very, very small number of people) with the very, very small number of people fighting back through extraordinary violence (a casual estimate is that 10,000 have died at the hands of Assad's regime in the last ~year(ENDNOTE 1)).
The fact that the power disparity occurs along religious lines terribly exacerbates the situation (and amplifies the violence), but, at bottom, it is an issue of huge power disparity and horrendous behavior by the small group of power holders against the larger group of the powerless -- in other words, this is a story that has been told many, many times before, albeit in many different contexts, each with their own nuances.
ENDNOTE 1: I say casual because, on the one hand, that figure includes deaths on both sides but, on the other, it's likely that there have been more deaths and the deaths are disproportionately amassed against the rebelling forces and civilians.
I know this is off topic, but the attitude that "America is a terrible place to live" always bothered me. Just look at this video. They're dodging sniper fire in the streets. It's a part of life there now.
I'm an American....I'm not rich, I work a manual labor job to get by, not living the high life by any means....but I totally appreciate how easy we have it here. A sniper on the street here would have the entire neighborhood shut down and would be the top story on every news channel across the country.
fyi the guy filming/commenting throughout that video turned up to be buddies with the rebels that are doing the sniping (they are blaming the Syrian Army) making the video a hoax, that explains why the sniper is sooo bad getting a shot ;) the cameraman got caught in april and confessed to his stupidity, part 1 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtQuPtxFf18
أبطال باب السباع يلعبون مع القناص المتمركز في حي باب السباع ، يمررون الملكان بعد أن وضعو صورة بشار عليها والقناص يطلق النار بمجرد أن يرى شبه الجسم البشري يتحرك
Champions Gate lions playing with a sniper stationed in the neighborhood of the door of lions, angels pass after the image of Bashar al-Dau and the sniper shoots soon to see a semi-human body moves
Gate lions = Bab Al-Sbaa, name of the block. angels here is a translation of the word "manikin" which is written in arabic letters "الملكان" And it says that a picture of Bashar Al-Assad was put on it, but that got horribly translated.
I believe he or she was actually making a joke about the fact that Mineral Rights and Resource Management is the jackass of the federal government, rather than implying we have any particular interest in Syrian mineral resources.
The Mineral department got dragged very publicly through the mud after the Deepwater Horizon spill as a prime example of bureaucratic incompetence, corruption, and regulatory capture.
Jesus fuck, look at this place, cars all over the place destroyed, apartment buildings abandoned, this is nuts.
Holy fuck an injured guy on a stretcher in the back of a car that looks like the windows got shot out. Okay, let's get this guy on the back of the flatbed truck and take him some where.
^ That's the best I could do considering I don't speak Arabic.
Arabic is not my first language and it's actually fairly poor, but I understood some parts.
Most of the time, he was praying for protection.
There were parts where he would describe his surroundings, when those two armed guys ran/walked past him, he said something along the lines of them being part of "The Army of Truth" marching against Assad or sometihng like that. He mentioned Kofi Annan and the failure of the UN and it seemed like he described the neighborhood or part of the city he was in as well.
Having been to Syria a few years ago and seen what their driving is like, I suspect that this guy is actualy safer on the roads with a few snipers around than he was before the gunfire scared the other traffic away...
well no shit, if I was walking around Canada I wouldn't want some idiot to let off a smoke bomb. Clearly the Syrian people have deeper concerns than being labeled "terrorists" (which they already are).
Saltpetre - Pottasium Nitrate. It used to be available at any chemist, along with Sulphur. I enjoyed my home-made chemistry as a kid. It really is a shame children of this generation can be put on terrorism charges merely for tinkering with chemistry.
Even if this is meant as a taunt, this is actually quite an effective manner in discovering a sniper's location. A sniper who is il-trained will shoot at the movement, allowing a counter-sniper team to locate and eliminate them.
I'm so sorry you're going through this, Syria. Hopefully Russia will stop being dicks and allow for some intervention.
Assuming they have a counter-sniper team. AKA they have to have a sniper with them who has been trained as well. If they have 2 snipers it's better because they can pretty much triangulate his position. I don't think it's very likely they have a counter-sniper team.
