[candiodari]

> The death of Hamza Khateeb

Ok, but how do you go from that to islamic state ? And frankly, how does a protest like that get organised in the first place by the locals ?

> regular chemical weapons attacks by the regime

Maybe I'm misinformed, but I seem to only recall that the government was accused of doing this once. This is neither regular, nor was it the cause of the conflict.

[matt4077]

Islamic state really doesn't have much to do with the conflict, except that there was suddenly a lot of territory in eastern Syria that the Syrian state could no longer defend, i. e. a power vacuum.

Northern Iraq was similarly weak, and there was a lot of frustration against the Iraqi government, plus many unemployed former members of Saddam Hussein's military with some experience.

So they thought "fuck it, lets start our own country. With blackflags and dead hookers". A bit like these sovereign citizens, but with better social media.

[boomboomsubban]

>Ok, but how do you go from that to islamic state ?

Through two years of civil war, causing unrest, instability, and dissatisfaction with both sides of the conflict. Add in the fighters who had been in the same situation for the past decade in neighboring Iraq, and you end up with a large group of armed people that want nothing to do with Russia or the US.

[kevin_thibedeau]

> Ok, but how do you go from that to islamic state ?

How did Trump win the election?

[gscott]

Collusion of the DNC and Hillary campaign to hurt Sanders, Hillary's not ever turning over her work emails when she was done at the State department, Clinton's universal college plan which would bankrupt the United States... and it goes on and on.

[pjc50]

Nobody seems to care what Trump does with his emails: https://thenextweb.com/politics/2017/01/26/trump-staffers-in...

More generally, he's been even more disastrous than people campaigning against him expected, up to the point of letting Russian intelligence wander around the Oval Office and take pictures.

[RandVal30141]

"accuse"

Not accused, found culpable by OPCW[1] along with ISIS. The chlorine attacks have been on-going, including the siege of Aleppo, on Hama and north Homs, and in the Damascus area. Method of delivery has been air dropped[2] or IRAM type.

" And frankly, how does a protest like that get organised in the first place by the locals"

I'm hoping this is not a joke. Local coordination committees[3] have long been involved in organizing demonstrations and media exposure. People voted on the weekly theme[4] for Friday protests even. When you see logos of Syrian media on CNN and other outlets it is often bearing the logos of these groups.

Yes, locals and organize protests among themselves and others in their nation.

[1] https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-executive-council-ado...

[2] https://youtu.be/PiDntC_E0SY

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Coordination_Committees_...

[4] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8...

[ghvknvgvh]

You have an agenda dude.

[RandVal30141]

I helped disseminate numerous live feeds of demonstrations, ones people flippantly suggest locals were incapable of organizing, like this one from Houla Syria[1].

Months later a massacre[2] was committed there by government forces.

Yea, I have an agenda.

[1] http://bambuser.com/v/2394719

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houla_massacre