Sunday 23 September 2012

Recommended Arab Spring And Hackgate Articles Week Ending September 23rd

Here's a round up of some of the more interesting articles you may have missed in the past week:

Arab Spring

The past week has provided us with a interesting selection of articles about equipment and make up of the Syrian opposition, with CJ Chivers starting an excellent series of articles about the DIY weapons being used by the opposition, with part three promising details of the DIY weapons being used by Assad loyalists:

Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part I
Syria’s Dark Horses, With Lathes: Makeshift Arms Production in Aleppo Governorate, Part II

Louisa Loveluck examined the lethal consequences of the non-lethal aid provided by a number of countries to the Syrian opposition in What's non-lethal about aid to the Syrian opposition?, and The Rogue Adventurer blog looks at the different RPG-7 projectiles being spotted in Syria.  For my part I've put together a post examining the different types of bombs being used by the Syrian Air Force.

Two studies of the beliefs and motivations of the Syrian opposition are worth taking a look at, first the Institute for the Study of War published an excellent detailed report on Jihadists in Syria, which was followed by The International Republican Institute's survey into the attitudes of opposition members and activists, which pointed to more moderate views among the Syrian oppositions.

One article that caught my eye on Libya was Reuters piece on the attitudes of staff at a hospital towards the Ansar al-Sharia militia, blamed for the violence at the US consulate in Benghazi, but regarded by the staff as protectors of the hospital, Militants or no, Islamist fighters praised at Benghazi hospital.

Hackgate

With the latest accusations levied by the Independent and Evening Standard and promises of more to come it appears the Hackgate scandal might be returning with even worse revelations in the offing.  The BBC put together this helpful chart showing the current arrests by the various Hackgate related police operations, with Slate asking Why Hasn’t Eric Holder Charged News Corp. With Foreign Corrupt Practices?.

More trouble for News Corp was hinted about the Socialist Worker Online asking Did News International order burglary of Hillsborough campaigner’s home?, while Tom Watson MP wrote Rupert Murdoch a letter asking questions about the latest allegations.  Finally, a audio recording of a conversation between Derek Haslem and Ian Hurst was posted online where it's claimed that Southern Investigations blackmailed MPs, Ministers, and the Home Secretary with a suggestion of collusion with Alex Marunchak of the News of the World.


You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com


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