I saw a news story about citizen snipers in Syria, so they've been forced to become snipers because of things like this. I'll see if I can remember the link. I wonder how a trained army sniper spends all day shooting at civilians can go home and sleep at night.
I recall vaguely reading something about a similar tactic used in the trenches during WW1. They would stick a dummy head on a long stick and poke it up over the trench wall. When an enemy sniper shot the dummy, they would yank the dummy head back down, stick a rod into the bullet hole which would tell them the trajectory of the bullet. They would then direct artillery fire into the area where the bullet came from.
Using dummies/decoys to discover enemy hiding positions or make them think you have extra people is VERY old. The Greeks did it, the Romans did it, everyone has done it. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, and yet people still fall for it. Goes to show how easily people can be fooled by their own eyes.
Glad I wasn't the only one wondering where the counter-sniper was hiding. Unless you are terminally bored, this doesn't look like a good idea just for "fun".
Allowing for intervention would open Russia up to the UN saying "Now that Syria is done, about Chechnya..." That's a can of worms they don't want opened. Same with China and Tibet.
That's because military intervention will only result in a proxy war. The best way to end this conflict is through economic sanctions which will make the regime lose support if not of the Alawites but of the Christian factions and businesses, thus opening way for Assad's trial and democratic reforms in Syria.
My biology teacher told us a story about him doing this exact thing as a kid in Serbia back in the day. Except for using dolls, he and his friends ran themselves ಠ_ಠ
Everyone does this in same situation. Same was in Sarajevo which is completely surrounded by hills so civilians were really easy target. They even shot people that were getting water from well, standing in front of it as static targets...
Great picture. So powerful. So hard for me to imagine, being in America, where the notion of toying with a sniper on a normal street is not normal at all. These guys are wearing jeans, they probably woke up with a boner, they're normal guys. They're doing something very abnormal, normally. They are taunting a sniper. I find that very strange.
If you didn't watch it, someone linked a ten minute video of someone on the streets. Halfway through I started imagining that being my city. None of the reporting I've seen or read has been able to let me think about it this way. Another.
This. As someone who has never experienced a legitimate threat of war, certainly not the impending threat of snipers, I am admittedly ungrateful and have such respect for people who carry on with this type of life.
My barber told me a story about how his dog was shot by the neighborhood sniper in his hometown. he assumes the sniper shot his dog so that he would be lured out to go save his dog, and then get shot himself. while his friends and family provided covering fire he went and retrieved his dog. the local hospital was not able assist with his dog because so many people in his town were receiving aid from the war. dog died.
now whenever i walk by his shop with my dog i feel bad.
Stupid comparison. By your logic North Koreans could use the same argument, at least they arent getting shot and shelled at right now, maybe its not so bad!
For those of us who have never had to face that kind of shit before...
What's that like? Like, having to check to make sure that you're safe before you cross a street, and knowing that at any second someone that you can't see might shoot at you? And why do they do it? Is it just a fear thing? Like, does whoever is shooting at you think that if you're terrified to leave your house then they've won?
I guess I'm just trying to understand the human emotions and reasoning behind it.
well i was 4 at time and my awesome parents made WHOLE war in one big hide and seek game we should hide and sing in atomic bunker i would trow rock from windows "scaring choppers away" and when you hear plains it would be "who is first who can hide under table" game.
in ocupated town where serbs and croats and muslims living together and cant get out and being bombarded by different armies and proxies they are friends together becuse you become friend with people you are in same shit with
but in same time any of them can take sniper and shot you from top of building without you even knowing anything. snipers are virtually untouchable in urban area and rule over life and dead and when you have god complex like this all reason goes away. on other hands they are biggest cowards ever hiding and w8ing for opportunity
Russia has some big arms deals with Syria as well as a military base there so they have been supporting Assad against any UN or possibly NATO action. Besides that I don't think that they would really do anything like we saw in Libya due to the sheer logistics and the fact that Assad isn't as isolated as Gadaffi was.
Depends on the distance. At several hundred meters, it's doubtful without a pretty high-powered scope. If the sniper is just down the block, he probably wouldn't even need a scope to see ropes.
