Syria: Massive explosion in Hama 'kills 70'

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama, according to Syrian activists.

They said several houses in the Masha at-Tayyar district in southern Hama were destroyed by a big explosion.

State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups".

The violence comes despite a UN-brokered ceasefire - part of a peace plan proposed by the joint UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17851122

[leveymg]

1. Someone's lying. Points out the problem with reporting of facts from Syria from the very beginning.

A single massive explosion?

[pampango]

2. Indeed. It is unfortunate that there have not been independent reporters/monitors on the ground

since the beginning of the protests. Perhaps they think it is to their advantage to have the only sources of information be the government and "activists".

[leveymg]

3. It's proven to be a liability, since most western media only prints the claims of the "activists"

Old-fashioned police states don't do very well in the ratings wars.

[pampango]

4. One can hope that "old-fashioned police states" will realize that in the future and

there will be independent monitors/reporters on the ground in future. OTOH, I suppose that "police states" generally value controlling the flow of information and aren't very big on independent reporting in most cases.

[leveymg]

5. Let us hope that in the future there are fewer police states of all kinds.

Ours happens to retain an aging patina of constitutional liberties, but that fabric of legitimacy is wearing out and sophisticated mass manipulation, the monopolization of government by corporations and the wealthy elites, the militarization of the police, and near-universal surveillance are showing through.

Syria should have taken a lessons from the Pentagon and corporations, and bought themselves media coverage.

[joshcryer]

7. They could try but the media would demand "both sides" of the story.

They can't risk having their side be contrasted with the "other side." Even if you disagree with the "other side."

[leveymg]

8. Both sides are full of shit. Raking out the truth is supposed to be the job of journalists, but

most employees of major corporate media are highly-paid propagandists supporting an institutional agenda, not independent-minded editors and reporters.

[Posteritatis]

6. Is it that surprising?

A surface-to-surface missile or large rocket hitting in the right place can do that. Hell, single mortar shells have created similar body counts a couple of times when aimed at crowded areas.