Bashar al-Assad's explosive barrels dropped on the city of Daraya - video - Polidicks

[video=youtube;FYnxbjyxFtY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYnxbjyxFtY[/video] Article from a different city, but the story's the same: [url]http://www.arabnews.com/news/519666[/url]

Assad might as well start crucifying babies at this point no one will do anything.

Our leaders can't even get stuff done in the west, how are they ever going to agree with eachother long enough to help these people. This stuff is so depressing because they actually hope for us to do something and our apathy knows no limit.

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;43782095]Assad might as well start crucifying babies at this point no one will do anything.[/QUOTE] Don't worry guys Al-Qaeda's got this!

I have problems understanding what the fuck is going on. This part of the city looks abandoned. And no sign of rebel activity, no guns, no trucks, nothing in there, and they're bombing the place to kingdom come with some non-productive IEDs (more smoke and dust than actual damage done), dropping them from transport helos? Even if there're rebels (and I have no doubt they're there), trying to root them out like that seems like trying to root out moles by lobbing grenades into random holes in the ground: it's a waste and a lot of collateral damage.

No, that's just a residential area of the city. They're bombing with improvised bombs and if you skip to the latter half of the video you can see they do plenty of damage and they kill plenty of people. tl;dr watch the [I]whole[/I] video

Why the fuck is this even allowed to happen

[QUOTE=gudman;43782220]I have problems understanding what the fuck is going on. This part of the city looks abandoned. And no sign of rebel activity, no guns, no trucks, nothing in there, and they're bombing the place to kingdom come with some non-productive IEDs (more smoke and dust than actual damage done), dropping them from transport helos? Even if there're rebels (and I have no doubt they're there), trying to root them out like that seems like trying to root out moles by lobbing grenades into random holes in the ground: it's a waste and a lot of collateral damage.[/QUOTE] Have you been following anything Assad has done over the course of the war? Gassing and bombing civilians is standard procedure if it happens within suspected rebel terrirtory.

[QUOTE=Stopper;43782233]No, that's just a residential area of the city. They're bombing with improvised bombs and if you skip to the latter half of the video you can see they do plenty of damage and they kill plenty of people. tl;dr watch the [I]whole[/I] video[/QUOTE] I did. Civilians (who may or may not be civilians, rebels are virtually indistinguishable for civillians with no weapon in their hands) get killed and some damage - nowhere near enough damage I expected from so much dust. One building completely ruined, and that's like after they dropped three bombs on it. And it doesn't answer why. Why IEDs, I'm pretty sure they still have some of those Iranian MLRS'. Thing is, it's so fucking counter-productive it's insane. It's not even incendiary, it's literally like throwing huge stones at people hoping to maybe get some rebels (who obviously hide somewhere the moment they hear helos). It's like they're doing it on purpose so someone can film that and then show it to public and international community. It's just insane.

I'm glad to see Russia handled the situation very well :downs:

How is Assad still in power.

Because 1. The international community can't act with Russia and potentially China backing the regime up. 2. The rebels are just as bad, if even worse considering they will kill eachother before and after Assad is gone.

[QUOTE=gudman;43782347]I did. Civilians (who may or may not be civilians, rebels are virtually indistinguishable for civillians with no weapon in their hands) get killed and some damage - nowhere near enough damage I expected from so much dust. One building completely ruined, and that's like after they dropped three bombs on it. And it doesn't answer why. Why IEDs, I'm pretty sure they still have some of those Iranian MLRS'. Thing is, it's so fucking counter-productive it's insane. It's not even incendiary, it's literally like throwing huge stones at people hoping to maybe get some rebels (who obviously hide somewhere the moment they hear helos). It's like they're doing it on purpose so someone can film that and then show it to public and international community. It's just insane.[/QUOTE] Yes I'm sure the man that authorised the used of illegal chemical weapons on civilians is really concerned about collateral damage.

[QUOTE=Valiantttt;43782371]Because 1. The international community can't act with Russia and potentially China backing the regime up. 2. The rebels are just as bad, if even worse considering they will kill eachother before and after Assad is gone.[/QUOTE] "just as bad" Yes, the extremist groups are terrible, but they're much smaller than the FSA is, and they are fighting to get rid of said groups, also they didn't start this by shooting innocent protesters and then fucking cluster bombing towns.

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;43782389]Yes I'm sure the man that authorised the used of illegal chemical weapons on civilians is really concerned about collateral damage.[/QUOTE] Why do you insist on missing the point? Drop moral judgement for a sec. Chemweapons at least were somewhat useful to kill rebels. Along with civilians. This one, however, only kills civilians, not doing any damage to rebels at all, due to a lot of reasons, starting from rather noisy delivery method. That's not even collateral damage when it is utterly incapable of fulfilling it's primary purpose.

[QUOTE=gudman;43782347]I did. Civilians (who may or may not be civilians, rebels are virtually indistinguishable for civillians with no weapon in their hands) get killed and some damage - nowhere near enough damage I expected from so much dust. One building completely ruined, and that's like after they dropped three bombs on it. And it doesn't answer why. Why IEDs, I'm pretty sure they still have some of those Iranian MLRS'. Thing is, it's so fucking counter-productive it's insane. It's not even incendiary, it's literally like throwing huge stones at people hoping to maybe get some rebels (who obviously hide somewhere the moment they hear helos). It's like they're doing it on purpose so someone can film that and then show it to public and international community. It's just insane.[/QUOTE] With any conflict in the middle east, apply [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor]Hanlon's razor[/url] heavily and consistently.