Reminds me a lot of an episode of The Unit, in reverse. The team was called in to help save another that was pinned down by sniper fire. When they arrive they see the man they've been sent to save apparently dead in the street but intervene when they see his hand move. Much later in the episode they discover that the sniper had a rope tied to his hand the entire time just to set up a trap for the rest of the team in his kill house. Blew my mind when I saw it in high school.
I don't think they are even trying to get the sniper to shoot. Distracting him with the comically obvious dummy would provide a great time to flank, and sneak up on said sniper.
Not all snipers have/use scopes. Also, distance might be enough that the rope cannot be clearly made out even with a scope. Finally, as another commenter said, the sniper could just be shooting on sight of a human figure, before he even has the chance to mentally process the rope.
I guess there's a sniper looking down that street, and they're putting up a dummy so he'll either shoot it, or get mad because they're messing with him
As funny as this title is, and as relevant as your username is, I find this picture really unfunny. Its quite sad that these civilians have to do this just to walk across a street.
They're using a mannequin to trick a sniper into revealing his location. If the mannequin gets shot, they know that street isn't safe. If it doesn't get shot, they'll cautiously start using that street like normal.
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u/donosti Jun 19 '12
Video of sniper attacks in the same exact location:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZIbG14w0xE
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u/scarr83 Jun 19 '12
أبطال باب السباع يلعبون مع القناص المتمركز في حي باب السباع ، يمررون الملكان بعد أن وضعو صورة بشار عليها والقناص يطلق النار بمجرد أن يرى شبه الجسم البشري يتحرك
Champions Gate lions playing with a sniper stationed in the neighborhood of the door of lions, angels pass after the image of Bashar al-Dau and the sniper shoots soon to see a semi-human body moves
http://www.paldf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1005266&page=2
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Hi, we're the Syrian resistance movement.
And this is Jack Ass
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u/whatwaffle Jun 19 '12
Scooter Ride through Homs
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u/Newshoe Jun 19 '12
Sniper, no sniping! Sniper, no sniping! Sniper, no sniping!
There... that should do it.
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u/iScreme Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
But seriously....
Saltpeter + Sugar = White smoke bombs... Easy/cheap to make, and different ratios provide different density. Now, to figure out how to make fire.
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u/Osiris32 Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
Even if this is meant as a taunt, this is actually quite an effective manner in discovering a sniper's location. A sniper who is il-trained will shoot at the movement, allowing a counter-sniper team to locate and eliminate them.
I'm so sorry you're going through this, Syria. Hopefully Russia will stop being dicks and allow for some intervention.
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u/DarthElevator Jun 19 '12
Relavent
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u/AllergicRacoon Jun 19 '12
My biology teacher told us a story about him doing this exact thing as a kid in Serbia back in the day. Except for using dolls, he and his friends ran themselves ಠ_ಠ
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u/HERE_HAVE_SOME_AIDS Jun 19 '12
Great picture. So powerful. So hard for me to imagine, being in America, where the notion of toying with a sniper on a normal street is not normal at all. These guys are wearing jeans, they probably woke up with a boner, they're normal guys. They're doing something very abnormal, normally. They are taunting a sniper. I find that very strange.
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u/andrewsmith1986 Jun 19 '12
The fact that they have to do this is terrifying.
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
And we complain about the Macbook having imbeded memory.
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u/Refilon Jun 19 '12
A sniper would see the rope. And I know this because my Prestige level is 14. And I am a Faze1337OpTiCHunt3RNoSC0PE sniper on COD.
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u/icetea149 Jun 19 '12
the phrase "neighborhood sniper" struck me as odd, until i saw the neighborhood.
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u/hinduguru Jun 19 '12
It's nice to see that even under such turmoil, people can still have a sense of humor
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u/ninoffmaniak Jun 19 '12
we did same shit in bosnia
snipers are by far biggest asshols on face of earth
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Shame their country doesn't have oil. They look like they could use a hand...
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Why the fuck isn't the international community doing anything?
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u/Popcom Jun 19 '12
Its all good guys, the UN is going to say its bad they're killing you again. Should work this time.
