Talk:Idlib Martyrs' Brigade

Main group in Idlib
The sources given are pretty clear I think:

"As the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime got under way, the political voice leading the dissent supposedly came from the Syrian National Council. But then came the National Co-ordination Committee with its own agenda. And last week saw the emergence of another breakaway faction, the Syrian Patriotic Group.

Relations between the military factions are equally fraught: first it was the Free Syria Army, with the Free Officers Movement in competition. Now the Syrian Liberation Army is declaring that its members are the ones doing the real fighting."

"But some rebel factions are themselves dissatisfied with the FSA. Mohammed Mifsud Abdullah, an officer with the Syrian Liberation Army (SLA), who has been fighting in Idlib, a city in northern Syria, expressed this view: "Our area has received the most government attacks after Homs. So where were the FSA? We are protecting the people here and we certainly do not recognise the FSA as being over us. There are lots of organisations outside the country who say they represent the people. But what are they doing?"

"Abu Hikmat, a civilian "revolutionary commander" who describes himself as a "bridge that supplies pass over," opens the discussion. "We don't have ammunition," he says. "We need money for supplies."

"The opposition that has money is the Muslim Brotherhood, [radical Saudi-based Sunni cleric Sheik Adnan] Arour, and the Free Syrian Army [FSA] command. Forget about them, they won't help you," the doctor says. "The Free Syrian Army in Turkey is a game, a facade to tell the world that that there is a command. I am here to tell you that nobody on the outside says you are militias, everybody knows that [Turkey-based FSA commander] Riad al-Asaad is controlled by the Turks, the Syrian National Council [the de facto opposition group] represents itself. The revolution inside must unite, and every area should set up an operations command center. I'm here to help you with that"

The SLA os the one fighting in Idlib against the Syrian Army, not the FSA. --TristanBogard (talk) 17:24, 11 March 2012 (UTC)


 * You forgot to include the next paragraph in the Independent article "The groups operating in Idlib province alone include the Martyr Hisham Brigade; the Ibn Malik Martyrs Brigade; the Maarratt al-Numan Martyrs Brigade; the Salhauddin [Saladin] Brigade and the Fallujah Brigade." It doesn't seem from that paragraph that the Syrian Liberation Army is the only group operating in the region, but you seem pretty passionate about using that word "main" so go ahead with your perspective. People do read sources so only the casual reader will be fooled. In the end, the truth is always found in the primary sources. I think in this conflict the best way at understanding what is going on is looking at the videos on youtube and if you can the Syrian related arabic facebook pages that is what it means to get the information from as close to the source as you can. And just to give you an idea of what government propaganda spin is check out this article or read the strafor files on wikileaks.--Guest2625 (talk) 17:52, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't know what your problem with the SLA is, but primary sources show that SLA is the main group in Idlib area and these brigades could very well be more members of the SLA rather than the FSA. This primary source filmed early February with two journalist who went to Binnish in Idlib governorate and the SLA was in control. http://www.france24.com/en/20120209-syria-human-rights-watch-activists-assad-protests-un-arab-league Other journalists like Clarissa Ward who filmed a lot in Idlib were with the SLA as well http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57384925/syrian-rebels-desperate-for-weapons/ --TristanBogard (talk) 18:33, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

The only valid source that you gave is the one by Clarissa Ward. Her report is in fact the only primary source for the Syrian Liberation Army all the other news reports stem from her report. Did you actually watch the videos on the France 24 article? The second 10 minute video is excellent and clearly tells you what is going on in the Binnish area, but oddly enough they only mention the Free Syrian Army in the report. There are lots of people here on wikipedia who read the sources very carefully and follow up on where the sources are coming from. I have nothing against the SLA just incorrect information. But like I said use the word "main" if you wish. Just to give you an idea of what is partially going on in Idlib watch this video. There are hundreds of these videos online. Oh. and the most important thing that that activist in the France 24 video report had was his satellite internet connection. I figure it's importance was for getting out those videos from Syria.--Guest2625 (talk) 19:12, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

Tell me you are not really valuing more random propaganda youtube video without any context compared to verified, reliable reports from professional journalists on the ground? If we were to believe these youtube video the whole army would have defected by now and the governement would have felt 6 months ago. If you are looking for reliable news, it is press agency and reliable journalist on the ground. --TristanBogard (talk) 19:20, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

What I value is that second 10 minute video report from France 24 http://www.france24.com/en/20120209-syria-human-rights-watch-activists-assad-protests-un-arab-league that you gave as a source. I also tried to find the first report by Clarissa Ward who is the primary source for the Syrian Liberation Army. I think it's this link http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7397889n. For myself youtube is a great source, but I agree for wikipedia press agencies and reliable journalists are the way to go.--Guest2625 (talk) 19:48, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

France 24 References
There is a bit of a mix up in the translation going on with the France 24 references. The Syrian Liberation Army is the same thing as the Free Syrian Army. In French, the Free Syrian Army is called the "Armée syrienne libre" http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arm%C3%A9e_syrienne_libre or abbreviated as the ASL. The Syrian Liberation Army referenced in the two articles is in fact just the Free Syrian Army. In the Binnish reportage if you watch the second 10 minute video there is no mention of the Syrian Liberation Army you'll repeatedly hear them saying the Free Syrian Army. There is one sentence in the article where they say: "They went to Binnish, a city in the north that is currently in the hands of the anti-government Syrian Liberation Army." The SLA in this is clearly just a translation of the "Armée syrienne libre" and is another name for the FSA.

The other France 24 reference is also just another reference for the Free Syrian Army. In the article http://www.france24.com/en/20120313-france-24-exclusive-syrian-liberation-army-qusayr-rebels-assad they mention the Syrian Liberation Army, however, the video montage nevers mentions the Syrian Liberation Army but rather they only mention the Free Army.--Guest2625 (talk) 01:22, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

CBS
As per a recent article by Clarissa Ward http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57560449/2012-in-syrias-civil-war-one-rebels-story, the Syrian Liberation Army renamed itself many months earlier to the Idlib Martyrs' Brigade. In addition, most news sources that mention this group seem to identify it as a constituent unit of the Free Syrian Army, although I will leave this for now as it is. I strongly feel that this group has been given too much emphasis on many Syrian Civil War pages; it seems to be simply one of the larger rebel groups active in just one Syrian province ie: No more noteworthy than Suqour al-Sham in Idlib or Al-Farouq in Homs. Pmolloy291 (talk) 04:11, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
 * The CBS article does a great job of clarifying who the Syrian Liberation Army is/was and I agree that the SLA has been given too much attention on the different Syrian civil war articles. I'll start removing the brigade from the different articles and have other editors respond on this talk page about the change. Guest2625 (talk) 14:05, 26 December 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, there are a lot of local militias in Syria not affiliated with the FSA. I guess the SLA is not worthy of mention in the main war infobox. -- FutureTrillionaire (talk) 14:21, 26 December 2012 (UTC)

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