Pittsburgh Man Reportedly Dead in Syria
Source: WPXI TV (Pittsburgh)
CAIRO — An American-Egyptian man born in Pittsburgh is missing in Syria and reported dead in fighting between Islamic militants and Kurdish militia. If true, Amiir Farouk Ibrahim, 32, would be the second American known to have been killed in Syria's civil war.
Family members said he traveled to Turkey in February or March and later crossed into Syria, where Syrian rebels and foreign Islamist fighters have battled government troops for more than two years. Ibrahim told his parents that he was providing humanitarian assistance there, although his father said he did not believe that. His Facebook page contains numerous references in support of radical Islamists.
Ibrahim's U.S. and Egyptian passports — and passports of 14 other men from several Middle Eastern countries — were recovered in northeast Syria after a battle between Syrian Kurdish militiamen and militants from al-Sham and the Islamic State of Iraq, a terrorist group formerly known as al-Qaida in Iraq.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based Syrian opposition group, posted photographs of Ibrahim's passports on its Facebook page on Monday. The group said it did not know whether anyone survived an “intense” battle between opposing Syrian forces. Contacted at their Cairo home by the Tribune-Review, Ibrahim's family said they were unaware of the Internet postings. They appeared shocked and devastated at the news. One of his brothers later called a Trib reporter to say that a friend told him that Ibrahim was killed in Syria.
Read more: http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/pittsburgh-man-reportedly-dead-syria/nY4rk/
That's the second American jihadi to meet his doom in Syria.
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cosmicone
(11,014 posts)good riddance
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)
eissa
(4,238 posts)That the majority of the rebels/terrorists are not Syrian.
pampango
(24,692 posts)The Center for American Progress' study shows that 90% of the rebels are Syrians.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/report/2013/05/14/63221/the-structure-and-organization-of-the-syrian-opposition/
John2
(2,730 posts)is headed by some guy name Needra Tanden, that worked for the Obama and both Clinton campaigns. The head of it now is John Podesta. They would obviously have some bias in pushing the agendas of certain politicians in the Middle East. They are something like a 501 and have many contributors including corporations and wealthy donors.
pampango
(24,692 posts)of its studies? You don't know much about it, do you?
BTW, CAP advises against US involvement in Syria as likely to make a bad situation much worse. Their study is an effort to determine facts (which have a liberal bias) rather than relying on anecdotal reports and you tube videos to justify a policy. (We all know which party likes to use fear and emotion rather than evidence to fire up its supporters. 
)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_American_Progress
If you have access to a study of the composition of the Syrian opposition done by an organization that you trust more than CAP, please share it.
eissa
(4,238 posts)On this issue, I'll take the word of family in Syria over a think tank. According to them, every rebel they've had the misfortune of encountering had a heavy Saudi or Egyptian accent (both very distinguishable from the Syrian dialect.)
How many of the people fighting for the regime are Lebanese or Iranian?
John2
(2,730 posts)that have died in Syria? You really can't be serious, implying the Rebels would be a match in a fight with the Syrian Army and the Iranian Army, if Iran really was fighting in Syria? Do you know how enormous the Iranian military is? Think in the millions.
According to the rebels own sources, Hezbullah has only loss 145 fighters in Syria, out of Thousands. The rebels are doing a terrible job if your claim is correct about thousands of Hezbullah fighters being in Syria. You can't fool me, they are notorious liars. I figured that out a long time ago.
Their latest whopper at the Security Council was the Syrian Arab Army has made a Deal with Al Nusra to not attack their controled areas in Syria. They claim the Syrian Arab Army and Al Qaeda has become allies now against the FSA. That was the latest whopper from their new Saudi Tribal Leader at the Security Council Friday. What do they take intelligent Americans like us for? This isn't Saudi Arabia where those Monarchs can fool people. He comes to the United States with that crap, he will get laughed right out of this county. And that fool is still demanding Assad leave. That fool been in Saudi Arabia too long. The Saudi MOnarchs can't demand nothing outside of their little kingdom. Why don't they just abdicate and let their own people have democracy?
Response to John2 (Reply #13)
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John2
(2,730 posts)that family though. He is not even Syrian also. He is dying for a religion. When I read the Syrian Army's after action reports on their battles with the opposition, all the dead rebels seems to be from another country. There hasn't been many casualties mentioned from the FSA. And the Syrian Army is reporting hundreds of deaths every day in their operations. The way they were dying like flies, it would seem the Foreign Terrorists would be wiped out by now. I think the Syrian Army is fighting against fighters coming from a lot of countries.
They are also claiming these people are getting paid lots of money. And whatever loot they can find in Syria, they get to keep and sell. Like for example, they claim there were some oil or gas refineries the foreign rebels took control of and sold it in Turkey. They stole some expensive old paintings or artefacts around Aleppo and sold it to buyers on the Black market.
Alauda
(5 posts)that can be very easily verified, because the Syrian Army is a professional Army like any other country's Armed Forces. Apparently they are not just killing the rebels and putting them in mass graves.
About every report they have given are much more detailed than the rebels or Syrian Observatory. They have produced IDs which includes names and nationality of the dead rebels to their media. For example, the name and nationality of an American woman from Michigan came from the Syrian military after she was killed in action. Her family didn't even know she was in Syria fighting. I would add also, they did allow their Press observed the questioning of several prisoners right after they were captured and lined up against a wall. Those prisoners gave out their names and a lot of confidential information why they were fighting in Syria, including who sent them. This was right after a live battle with the press observing. There were dead bodies right on the video too, after they gave up. That is too hard to fake.
They also gave the names if rebels captured to families in Tunisia. Those families went to Syria to gain the release of their sons. They have given names to other countries also, such as Belgium, Austria, Russia , Checkoslavia and Turkey. One person they released to his Turkish parents was a 17 year old boy, claiming he was brainwashed by Foreign agents to go fight in Syria. So they don't just give numbers for the sake of it, but actual names and identification of the deceased. So they are not just burying people in mass graves at the expense of the Government. These people are actually getting killed on Syrian soil.
Alauda
(5 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)We appreciate your contribution to the discussion.
John2
(2,730 posts)to imply something to me? This isn't the Middle East. There is no underground in the United States.
Response to John2 (Reply #11)
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