I have seen it and do not remember if there is a beheading. I will just say this, ISIS literally IS gore.... everything they do centers around either praying or unbelievable depravity. They literally take the gore factor to 10 out of 10. They film beheadings, torture, they like to film people right before they die and then shoot them in the face. They are literally the most extreme of the extreme and would love nothing better than to see the Syrian Army or Kurds drag their bloated corpses to Damacus.
There is actually one part in the documentary where they do show the heads of people on their bodies and the heads of people posted on poles with their headless bodies on the ground. They never actually showed the beheadings themselves though.
I don't think that glynch thinks that Israel is "as fallible as Hamas". Glynch believes that Israel is FAR worse and that Hamas is noble and not composed of bad guys. Hell, he complains more often about Israel than he does Syria or ISIS or really any other Middle Eastern terrorist group/dictator. That is where the problem arises. He sees it as very black and white, and the reality is Hamas IS bad, they have done some horrible things and continue to do so. They shouldn't be white knighted.
The really sad thing about ISIS is that they took over the Syrian revolution and because of that, the US will probably help destroy them meaning President Bashar al-Assad will be able to hold on to power. When he re-takes the rest of Syria, everyone who spoke out against his abuses will die horribly. The US will be helping keep a brutal dictator in power because the alternative is worse now.
To be fair, ISIS really is a whole lot worse, it's just a tragedy that the Syrian rebels had to turn to guys like that because no one else would help them when they needed it.
ISIS are the brutal murderers that come from the ugliest side of humanity. It was Assad's nihilism that brought them to the fore. One man wanted to rule over the ashes of Syria because people in power know no better. Like the Liberian cannibals before them, the Rwandan murderers, the Serbian genocide perpetrators---they're the darkest representation of humanity. But spare a thought for how that darkness was spawned.
There are no killings in the documentary, but there are bodies, as people have pointed out. It is not an ISIS propaganda film. Speaking of ISIS propaganda films, I have seen a few of them. In one, they execute about 150 people. At one point, they are leading people to a river to shoot them in the head. One guy's asscrack shows a little, so they blurred it out. An asscrack is too offensive for ISIS. Of course, they didn't have any problem showing his face explode. The editors of that video were either making a joke by blurring out the asscrack or they are just that freaking crazy. Either way, these people need to be annihilated.
Well, I wouldn't go so far as all of that, a lot of ISIS is comprised of foreigners who go around looking for a place to kill people. When the US failed to back the Syrian rebels, they were on the verge of being crushed so they looked to anyone who would help them. The people who answered the call were essentially terrorists who jumped at the opportunity to do their thing in a new region. Those guys eventually took over the entire movement and that's what we're left with. The initial rebels were MUCH more secular, but they're gone now.
I am not so sure about this. ISIS has only made it more likely that Al-Assad is removed because they have done serious damage to his military and reach within the region. Al-Assad has serious concerns that he will not be able to hold off ISIS. I would not be surprised at all if the United States has allowed ISIS to do what they have done in Syria, in part because it is hurting Al-Assad. Al-Assad recently extended an olive branch to GB and the USA and the USA in quick reply stated that Al-Assad is a big part of the problem. He is toast. The Syrian rebels didn't turn to ISIS. The rebels are still fighting ISIS and most of the extremist groups fighting in Syria are not made up of Syrians. At this point it isn't about the Syrian population. Have you ever been to Syria? A majority of Syrians did not want a civil war or a revolution. In fact, the protesting was for Al-Assad to have open elections and to have greater representation of the sects of Islam within Syria. That is not to say that Al-Assad was "liked" but most of the Syrian population did not want him over thrown (75%) but felt the system needed to be fixed. Those in Syria that did want him overthrown were quickly displaced by extremist groups from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Asia that wanted a religious state that was based on a version of Islam embraced by a minority of citizens in Syria. Syria and it's population is overall secular. At this point it is all about a power grab and the citizens that cannot afford to flee to EU or Australia are being stuck in the middle.
Actually they did turn to groups that eventually became ISIS because they were on the verge of being wiped out. The fact that they are now fighting ISIS as well doesn't change that. It was a desperate move, and one that I'm sure they regret.
