Syrian Attache claims rebel soldiers are genetically modified. Can this be true?

@josie have you just got back from Syria? Just askin’.

He keeps using that word.
I don’t think it means what he thinks it means.
I think it’s a hilarious language mix-up or something.

On the other hand, they may have eaten GMO food, and they say you are what you eat, so that’s one logical explanation.

Genetic modification is the only logical explanation of what? I would question whether the voiceover accurately reflects what the representative intends to say.

If they are genetically modified (which I cannot believe) then they did a shitty job at the modifications.

No.

Genetically modified? They are giving the US DoD and Office of Science and Technology Policy too much credit. Surely this is a language translation screwup.

It is like saying the US uses space aliens to harvest crops when they mean to say Mexicans or Dominicans, etc., type aliens.
It does make a funny picture though.

@rojo
If I told you, I would have to genetically modify you.

Uh-huh. It’s totally true, as well as that Bush did 9/11, Serbs are the oldest civilization in the world, Vatican is brainwashing the youth with subliminal messages, and Illuminati are controlling the whole entertainment industry.
Oh yeah, Obama and Queen Elisabeth are lizards, and Putin talks with aliens. And Holocaust and the moon landing were hoaxes.

Come on….

It’s clear the Syrian ambassador’s English is not strong and he doesn’t mean “genetically modified”.

I listened to the speech, and he means “not organic” – organic in the sense of (from Websters) “forming an integral element of a whole” or “having systematic coordination of parts (organized)”.

A bad translation of “not organic” gives you “genetically modified”.

1)
He is saying that outside groups are portraying the “terrorists” and the foreigners in Aleppo as one local, Syrian, hometown entity – in other words, an organic group.

2)
He then names foreign military and intelligence officers within the group and calls this “the genetically modified armed Syrian opposition, moderate by definition.”

Meaning outsiders are portraying the group as “moderate” and “Syrian opposition” even though they are (in the government’s view) terrorists and not Syrian.

^ Also, what he says is a comment while the woman was speaking. He never stated “These men are genetically modified” or anything like that.

What purpose will it serve?

I agree with Jay that the preposterous claim is almost certainly a mistake resulting from the attache’s wrestling with English.

I think he meant that they were having trouble with their genetics homework.

Either he was misinterpreted, or he has seen too many super hero movies.

I had to find a different video without the annoying voiceover, and the phrase in its context.

Firstly, the ambassador’s English is very good. It’s better than many native English speakers I’ve heard and known.

His use of “genetically modified” isn’t an error or a misunderstanding. It is a sarcastic reference to the idea that the rebels are “moderate”.

He’s not literally claiming that they’re genetically modified. He’s claiming that the way they’re being portrayed by western media is spurious. He is being metaphorical, and somewhat sarcastic.

I’m inclined to agree with him too. Al Qaeda—you know, that group that flew passenger jets into the WTC towers and the pentagon 15 years ago—is being armed and funded by the US, UK and other NATO states, and lumped in with various other Salafist groups as “moderate rebels”, just because they’re in opposition to Assad (and no—I am no fan of Assad.)