For more than two years, as fighting has escalated throughout Syria, a group of villages peopled by government supporters in the mountains above this coastal city has been spared any attacks.
In spite of their proximity to the Turkish border, across which rebel fighters are armed and financed, farmers continued their lives as normal, even though as Alawites allied to the Shia sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs they could have been obvious targets...
Shadi, a 32-year-old officer in a local defence unit that is separate from the Syrian army, was lightly wounded during the government's counter-attack. "When we got into the village of Balouta I saw a baby's head hanging from a tree. There was a woman's body which had been sliced in half from head to toe and each half was hanging from separate apple trees. It made me feel I wanted to do something wild," he recalled.
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On September 3, 2013 John McCain was on Fox News and said the following:
Seriously, McCain??? Really???
Defending rebels when they scream Allah Ahkbar??
Claiming the rebels are MODERATE??
I tell you...the stench coming from the capitol of our great nation is getting worse by the day...no...by the hour...
DR
