From MT: "Have been trying to get a better handle of what on earth is going on in Syria and I have to say that with every google search search I do I become more horrified. Won’t bore you with the details as you know them better than I.
But one thing I found related to your favorite correspondent and mine, the aptly-named Liz Sly. I’m sure this is just a coincidence but in case you haven’t noticed:
Her propaganda piece on Harakat Hazm was issued on just one day before WINEP put out this article which reads like a paid-for advertisement for the group:
Like you, I was surprised at the weird translation of the name that the Sly one provided - “Movement of Steadfastness”. But, and I’m sure this is just a coincidence, I see that WINEP’s writer, Jeffrey White, provides “Steadfastness Movement” as his name for it. An odd rendering for Hazm, to be sure. But I figured that maybe, completely independently of course, Sly and White might have used the bible of American students who study Arabic, known as the Hans Wehr Dictionary, and searched through the many meanings for the word that Wehr provides and both - again completely independently of course - stumbled upon the word “steadfastness” under the many words Wehr usually gives for each Arabic entry. So I repaired to Wehr to see if “steadfastness”
was one of the words given as a possible interpretation for the noun Hazm, but alas, it was not to be found at all. Now was “to be steadfast” mentioned under the citation for the verb. Hmmm. So why would two different people come up with that word - an incorrect one at that? No doubt it is just a coincidence.
The actual content of the two articles does differ a great deal with WINEP’s providing details that make it sound like it created the movement itself and Sly’s sounding like a Washington Post Style Section feature on some sleazy movie or rock star, but both steadfastly - oh I made pun - maintain that Harakat Hazm is the kind of military organization the US can and should do business with cause they are so disciplined and not infected with Islamicist cooties. "
But one thing I found related to your favorite correspondent and mine, the aptly-named Liz Sly. I’m sure this is just a coincidence but in case you haven’t noticed:
Her propaganda piece on Harakat Hazm was issued on just one day before WINEP put out this article which reads like a paid-for advertisement for the group:
Like you, I was surprised at the weird translation of the name that the Sly one provided - “Movement of Steadfastness”. But, and I’m sure this is just a coincidence, I see that WINEP’s writer, Jeffrey White, provides “Steadfastness Movement” as his name for it. An odd rendering for Hazm, to be sure. But I figured that maybe, completely independently of course, Sly and White might have used the bible of American students who study Arabic, known as the Hans Wehr Dictionary, and searched through the many meanings for the word that Wehr provides and both - again completely independently of course - stumbled upon the word “steadfastness” under the many words Wehr usually gives for each Arabic entry. So I repaired to Wehr to see if “steadfastness”
was one of the words given as a possible interpretation for the noun Hazm, but alas, it was not to be found at all. Now was “to be steadfast” mentioned under the citation for the verb. Hmmm. So why would two different people come up with that word - an incorrect one at that? No doubt it is just a coincidence.
The actual content of the two articles does differ a great deal with WINEP’s providing details that make it sound like it created the movement itself and Sly’s sounding like a Washington Post Style Section feature on some sleazy movie or rock star, but both steadfastly - oh I made pun - maintain that Harakat Hazm is the kind of military organization the US can and should do business with cause they are so disciplined and not infected with Islamicist cooties. "
