Friday, June 28, 2013

Syrian Observatory counts the dead in Syria: let us cook the numbers again

"In its breakdown, the group said the dead included 36,661 civilians, including 8,000 women and children; 13,539 rebel fighters; and 2,015 defectors from government forces. Among pro-government forces, the group said 25,407 regular soldiers had been killed along with 17,311 members of militias and pro-government units including some listed as informers for the government."  So the Syrian regime uses fighter jets and scud missiles to bomb rebels and yet manages to suffer more casualties than the rebels?  How does that work? That can only be explained by the pattern established by the rebels: they tend to categorize their own casualties as civilians, not that I believe those estimates: not by the UN, nor by the Observatory, nor by the regime, and nor by the rebels.  No one really knows but I think there is an exaggeration in the claims.