Spent the day at an FSA pool party with music by @taylorswift13. They even brought me whiskey. Hands down, best birthday ever.
Austin Tice
563 posts
Austin Tice
@Austin_Tice
#USMC infantry vet, #Georgetown Law stdnt, freelance #journalist. Currently in #Syria. Gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. http://bit.ly/LWqUkC
Syria
Joined August 2011
- Listening to the shells usher in my birthday. Afghanistan, California, DC, Egypt, Turkey, Syria. What an insane year.
- Aside from Rastan, where there was a state of open war, I think Jadaydat Artouz was the most dangerous place I've been here. Glad to be out.
- If Americans cld see what I've seen, meet the ppl I've met, their idea of Syria wld be radically different. Now, to try to make that happen.
- Freedom of speech. Freedom of worship. Freedom from want. Freedom from fear. Happy birthday America, Land of the Free.
- Syria 101: "Right now" means maybe. "Later" means probably not. "Tmrw" means, not gonna happen. "After tmrw," they're just messing w/ you.
- FSA asked me what I wanted for lunch. I joked, said I'd love a pizza. Half an hour later, THEY BROUGHT ME A PIZZA.
- Jadaydat Artouz: paranoia here btwn Sunni and Alawite is palpable. Pervasive fear of spies. Unlike any other place I've visited. Creepy.
- I despise the "journos could not confirm b/c Syria is soooo dangerous" line. It is simply, empirically, factually untrue. Quit repeating it.
- The Syrian media battle, in one picture, as played out in my Twitter feed:
- Accounts of Syria rebels executing prisoners raise new human rights concerns: mcclatchydc.com/2012/08/03/159… (Shared byline w/ @HannahAllam)
- Been hearing all day about shelling in At Tal. Cell phones there are down now, which is often an indicator of impending government action.
- Damascus Olympics: I go for the gold: mcclatchydc.com/2012/07/31/159… (I swear I'm not as nuts as this all sounds. Really, truly.)
- I just gave an interview to my hometown NPR affiliate. 8-year-old-me thinks that 30 year old me is the coolest person in the universe.