I don't agree with this. I understand why you are saying it, but I do not agree with you, exactly. Syrian rebels fought along side Al-Nursa (and also with a number of other less radical organizations) against the Syrian Army . ISIS was under the umbrella of Al-Nursa and Al Queda and was not viewed as anything of importance. In short order, ISIS and the Syrian rebels were fighting AGAINST one another in regions like Allepo after ISIS mistreated local Syrians and stated they were going to institute a theocracy. Also around that time ISIS broke from Al Queda and has in large part thrived based on social media, huge donations from figures outside of Syria and control of US munitions and strategic resources. I am not even sure we disagree, I just want to make sure people understand that the Syrian people are secular compared to most of the middle east and have no desire to be ruled by ISIS or Al-Nursa. The Syrians want a democracy.
Now would be bad timing to visit, no? My critique of Assad and his violence bringing ISIS to the fore is unconnected to my deep respect for the non-violent and even, to some degree of sympathy, violent elements of the domestic Syrian revolution---those who are genuinely concerned for the Syrian people.
There's no question that the Syrians as a whole are very secular, in fact I was trying to point out that the original Syrian rebels were secular and things only got crazy once they were essentially forced to seek outside help. The outside help that came was the crazies we are hearing about in the news now and they hate the initial secular rebels as much as they hate the Syrian President. I don't think we are really disagreeing here.
Some of the largest and most ancient churches in Orthodoxy are at risk of being destroyed/already have been destroyed, as a cancer has started to spread. The region is facing a religious and ethnic cleansing, as people will be forced to choose life or death...And those who chose life will be forced to convert and spread this cancer throughout the region. The people of Islam have a choice to make...either find a way to eliminate this fundamentalism or accept it as status quo/norm. I am looking at the following wealthy Muslim nations in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Algeria, etc...Its time for Imams and other religious leaders to act, mosques and communities to act, Muslims living in European/Asian/Western nations to act by showing the true face of Islam. If you truly love peace/preach peace...Destroy this cancer growing within your religion. Islam is now at a cross road and the actions of those who believe in her message will shape which direction it takes. I already fear she has chosen a grim path.
The idea that the people of Islam can "choose life" is rhetorical wankery. IS will not be defeated by Muslims choosing life, it will be chosen when states and groups like the Kurd wipe it out like should happen. And I'm still ambivalent about actually bombing IS. If we're going to defeat the Iranians, it would be good to get the Sunnis more on our side. Bombing IS after ignoring Assad ( who frankly, from an atrocity standpoint is arguably even worse) for years is just going to piss of the Sunnis more, and I'm worried about the long term effects.
If Obama had a son, he would look like.... American Suspected Of Fighting With ISIS Killed In Syria http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/26/douglas-mcauthur-mccain-dead_n_5718525.html LOS ANGELES, Aug 26 (Reuters) - An American man suspected of fighting with Islamic State militants operating in Iraq and Syria has been killed in the region, a U.S. security official said on Monday. The official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that the FBI was investigating the death of 33-year-old Douglas McAuthur McCain. A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department would not confirm media reports that McCain had been killed in Syria but said the department had been in contact with his family and was providing "all consular assistance." Family members told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that McCain's mother had been called by an official from the State Department reporting that he had been killed in Syria over the weekend. The newspaper reported that the family had been concerned with McCain's expressions of support of the Sunni Muslim militant group Islamic State, which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria to the alarm of the Baghdad government and its allies in the West. The Star Tribune and NBC News reported that McCain graduated from high school in the Minneapolis area in 1999 before moving to San Diego, where he attended community college. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel in Washington, Marty Graham in San Diego, David Bailey in Minneapolis and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)
IMHO and that of many around the world , Israel is a modern state founded on and still engaging in settler colonialism and a form of ethnic cleansing, a crime against humanity that is being resisted by the Palestinians and Hamas the paramilitary wing of the Palestinians, the folks who are being ethnically cleansed. Populations being ethnically cleansed have the right to fight back. As has happened from time immemorial those resisting such crimes against humanity have employed violence that includes terrorist acts. In this case if you consider the relative crimes of the ethnic cleanser, the Israeli state (not Jews per se as there are millions who don't support Israel on this) their crimes dwarf in scale the crimes of the victims who are being ethnically cleansed. This is true despite the fact that many in the US and Israel have been subjected to sophisticated propaganda techniques and react with rage now that with social media and time that narrative of Israel's birth and expansion have been contested.