[QUOTE=gudman;43782447]Why do you insist on missing the point? Drop moral judgement for a sec. Chemweapons at least were somewhat useful to kill rebels. Along with civilians. This one, however, only kills civilians, not doing any damage to rebels at all, due to a lot of reasons, starting from rather noisy delivery method. That's not even collateral damage when it is utterly incapable of fulfilling it's primary purpose.[/QUOTE] It does fulfill its purpose though. All the places that were hit were absolutely demolished. I can't answer why he's dropping them on civilians though. He's probably so delusional at this point, it's not even remotely amusing. I don't know how you got the idea that they were ineffective!

[QUOTE=Tomthetechy;43782358]How is Assad still in power.[/QUOTE] Russia. well I think anyway, putin sending assad aid certainty ain't helping.

[QUOTE=Stopper;43782494] I don't know how you got the idea that they were ineffective![/QUOTE] Because anyone sane enough would take cover when they hear helicopters, helos are loud. Especially Mi-8/17s. Especially if you're a rebel. Civilians seem like the only ones that could be left out of cover.

[QUOTE=gudman;43782526]Because anyone sane enough would take cover when they hear helicopters, helos are loud. Especially Mi-8/17s. Especially if you're a rebel. Civilians seem like the only ones that could be left out of cover.[/QUOTE] No, I meant against the buildings.

[QUOTE=Stopper;43782534]No, I meant against the buildings.[/QUOTE] Well most of the stuff there still stands, it took three direct hits to bring one down. Other buildings nearby seem shredded, but still standing strong.

Holy shit.

Can anybody with knowledge of these weapons please share what the barrels are actually made up of? These are fucking huge explosions.

[QUOTE=gudman;43782543]Well most of the stuff there still stands, it took three direct hits to bring one down. Other buildings nearby seem shredded, but still standing strong.[/QUOTE] So are you excluding the fact that all the rooms were gutted and everything inside destroyed? If you're a civilian living there your life is practically nullified.

[QUOTE=Gustafa;43782584]Can anybody with knowledge of these weapons please share what the barrels are actually made up of? These are fucking huge explosions.[/QUOTE]I would think they're just filling them with explosives that aren't already in bombs, maybe stuff like the explosives used to blast rock in mining or construction. I doubt anyone really knows for sure other than the ones who pack the barrels.

The point is the devices aren't very aerodynamic or stable. They can't be used to hit targets with precision. They can't be used to hit targets in number because they are too heavy to transport. They are purely weapons of terror. They are designed to terrorise rebel held cities and neighbourhoods, not kill enemy combatants specifically.

[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;43782389]Yes I'm sure the man that authorised the used of illegal chemical weapons on civilians is really concerned about collateral damage.[/QUOTE] You completely missed his point. Gudman isn't looking at this from a moral standpoint, only a logical one. Dropping barrels like that is [i]extremely[/i] inefficient. It's like trying to amputate an arm with a butter knife. Using an MI-8 as a bomb platform, when the rebels are very well known to use guided and non guided AA weaponry, is absolute insanity. MI-8's are nice, big, and very warm targets; easy to hit with any variety of DshKa calibers and shoulder carried heat seeking missiles. The Syrian government also has a legit airforce, decked out with everything from MiG-21's to MiG-29's. Why use an MI-8 when you got actual jet fighters that can cause more casualties for the enemy and less likely to be shot down?

[QUOTE=Trunk Monkay;43782974]You completely missed his point. Gudman isn't looking at this from a moral standpoint, only a logical one. Dropping barrels like that is [i]extremely[/i] inefficient. It's like trying to amputate an arm with a butter knife. Using an MI-8 as a bomb platform, when the rebels are very well known to use guided and non guided AA weaponry, is absolute insanity. MI-8's are nice, big, and very warm targets; easy to hit with any variety of DshKa calibers and shoulder carried heat seeking missiles. The Syrian government also has a legit airforce, decked out with everything from MiG-21's to MiG-29's. Why use an MI-8 when you got actual jet fighters that can cause more casualties for the enemy and less likely to be shot down?[/QUOTE] How about this for an implication: They knew that the district they were bombing didn't have any rebel activity, so it was safe to fly a heli in there. And they did it anyway.

[QUOTE=Gustafa;43782584]Can anybody with knowledge of these weapons please share what the barrels are actually made up of? These are fucking huge explosions.[/QUOTE] They're really not huge explosions. They're pretty small compared to modern munitions. They're really just basic and simple bombs. An artillery shell or a oil barrel filled with any variety of explosives and shrapnel, then given a simple fuse and kicked out the back of a helo [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFZ93lPTflQ[/media] [editline]4th February 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Stopper;43782982]How about this for an implication: They knew that the district they were bombing didn't have any rebel activity, so it was safe to fly a heli in there. And they did it anyway.[/QUOTE] again, illogical; but hey terrorism whoooo

According to [url]http://www.arabnews.com/news/519666[/url] they're barrels filled with explosives and scrap/junk to cause large amount of shrapnel on explosion. So more or less upscaled pipe bombs.