Syria - are we getting the truth from the Global media?

[MissCrabette]

I'd like to read it as well.

[AmeliePoulain]

I really did not want to offend anybody and no matter what you say when it comes to religion or politics, you will offend somebody. This is a very sensitive topic. I am not saying that one side is wrong and the other is right. I never meant for anybody to feel threatened by what I said. The only thing I was referring to was that there are groups within the protesters that are violent and perhaps foreigners, I am not saying all the protesters are wrong and that the government is right . There are minorities that would suffer with a new regime if certain groups took power. This is very sensitive for those that have family there. These things cannot always be discussed publicly, the only thing I can tell you is what I think is happening there that has not been shown in the media. Somebody else might have a different perspective and I respect that.

[AmeliePoulain]

I don't really understand how the standing government slaughtering civilians (including women and children) could ever be a defensible act. These are young people, college students who are rising up trying to overthrow a corrupt and violent government and being slaughtered in the process. They're not the freaking Taliban.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_SIeljZ3Tc

I never said the protesters are "the freaking Taliban." I was just referring to other groups that might be posing as protesters and who have somewhat Taliban mentality. It should be up to the Syrian people not manipulation from the outside.

[ladymoreta]

Please don't hesitate to bring up sensitive topics in the debate forum. We all agree to bring our thick skin or avoid these threads.

[diggitydot]

It should be up to the Syrian people not manipulation from the outside.

I think everyone would prefer this, ideally. But I doubt any major revolution/rebellion in the last 50 years (at least) has occurred without outside influence or agitators.

I never said the protesters are "the freaking Taliban." I was just referring to other groups that might be posing as protesters and who have somewhat Taliban mentality. It should be up to the Syrian people not manipulation from the outside.

No, I added the "freaking". What you said was "Let's hope the Taliban never protests for democracy then.", which infers that the protesters in Syria are Taliban-like. I can imagine that there are factions, and yes, some of the factions probably have less positive motives than others, so that part of your clarification makes sense. I wholeheartedly agree that it should be up to the Syrian people which is why I reacted so strongly to the idea that the protesters as a whole were sinister or Taliban-like.

ETA: I do understand that this is an extremely sensitive topic, probably far more so than any of us who have always lived in the US can fully appreciate. While we can and do often debate things in a heated way - religion, politics, etc. - you did not ask for this to be moved here. Several of us jumped on your comment in the other thread, and I moved this part here because it was taking on the form of a debate --- that's what we usually do. Nothing says that we have to *continue* to debate it, though.

[AmeliePoulain]

Diggitydot,

I feel completely fine talking about the following and it is acutally about me and not DH or his family. Although I have lived in the US since I was 4, I was actually born in a country in central America during civil war. Both sides were equally evil and committed atrocities against civilians. The US was giving the military weapons while socialist countries supported the revolutionaries. All this support just turned it into a real bloodbath. I guess that's how it usually goes. There was no "good guy," if you ask my family.

[MissCrabette]

http://video.pbs.org/video/2165688098

I hate doing this kind of drive-by post, on a dormant thread no less. I wish I had more time, but I have to get back to getting ready for my flight.