“Watering can principle,” in which subventions are distributed evenly throughout a group without regard to individual needs or priorities, a principle some European arms exporters say they won’t follow if allowed to resume exporting weapons to Syrian rebels. They say they will only give guns to good guys. The UK and France don’t want to renew the EU’s embargo on Syrian arms shipments, which is about to expire.
(GEESE Cannes en prints EEP.)
Small autonomous groups of rebels fighting the Assads’ military machine in Syria. According to ZDF heute journal reporting on 11 August 2012, these small units or brigades fight on local territory, defending their neighborhoods. Each katiba has a logistics officer, and they organize their own money, food, weapons and medicine. It is not entirely clear where their money is coming from, but the local neighborhood defense means that foreign fighters are few, ZDF says, and when foreign fighters have joined the rebellion against the Assads it tends to be in border regions.
The BBC posted this map yesterday showing who may have recently been holding which territory [thanks, BoingBoing.net]. Nearly all the territories marked on this map appear to be in border regions.
(Kah TEE bah.)
Nightmarish, oppressive, disturbing.
(Beh CLEM end.)
Concerned, affected, shocked, afflicted, struck aback by something.
(Beh TROFF en.)
“Lips avowal,” “lips confession.” Lip service. Only talking the walk.
(LIP pen bah KEN t niss.)
“Holding-off tactic,” to stall or delay someone, string them along. What the Assads are doing in the Syrian peace talks.
(HINN holt ah TOCK TICK.)
The quiet of the cemetery, the peace of the graveyard. What the al-Assads are trying to achieve in Homs.
(FREE d hoffs roo ah.)
“Ripe for storming.” To bombard a target until it is so “softened up” that you can attack with ground troops. 30 years ago, Bashar al-Assad’s father shot the Sunni town of Hama sturmreif, then marched in. 20,000 to 30,000 people were killed.
(SHTOORM rife.)
To make a cat’s arched back; to kowtow, to fawn. “First Lady of Syria Asma al-Assad’s personality appears to have changed after her marriage, perhaps due to all the Katzbuckeln around her.”
(COTS book eln.)
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