Dumbasses. But the most ridiculous thing is that some media is reporting this as if there was a "right guy" to behead. Now they are asking for "understanding and forgiveness". Sure. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...e-after-cutting-off-head-of-wrong-person.html Militant Islamist rebels in Syria linked to al-Qaeda have asked for "understanding and forgiveness" for cutting off and putting on display the wrong man's head. In a public appearance filmed and posted online, members of Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, one brandishing a knife, held up a bearded head before a crowd in Aleppo. They triumphantly described the execution of what they said was a member of an Iraqi Shia militia fighting for President Bashar al-Assad. But the head was recognised from the video as originally belonging to a member of Ahrar al-Sham, a Sunni Islamist rebel group that often fights alongside ISIS though it does not share its al-Qaeda ideology. After inquiries, an ISIS spokesman admitted he was Mohammed Fares, an Ahrar commander reported missing some days ago. This could not be independently confirmed, but in an earlier video of a speech by Mr Fares he bears a close resemblance to the severed head in the later video. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, which monitors deaths in the Syrian conflict, and several activists on social media said that ISIS fighters misunderstood comments Mr Fares made referring to the Imams Ali and Hussein, the founding fathers of Shiism. An ISIS spokesman, Omar al-Qahtani, confirmed that Mr Fares had been injured and, thinking he had been captured by members of a Shia militia against which he was fighting, asked them to kill him in terms misunderstood by the ISIS members in fact taking him to hospital. It is thought he was wounded in the battle for Base 80, a military zone being fought over near Aleppo. In explaining the error Mr al-Qahtani made reference to a story in which Mohammed said Allah would forgive a man who killed a believer in error. The mistake, of a sort commonly cited as an argument against the death penalty around the world, is indicative of the chaos within rebel ranks, particularly since the rise of ISIS over the summer. Several other Islamist groups have formed alliances without its participation, but it continues to exercise control over large areas of northern Syria. Its ferocity has given rise to an exodus of moderate and secular activists, and brought to an end an uneasy truce between the Free Syrian Army and Kurdish militias, the most prominent of which has in the last month taken on ISIS and driven them out of a number of towns in the north-east. Meanwhile, Mr Assad's forces have used the internal rifts in their enemies' ranks to make progress on a drive south-east of Aleppo. This week, a group of Islamist rebels put out an appeal for a mass mobilisation against the advance, while there are repeated rumours that major Islamist militias which do not support al-Qaeda are about to declare a common front. Mr Qahtani said the incident would be investigated by the appropriate judicial authorities.
AroundTheWorld, this is one of the few threads I wholeheartedly agree with you on. Remember that Syria thread a while back when I said how I'm in contact with a lot of people on the ground and they told me the creeping danger of Al Qaeda is increasing exponentially by the minute as the world watches the Syrian people get massacred by the regime? This is exhibit #1000000 of that fact. My people are struggling over there. Most moderate forces in the Free Syrian Army (90% of the anti-regime man power on the ground) are struggling mightily, fighting the regime and his supporting shiite terrorist organizations like Hezbullah and Abulfadel Al-Abbas brigades from Iraq on one frontiner, and having to worry about their backs being exposed to Al-Qaeda factions like the so called "ISIS" and many others. This is why we pushed for western intervention so hard and were so disappointed in President Obama backing down. This is truly a dire situation with repercussions not only on the poor Syrian people, but also directly on American national security because Syria is now a futile training and recruiting grounds for the anti-America and anti-west muslim extremists who attacked us on 9/11 and we worked so hard in the past 10 years in eradicating them in Afghanistan. Now they have a brand-new base and are as strong as ever, and we could've prevented that by stern action to topple Assad and provide REAL support to the moderate freedom fighters on the ground (again, 90% of the anti-regime forces). The regime harbors terrorism, and now Al Qaeda is there on the other side as well. Keep in mind though, these people fighting ISIS and the other Al-Qaeda factions in Syria are..... drumroll....... MUSLIM. Moderate Muslims who are wiling to give up their lives to protect innocent people, fight for freedom, and the safety and peace of humanity in general, including our Western friends. In fact, one of the most prominent religious leaders in the Arab world Dr. Adnan Al-Ar'our went out and made a stern stance against ISIS and other extremist factions and terrorist supporters in recent days. We are finally seeing a shift in Islam (my religion) where prominent religious leaders are not just denouncing terrorism, but also emphasizing the need to fight against it and eradicate it as a religious requirement. Now if only the west would give us some decent weapons so we can topple these a$$holes and not worry about those weapons "getting in the wrong hands". Rental cars have lo-jacks to locate them when missing for god's sake, I'm sure our military has the technology to track the weapons and destroy them remotely in the extremely unlikely scenario of them falling "in the wrong hands". Again, we're not asking for nuclear weapons or tanks or fighter jetshere, just over-the-shoulder anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
Honest question: If even the extremists can't tell who is one of their own and who isn't - how is the West supposed to know whom to give weapons to?
The free Syrian Army is a decently organized entity with central leadership and a unified goal and philosophy. "ISIS" is a group of extremist gangs who go around terrorizing the locals and conducting beheadings for anyone who violates the "Sharia" in their eyes, which includes anyone who smokes cigarettes, drinks or carries any kind of alcoholic beverage (or caffeine apparently), uncovered women, men talking to women, etc... And if you know any Syrian, ask them about how much they love their cigarettes (lol), and if they happen to be from the north (ie: where ISIS is wreaking havoc), ask about their Raki or "Arak", a famous alcoholic beverage consumed over there like we consume beer while watching football here in the U.S. The majority of Syrians are unified in opposing Assad, and they are also unified in opposing ISIS. The leader of the FSA Brigadier General Dr. Salim Idriss has made it abundantly clear that the objective of the FSA as the largest faction of anti-regime forces is to remove the regime, eradicate terrorism and Al-Qaeda influence, and ensure a smooth transition toward a civil, democratic government elected by the people and a constitution that guarantees the rights of everyone of all colors, religions, and ethnicities.
Looks like the Islamists have taken over? http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/12/rise-of-islamists-in-syria-upends-u-s-strategy/?hpt=po_c2
It's a terrifying story, but not a surprising one. These are a bunch of poor, barely educated, radicalized dessert dwellers. Even though there is no excuse for their actions, we would be fools to expect anything more from such a disorganized anarchic and animalistic subset of the human race. Unfortunately they're not even the worst criminals within those borders.
