Late last month, John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov celebrated a “temporary cessation of hostilities” in Syria.
Obviously, the “ceasefire” didn’t include ISIS, but more critically for peace, it didn’t include al-Nusra either.
Nusra is of course al-Qaeda’s Syrian arm, and what’s important to understand is that unlike ISIS, their positions are difficult to distinguish from those of the FSA and other rebel groups that are a party to the US-Russian agreement. As we noted late last month:
“While the ISIS presence is concentrated in eastern Syria, al-Nusra has positions in Aleppo City, the Jabal Turkman region of Northeastern Latakia, the Jabal Zawiya region in Southern Idlib Province, and the Quneitra Province along the Golan Heights. Just to name a few. That effectively means Russia can bomb anywhere along the country’s urban backbone in the west and claim to be targeting the group.”
By all accounts, that fact alone should have made the ceasefire a no-go but relatively speaking (and when it comes to ceasefires, it’s all “relative” in Syria) things actually haven’t gone so badly. Sure, more than 200 people have reportedly been killed, but according to “sources” (and we use that term very loosely because it almost always refers to one guy in London) Sunday was the “calmest” day yet, with “only” 14 people killed.
While we’re certain (and saddened) that hostilities will resume anew in relatively short order, we found the following images from the ceasefire to be interesting if only for the degree to which some fighters seem bored – almost dejected – at the lack of violence.
“War”, as Chris Hedges famously wrote, “is a drug.”
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“I learned early on that war forms its own culture. The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction. Many of us, restless and unfulfilled, see no supreme worth in our lives. We want more out of life. And war, at least, gives a sense that we can rise above our smallness and divisiveness.”
Запись “War Is A Drug”: Images From The Eerie Syrian Ceasefire впервые появилась crude-oil.top.