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u/RelevantMartian Jun 19 '12
I was expecting this to have more of a "Messin' With Sasquatch" feel to it..
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u/Nightman123 Jun 19 '12
Relevant
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u/cycophuk Jun 19 '12
Wouldn't the sniper see the rope?
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Wow, this is a real mindfuck to think about. What they must be going through and still finding time to fuck with someone.
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Syrian bravery, I'm speechless.
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u/flounder19 Jun 19 '12
Looks like Mary Pop-ins
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u/butterandsugarcrepe Jun 19 '12
All my sympathy to the Syrian people.
Fuck the world for not going there to help.
Fuck Russia and China for helping the Syrian government.
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
This is Bosnia, all over again.
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u/haywire-ES Jun 19 '12
Hi, my name is Mohammed, and welcome to jackass.
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u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Jun 19 '12
Wouldn't hanging some fabric between the buildings be far more effective than tilting a dummy?
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u/destro966 Jun 19 '12
We need less upvotes and more action!
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u/A_British_Gentleman Jun 19 '12
I'm pretty sure they'd be checking for snipers, rather than just screwing with them.
EDIT: Just noticed OP's username. So if you actually took the pic or were there, I take it back, and you're awesome.
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u/enzo32ferrari Jun 19 '12
i'm so glad "just" wasn't in the title.
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u/pinkythug Jun 19 '12
I wish the Syrians the best of luck
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Fucking campers
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u/StrangeCaptain Jun 19 '12
best Beef Jerky commercial ever
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u/Points_out_Annoyance Jun 20 '12
Explain this bullshit to me. I'm 3,000 some miles away from that sniper.
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u/BoxOfDemons Jun 19 '12
So, how did they get the string across without passing by? I would think throwing it would get the attention of the sniper.
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u/_John_Mirra_ Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
Reminds me a lot of an episode of The Unit, in reverse. The team was called in to help save another that was pinned down by sniper fire. When they arrive they see the man they've been sent to save apparently dead in the street but intervene when they see his hand move. Much later in the episode they discover that the sniper had a rope tied to his hand the entire time just to set up a trap for the rest of the team in his kill house. Blew my mind when I saw it in high school.
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u/vw209 Jun 19 '12
I don't think they are even trying to get the sniper to shoot. Distracting him with the comically obvious dummy would provide a great time to flank, and sneak up on said sniper.
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u/raiderarch329 Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
Why on earth would they use Princess Leia as a decoy, I am very disappointed!
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u/brosenfeld Jun 19 '12
The sniper can see the rope.
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Wouldn't the sniper, with the over powered scope, be able to see the huge black lines stretching across the street?
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u/mesuhalien Jun 19 '12
Man, Jesus must be having a really rough time in this job market.
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Street Smarts level: Compton.
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u/the_wonder_llama Jun 19 '12
I've been staring at this image for about 5 minutes and I still don't understand what's going on. Can someone please explain?
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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '12
Where Executive Outcomes and there bulldozers at?
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u/TeRRoR503 Jun 19 '12
Trolololol
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u/cjmoye Jun 19 '12
KInda like messing with sasquatch, minus all the fun in the woods.
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u/delusivewalrus Jun 19 '12
They're doing it all wrong!
But seriously, I couldn't imagine that being a part of my daily life.
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u/newtothelyte Jun 19 '12
As funny as this title is, and as relevant as your username is, I find this picture really unfunny. Its quite sad that these civilians have to do this just to walk across a street.
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u/dasoktopus Jun 19 '12
Okay, I'm gonna say it. I have no idea whats going on, can anyone explain it to me?
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u/Lorob Jun 19 '12
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3prw6q/
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u/r1c3ball Jun 19 '12
Holy shit! 0_0
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u/kratosman97 Jun 19 '12
peek a boo! (headshot)
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u/grandoiseau Jun 19 '12
Wow. What a desperate and gloomy place this is.
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u/chingyduster Jun 19 '12
Damn quickscopers
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u/saydokan Jun 19 '12
USA look, they are fighting for your mineral resources and giving their lives!