Vanguard | October 15, 2006 | 15 comments

Syria 101

MarianaVanZeller

watch more vanguard

Syria sits just outside Washington's "axis of evil," but the country could play a key role in Middle East peace. Mariana van Zeller takes us inside "the rogue state."
  1. groups:
    News and Politics,   On Current TV,   Intro,   Vanguard,   5 more
  2. tags:
    News and Politics,  Current TV,  On Current TV,  Iraq,  22 more
  3. credits:
    MarianaVanZeller Starring, mshen Editor, Ben Swire Editor, more
  4.     
    |
    Embed video:
    |

15 comments // Syria 101 // Video

  • fiddefisk
    • 0
      fiddefisk  

    • Great reportage.

      I don't understand why you decided to use subtitles in it though, their English seemed perfectly fine in most of the cases (I could at least understand them without any problems whatsoever and English isn't even my mother tongue).

    • 2 years ago
  • piotr_pl
    • 0
      piotr_pl  

    • HilmGuss - yeah, the thoroughness and focus of Mariana's productions are great, really impressive, but there are some exceptions to that if you look around :)

    • 3 years ago
  • HiImGuss
  • Frontliner
    • 0
      Frontliner  

    • I''m Syrian and I find it so offensive to label my country with evil and rogue, it''s not true.. and where r they filming? who r these people in the beginning, that black guy? or the one behind him with a hat? they aren''t syrians, we don''t look like these guys, they r from other countries visiting.
      It seems to me that these reporters have a previous idea and they just wanted to prove it by a film searching for anything can show the bad stuff in my country.
      I drink alcoholic and all my family does, and NO girl in my entire family put a veil, and we are all syrians, I find it funny to talk like that but it''s okay to educate u who we r.
      In my opinion, all the film is bad and not representing syria by any means, the best part is the last bit with the bloggers.
      "disappointed face"

    • 5 years ago
  • koop356
  • ahmadnassri
  • ET818
    • 0
      ET818  

    • very interesting...I love it, after having this account for 1 year and never using it....my first GREENLIGHT!

      (i''m a 15 year old filmaker)

    • 5 years ago
  • ET818
    • 0
      ET818  

    • very interesting...I love it, after having this account for 1 year and never using it....my first GREENLIGHT!

      (i''m a 15 year old filmaker)

    • 5 years ago
  • Antagonist77
  • bugmenot123
  • ScreamingDinosaur
  • Jackstowne
    • 0
      Jackstowne  

    • The last 30 seconds were priceless. Here they are desperate for democracy while we, Americans, waste it with apathy and willful ignorance. And considering just how critical Syria is as a Middle Eastern player it is a sad fact that he knows much more about us than we know about them. Hell, I don't even know if the majority of us can find Syria on the map.

      Great piece; I loved it.

    • 4 years ago
  • MarianaVanZeller
    • 0
      MarianaVanZeller  

    • I went to Damascus, Syria for the first time in the summer of 2003 for a 3-month Arabic language course. I immediately fell in love with this city. It reminded me of NYC, believe it or not, as both cities made me feel incredibly special. In the Big Apple I felt like I was part of the future, with all its possibilities, its hope, its opportunities. And in Damascus I was part of the past. Its roots, exotic culture and ancient traditions.
      At the end of my stay in Damascus, my Syrian friend Tarek took Darren, Mike Healy (our Scottish producer friend) and I to his hometown, on the border with Iraq. This was in October 2003, 5 months after G.W.Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. The first hints of an insurgency were just appearing. And in this small border town we were able to interview a few Syrian mujahideen who had crossed the border into Iraq to fight against the US. It was a crazy week in which we were chased by the Syrian secret police and became paranoid that the people we were profiling might turn on us.
      This is when I realized how complex the situation is in the Middle East and what role Syria plays in it.

    • 4 years ago
  • Adam_Yamaguchi
    • 0
      Adam_Yamaguchi  

    • Excellent piece. I'm a big fan of Darren and Mariana's work, and this is one of my faves. This gives a great overview of a nation that plays a key role in all things Middle East. It's a pretty rare look at the complexities of a nation that wields quite a bit of influence in the high-stakes neighborhood the U.S. is engaged in.

      This piece also provides good insights into one of the big Vanguard themes we've been tracking, which is the the US' declining popularity and the limits of US power.

    • 4 years ago

top videos