You may recall that we ran a What Could Possibly Go Wrong post on a Syrian sniper who violated the first rule of what to do after you shoot at a tank (hint: change location). That category doesn’t cut the mustard [gas] here as the downside’s pretty damn clear—at least for the cameraman. I know war is hell and shit happens and you don’t know what you’re going to do until you’re in the situation. But it seems to me that the level of training required to fight in a Middle Eastern (or African) conflict is fairly low. Still, IEDs.

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48 COMMENTS

  1. I wonder if the camera man was hit. I can’t’ quite tell if the AA gunner let off the trigger before or after the gun transverse the camera man.

  5. We can put an end to Syrian gun violence if we demand a plan! Don’t don’t forget to join up with the Mullahs Against Illegal Guns when their camel caravan rolls up to an oasis near you.

  6. Civil wars and rebellions are the place of Amatuers. In 1776 it was common for colonial units to elect their officers. Same thing happened in 1861. learning your trade while engaging hostiles leads to a high rate of deaths and injuries. Those that are good and lucky live long enough to become pros. As for the IED’s they also have a steep learning curve. More than 1 jihadi has died making and planting them.

    • I remember a quote from Che Guevara I read years ago about bomb makers during the Cuban revolution. According to him, almost half ended up as casualties. And I have a feeling that accidents while making or planting explosives aren’t a few minor burns or cuts. More likely, it means lost digits, limbs or blindness.

      • My wife’s cousin has a plate in his skull, is missing 1 eye and most of 1 hand from making a coffee can bomb out of fireworks. Not the first time I’ve encountered this type of thing. People read something like the anarchist cookbook and think they’re experts. They ain’t.

        Revolutions and civil wars are casualty intensive because of the lack of expertise and the lack of time and facilities for real training.

    • In truth, a real fighting army didn’t arise in the colonies until after the winter of our despair at Valley Forge, when von Steuben put his boot heel up the backside of many a wanna-be.

      After that point, we rarely looked back. Before that, fate was not treating us well.

  7. It definitely looks like they’ll practice responsible gun safety with the arms we’re sending them…

  9. We don’t know that any of these guys are the “Stoopid Syrians” they’re assumed here to be, and the assumption is actually quite unbecoming. IF these are so-called “Syrian Rebels” (who are a U.S.-backed reactionary force), they would be more likely Libyans, fresh from their recent “triumph”, or Saudis, even. Some very well could be American Special Forces.

    So now look for some snappy ethnic alliterations to go with “Libyans” and “Saudis”, you Jolly Jingoists!!

  14. I haven’t seen a close shave like that since I saw a barbasol commercial…(you old timer’s will remember barbasol)

  19. We can talk here about the level of training, this, that and some other, but the truth in middle eastern fighting is that they’re not like us. All this projection we Americans have been doing of what we think they want, how we think they’ll act, how they’ll choose to govern themselves… it’s all intellectual onanism on our part.

    What I’ve been told by vets who have been up front is that even after we have given the locals real training, most of them still can’t function as a fighting force, no matter how you try to get them to become a cohesive unit. There’s a few real stand-up individuals, but there’s no unit cohesion, and a large part of that comes about because their mindset is still stuck in the tribal worldview.

    • I would love to see the brain MRIs of a cross section of ‘healthy young Jihadists’. I’m willing to bet they all show a lack of development in the brain’s architecture in those areas related to the higher mental functions

    • Yuuuuuupppppp…………to what Dyspeptic said. God, we need to stay out of these things.

  21. Seriously, it looks to me as though the videographer dropped the camera and hit the sand when he saw the scythe making for his bananas.

    It also looks as though the crew stopped before nailing their buddy, but by that time Captain Videa had taken a powder.

  22. And Boobama wants to arm these idiots!Great with this kind of fighters,Boobama will have to send in troops to save them from themselves.Keep your powder dry.

    • Our “leaders” want to arm Syrian resistance fighters. The same resistance which has Al-Qaeda linked factions among them. We tried this little experiment before in 1980’s Afghanistan. Afterwards, Taliban supported Osama Bin Laden sent his minions to pay us a visit on September 11, 2001. One would think those in power would learn from previous attempts that came back to bite us on the ass.

  23. Wow, seems some people did NOT brush up on their basic NRA gun safety class notes.

    Can we send Wayne Lapier over there to help those guys out?

    😉

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