The execution of 7 Syrian soldiers would be SOP for any rebel group.

[catnhatnh]

Personally I prefer we do not in any way involve ourselves in Syria at this time. That said I see one faction here yelling WMD while the other points to this execution as a balancing act, and this is a false equivalency.

Try this-you belong to one of a dozen or more small opposition groups. You fight mostly on foot with only small arms against an entire army. You hold no permanent bases and have only hidden safe havens. What do you do with prisoners??? Now keep in mind-these are not truly hostages-nobody will negotiate for them and you have no use for them as propaganda nor any way to spread the word if you wanted to. Alive they will slow any retreat, use valuable resources, and may know things about your group you would rather the government troops trying to hunt you down did not. Turned loose they will continue to hunt you tomorrow. You are responsible for the lives and safety of the rest of your group.

This is the bitch-goddess War. Neither side shows mercy but to gain an advantage and in asymmetrical war the smaller force can never gain advantage by a merciful act and can less easily survive the dangers of displaying it. Think WW2 resistance movements and the movie "Red Dawn"....the guys you call good guys know these rules too and obey them. Was Seal Team 6 "merciful" in the tower with an unarmed Bin Laden?

Ask any combat Vet here whether every potential prisoner was given quarter.

That execution was an ugly act but not at all surprising.

[Niceguy1]

1. ugly but

Necessary. Many here just don't have a clue about what war is really like.

[whatchamacallit]

12. Says "Niceguy1"

[Niceguy1]

23. war is hell.....

People like assad use human shields......and oftwn you just can't ignore the target the are shielding....its no video game.

[polly7]

2. What about beheading a priest? nt.

[catnhatnh]

3. I made my point...

...if you have one I suggest you write an OP and post it. You do notice your objection is not something I was discussing, right?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

10. Your OP is about why sadistic thuggery should not be laid at the feet of sadistic thugs

polly7 pointed out that they are still sadistic thugs even when the logistics of keeping prisoners is not a burden.

BTW -- guerillas are still obligated to operate under the Geneva Conventions.

BTW BTW -- my husband is a vet. He saw the execution video and noted how the sadistic thug was reciting a poem. He then went on to note that the leader probably slept just fine after that. My husband went on to say he would not trade a single one of the nightmares he has to be anything like those animals.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. So basically war crimes are fine if your side is doing them.

Got it.

[catnhatnh]

5. Again try reading for comprehension...

...at the outset I explained I want nothing to do with either side. But while your here, do you mean Seal Team 6 committed a war crime?

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Yes they did. They executed a prisoner.

[catnhatnh]

7. Thank you for that.

And us lobbing in cruise missiles without UN authority is a war crime, and poison gas is a war crime, and just sometimes I think no matter how you engage in these actions you and your soldiers will be guilty of war crimes....and they all rot the souls of those involved.But I did feel it was unfair to compare the execution to the entirely unnecessary gassing.

[delrem]

18. Most probably the same group that did the executing did the gassing.

But that possibility isn't "on the table", in warhawk Nancy Pelosi's terms.

[MNBrewer]

8. and a war crime, to boot.

[BOG PERSON]

9. disgusting n/t

[kenny blankenship]

11. And if they didn't eat the dead men's hearts and livers - (ooh! Warning! Graphic!)

- that would be a horrible waste of food, would it not?

Noms

Any nourishment they pass over and reject as unfit (captive's entrails perchance, "bush meat" in other lands) just means they eat their normal rations and that would inevitably subtract from the meager total of foodstuffs available to the people of that afflicted land.

Refusing to eat the hearts of their enemies would in effect be taking regular food out of the mouths of the very countrymen for whom they fight. Who wants to see that? Who would ask them to forgo the economy of eating the hearts of their captives?

[TwilightGardener]

13. I wasn't expecting honorable behavior from a rebel group. They're not

really a military, have no codes of conduct, I'm sure--and probably not comprised of some of the nicer young men around. Brutal, but not surprising, I agree.

[daleo]

16. And many of them passionately hate the west.

[delrem]

19. Not surprising? So what would surprise you, as a war action by al Qaeda?

[JI7]

14. there is a reason we have held off on military aid to the rebels

[delrem]

20. Because US military aid is laundered through Saudi Arabia. nt

[polly7]

22. What??

Syrian rebels get first new heavy weapons after Obama announces U.S. to send military support

Richard Spencer, The Telegraph | 13/06/19 | Last Updated: 13/06/19 6:55 PM ET

The first new heavy weapons have arrived on Syria’s front lines following President Barack Obama’s decision to put Western military might behind the official opposition, rebels have told The Daily Telegraph.

Rebel sources said Russian-made “Konkurs” anti-tank missiles had been supplied by America’s key Gulf ally, Saudi Arabia. They have already been used to destructive effect and may have held up a promised regime assault on Aleppo.

A handful of the missiles were already in use and in high demand after opposition forces looted them from captured regime bases.

More have now arrived, confirming reports that the White House has lifted an unofficial embargo on its Gulf allies sending heavy weapons to the rebels.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/19/syrian-rebels-get-first-new-heavy-weapons-after-obama-announces-u-s-to-send-military-support/

[whatchamacallit]

15. Holy fuck!

[Democracyinkind]

17. War crime = War crime.

There's no middle room here because none was ever intended. And for good reasons.

[alcibiades_mystery]

21. Asinine

Thumbs Down.