

How War in Syria Turned Ordinary Engineers Into Deadly Weapons Inventors - sk2code
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/diy-arms-syria/

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zwtaylor
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...](http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/02/diy-weapons-of-the-syrian-
rebels/100461/)

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footoverhand
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".

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

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jbooth
All of those things. When they all agree on a terminology, the terminology can
be said to be used by 'the US'.

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grimtrigger
They don't all agree.

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enqk
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...](http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/ing%C3%A9nieur/43051)

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neurostimulant
> 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.

