Sexual jihad? Now I've heard everything.

Thankfully, the American people seem to have stopped Obama from making the civil war in Syria even worse. (A 'civil' war is a war within one country fought by two different groups in that country.)

(My friend Giulia took this photo while we were in Chelsea...Nobomba!)

Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama had argued, among other things, that the 'rebels' (those who are fighting against the Syrian government) are the 'good guys,' whereas the dictator of Syria (a dictator is a leader who rules the country by himself) and his army make up the 'bad guys.'  They made this argument because most Americans believe that the rebels are just as bad, if not worse, than Assad.

In the following brief story we see that the rebels seem to be bringing women from Tunisia to Syria to provide sexual services for them.  Some of the women are being tricked (deceived, fooled) into going to Syria - they think they are going there for one reason but when they get there they find out that they are expected to be prostitutes for Syrian rebel soldiers. (A prostitute is a woman who sells her body for money or who provides sexual services to strangers.)

And then the rebel soldiers tell the women: "Don't worry!  You are doing God's will by having sex with us! You are serving God!  We, men, do the fighting for God, and you, women, give us sexual pleasure when we are not fighting!"

This is what they mean by a 'sexual jihad.'  Jihad seems to be a term some Muslim extremists use for a 'holy war,' or a war that is fought for God. 

Here's the article:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tunisian-girls-coming-home-pregnant-233735013.html

Useful vocabulary from the article:

to be pregnant - a woman is pregnant when she is carrying a baby inside of her.  But in America it is somewhat controversial to say this. (a controversy is an issue about which people might argue)  Some people who are in favor of abortion (this is when a woman goes to a doctor to stop the pregnancy) would not sat that the woman is carrying a 'baby' while she is pregnant.  They would say she is carrying an 'embryo' (the first stages of a baby) or a 'fetus' the last stages of development before a child is born.  Only when the child comes into the world is it a baby to these folks.  What do you think of abortion?

to stand guard at a checkpoint - 'to stand guard' would be the verb here.  That means a person is guarding an area - or watching the area to make sure it is safe.  A checkpoint is a place where people have to pass through and their identity is usually checked before they can get through.

swapped - traded.  Basically, the article is saying that one soldier uses the woman sexually, then 'swaps' her - gives her to another guy, who swaps her to another guy.  Swapping usually means trading, but here it just means handing the girl over to a new guy.  If I have a bottle of soda and I don't want it, and you have a bottle of orange juice and don't want it, but you want my soda, I might say, "OK, let's swap.  I'll give you this soda for your orange juice."

bearing the fruit of sexual contact - showing the results of being raped (I would argue these women are 'raped' - they are forced to have sex when they don't want to).

standing idle - standing and doing nothing

a liaison - a brief relationship; again, this is not a liaison, this is rape

to elaborate - to speak in detail

hardliners - people who are dogmatic; those who are super conservative, those who refuse to change their opinions and believe very extreme things

to stem the flow - to stop the flow

moral educational corruption - he's saying they are making religious excuses to rape women and this is something immoral and it is teaching people the wrong thing.  If you are 'moral' you are 'good.'  Corruption means extreme dishonesty and wrongful behavior.  If something becomes corrupt, it was once good but has become bad.

Putin's response to Obama's decision to send weapons to Muslim extremists in Syria

Putin makes a good point.  The rebels seem worse than the dictator. When Putin states that some of the rebels eat 'human flesh,' he is referring to videos of rebel soldiers literally eating the bodies of Syrian army soldiers they have killed.

It seems that Obama is sending weapons to the rebels for political reasons, not to try to stop the violent deaths in Syria. I never thought I would agree with Vladimir Putin.

Here is one video showing a rebel eating a human heart.

The article:

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/16/18989838-putin-west-arming-syrian-rebels-who-eat-human-flesh?lite

Are there any 'good guys' in Syria?

For many months President Obama has been reluctant (has not wanted) to supply the 'rebels' in Syria with weapons to help them overthrow the government of the dictator Assad. A dictator is a single ruler of a country who makes the laws himself and who is usually not concerned about the welfare (well-being) or rights of the people.

Now we can see why President Obama has been so hesitant to help.

The rebels (those fighting against the current government) might be even greater monsters than the dictator.

Here is a story of how some rebels captured, tortured and killed a young man, because they believed he had insulted the prophet Mohammed.

http://news.yahoo.com/teenager-15-executed-islamist-rebels-syria-154751521--abc-news-topstories.html

Question for discussion, writing:

1) What do you think the world should do about the civil war/rebellion in Syria? It's true that Assad has been a dictator, but what if the new government becomes like the Taliban of Afghanistan was? 

Syria and Turkey

Many refugees have been fleeing Syria and seeking safety in Turkey.

Now, the Turkish government is threatening to respond militarily to attacks to
Turkish border towns by the Syrian government.

http://news.yahoo.com/turks-syrian-border-skeptical-shelling-003554469.html

1)  Do you feel that it might be possible for a diplomatic solution to resolve this situation?

2)  Do you feel that the USA should have been more active in helping the Syrian freedom fighters?

3)  What do you think should be done by the international community in regard to this situation?

4)  Why do you think the USA assisited freedom fighters in Libya but not in Syria?

5)  How responsible do you believe Russia is for the high number of people who have been killed
in this civil war?