The Takeaway: Story of the Day - Tracking Arms and Armies in Syria

Tracking Arms and Armies in Syria

03/29/13 • -1 min

Reporting on the ongoing conflict in Syria has been a challenge for traditional journalists for a number of reasons, including the difficulty of getting into the country and the safety concerns on the ground.

Filmmaker Olly Lambert gained access to Syria last year and spent five weeks reporting on both sides of the war, from the perspective of both Syrian rebels and government soldiers.

Eliot Higgins has never been to Syria, but he is considered something of an expert when it comes to the monitoring of weapons used in the war, even though he has no formal training in the arms trade. For almost a year, Higgins has been carefully watching and analyzing hundreds of videos posted online every day from the Syrian conflict. From the comfort of his home, Higgins, who is currently unemployed, shares his analysis of Syrian weapons in his Brown Moses blog which has been used by journalists, including Lambert, to help them with their reporting.

Higgins has worked with Human Rights Watch to document the use of cluster bombs in Syria, and recently discovered that Syrian opposition fighters had been using weapons from Croatia, reported to have been covertly shipped into the country with the help of the CIA.

Lambert’s forthcoming Frontline documentary, "Syria Behind the Lines," produced by our partner WGBH, airs on PBS on Tuesday, April 9th.

"What was shocking [about going to] these Alawite and pro-regime villages was just the amount of fear. And that’s a fear that’s been designed by the regime, I mean the regime is stronger the more fearful it’s supporters are,” explains Lambert. “But the people in these villages are absolutely convinced that they are facing annihilation. They talk openly about genocide and feel that as a minority...there’s a huge sense that they are going to get wiped out."

Lambert notes that these feelings are becoming further entrenched with every passing day of the conflict, fueling and driving the civil war. Higgins says that this escalation can be seen in each side’s weapons of choice. “There’s been an escalation on both sides. So what we’ve seen is on the syrian military side, we’ve seen an increasing range of bombs being deployed, clearly from stockpiles. It almost seems sometimes like they’re working through their warehouses to see what bomb they’ve got to use next.”

“On the opposition side, as they become better equipped and take over military bases, they’ve captured more equipment...So there’s been an escalation on both sides for the entire conflict.”

Our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, is filling in as host all this week. Follow Todd on Twitter for the latest from Capitol Hill.

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Filmmaker Olly Lambert gained access to Syria last year and spent five weeks reporting on both sides of the war, from the perspective of both Syrian rebels and government soldiers.

Lambert’s forthcoming Frontline documentary, "Syria Behind the Lines," produced by our partner WGBH, airs on PBS on Tuesday, April 9th.

“On the opposition side, as they become better equipped and take over military bases, they’ve captured more equipment...So there’s been an escalation on both sides for the entire conflict.”

Our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, is filling in as host all this week. Follow Todd on Twitter for the latest from Capitol Hill.

Previous Episode

Samsung Pushes Colossal Development in South Korea

As the North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un continues to exercise his power, South Korea is pushing forward on another, business-related front. The country is home to the world's largest smartphone maker, and its influential economic leader, Lee Kun-Hee.

Lee Kun Hee may not be a household name in the United States, at least in comparison to his former Apple contender Steve Jobs, however, his influence is felt at Apple, Sony and without a doubt, in the homes of many Americans.

Over 75 years of business, Samsung is privy to the tactics needed to stay relevant while keeping competitors on their toes. For example, recent ads by the company mock Apple fans waiting in line to buy the iPhone, portraying them as old and outdated.

Sam Grobart, senior writer at Bloomberg Businessweek, explores the rise of the business in his latest piece and weighs the effects of Samsung as a company, and looks at the corporate practices that keeps it a competent contender in the race of greatest electronics.

Sam Grobart, senior writer at Bloomberg Businessweek (Alex Johnson/WNYC)

Next Episode

How an Anonymous Rider Functionally Deregulated GMOs

Last week, Congress and the president managed to avoid a government shutdown with a continuing resolution that funds the federal government for the next six months.

Unbeknownst to most lawmakers, a last-minute rider, nicknamed the "Monsanto Protection Act," found its way, anonymously, into the continuing resolution before President Obama signed it last Tuesday.

Senator Jon Tester, Democrat from Montana, was outraged. "These provisions are giveaways worth millions of dollars to a handful of the biggest corporations in this country and deserve no place in this bill," he said.

As Tom Philpott, food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones, explains, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has to approve genetically-modified crops before companies could sell the seeds to farmers. In 2008 and 2009, the Center for Food Safety, along with other environmental groups, sued the USDA in federal court, claiming that the USDA approved two genetically engineered crops without a detailed environmental impact statement.

The Center for Food Safety won the suit in both cases, but the rider on this year's continuing resolution would bar environmental groups from suing the USDA for these purposes.

The Monsanto Company declined The Takeaway's request for an interview, but they released the following statement:

As a member of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), we were pleased to join major grower groups in supporting the Farmer Assurance Provision including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Soybean Association, the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Cotton Council, and several others.

The point of the Farmer Assurance Provision is to strike a careful balance allowing farmers to continue to plant and cultivate their crops subject to appropriate environmental safeguards, while USDA conducts any necessary further environmental reviews. The attached letter, submitted by the industry in June 2012, should provide you with additional information and context about what the provision is intended to accomplish.

A broad bipartisan group of legislators in both the House and Senate have supported the provision dating back to June 2012, and it passed with broad bipartisan support.