How War in Syria Turned Ordinary Engineers Into Deadly Weapons Inventors

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/diy-arms-syria/

by sk2code • 13 years ago

50 21 13 years ago

wired.com

enqk• 13 years ago

Well since the word engineer originated to designate people who built machines of war, this is not terribly surprising.

(Reference, most French language dictionaries) Such as: http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/ing%C3%A9nieur...

zwtaylor• 13 years ago

This is no doubt interesting, but it's very obviously a PR piece written to subtly engender American support for arming Syrian Rebels. This chaotic conflict is making for very strange bedfellows of the United States and certain extremist groups.

There was a nearly identical article in The Atlantic a few months back, Edward Bernays would be proud!

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/diy-weapons-of-th...

eeky• 13 years ago

Couldn't agree more. The Syrian rebels are a loosely associated group with several elements who are radical Islamist and Al Qaeda. This could have easily been titled "DIY Terrorism".

pyre• 13 years ago

But is it really terrorism at this point? It's a civil war. Just because some groups that use terrorism to further their goals are participating doesn't make it any less of a war.

If the residents of New York City rebelled, and managed to take control of 2/3rds of the city, that would be a civil war (or at least I would classify it as such), even if Al Qaeda showed up to participate.

pessimizer• 13 years ago

Equally inaccurately, though. Both "freedom fighters" and "terrorists" are marketing terms. "Rebel" is accurate since they're fighting the government; that's definitely a rebellion.

footoverhand• 13 years ago

An easy way to determine if the US supports a group is to look at the language used to describe that group. Are they "freedom fighters" or "terrorists"?

France is fighting "terrorists" in Mali, not "freedom fighters". The US supports the Syrian "rebels", not the Syrian "terrorists".

grimtrigger3• 13 years ago

Who exactly is the US? The government? Democrats? Republicans? Journalists?

darkarmani2• 13 years ago

An easy way to determine if the US supports a group is to look at the language used to describe that group

You mean like "ally" or "enemy?"

narrator• 13 years ago

There was one about the Libyan rebels too!

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/06/diy-weapons-of-th...

mladenkovacevic• 13 years ago

Hey if the formula works why change it.

grimtrigger3• 13 years ago

I think its fine to say the piece is biased (even though you haven't given any evidence despite the fact that "its very obvious"). However, saying an article by the free press was written for a specific political purpose requires some backup.

I could accuse you of trying to engender support against the rebels, but that would be a distraction that moves the conversation nowhere.

neurostimulant• 13 years ago

He points to a stack of metal objects in the corner, shaped like old-fashioned fire-alarm bells. They are what are known in military parlance as victim-operated improvised explosive devices—or, in plain English, land mines.

Uh, I hope they don't use those land mines. Years after the war end, those buried land mines would still killing people.

How War in Syria Turned Ordinary Engineers Into Deadly Weapons Inventors

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