Talk:Southern Operations Room

Southern Operations Room flag is taken from a video game

Hi The Southern Operations Room flag is a mirrored variant of the flag used in the cancelled video game Command & Conquer Generals 2, which was used to depict the GLA playable faction. However, due to the cancellation of the game in 2013 it is pretty much impossible to find any reliable source that displays the source of this flag, aside of fan-made forums (due to the cancelled status of the game, there is no official website nor any official support remaining online) Considering that the use of this flag may be intentional (the GLA fictional faction are freedom fighters fighting against Chinese/American oppression in the Middle-East) and may be a copyright infringement to Electronic Arts (the owners of the Command & Conquer IP) do you believe adding the bit of trivia about the flag origins may enhance the page considering the lack of remaining reliable sources to back it up? Irianelle (talk) 16:38, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sure! SolxrgashiUnited (talk) 16:48, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much Irianelle (talk) 17:09, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

i doubt that a literal armed syrian rebel group would care about copyright infridigent from some random american video game.. HighPressureBallon (talk) 17:11, 9 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Be that as it may, at this juncture I haven't found anything I can cite about the logo, or for that matter the provenance of the nomenclature of the group. I do note that Arabic Wikipedia doesn't use the logo. kencf0618 (talk) 20:26, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Here is my source: https://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivilwar/comments/1h4cavw/southern_region_operations_room_announces_general/?rdt=58266 SolxrgashiUnited (talk) 21:36, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Reddit isn't a reliable source.

See Wikipedia:RSREDDIT. David O. Johnson (talk) 01:42, 15 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What's the source for the current logo? I haven't seen it outside social media and Reddit posts. Cortador (talk) 11:14, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What's the source of for the current logo/flag?

Editors have correctly pointed out that we don't have a source for the current SOR logo having been lifted from Command & Conquer: Generals, but that brings up something else: where does this logo we are using here come from?

The current file is user-created and based on another, now-deleted file. When doing a search for the logo, I only see the logo on social media posts and forums - and Wikipedia. News articles about the group don't seem to feature it.

We are going to need a source for this, or the logo needs to be removed. Cortador (talk) 11:20, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

These articles have the logo: [1] [2] [3] SolxrgashiUnited (talk) 13:09, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

FDD and the Long War Journal aren't distinct sources - the former published the latter. TLWJ directly cites Wikipedia as the sources of the logo, which makes it an unsuitable source.

The third source is a blog post as per top of the site. That aside, if this really was the SOR's rooms logo, you'd think we would seen it somewhere else, anywhere. Reuters, AP, actual photos of the SOR flying this flag or using the logo.

I'm getting the suspicion that this logo is at best created by someone affiliated with the SOR but not widely used, and at worst entirely fabricated. Cortador (talk) 14:27, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The second one at least is directly citing wikipedia as a source. Likely all three are since they are reporting on the group. Its doubtful they asked the group directly for what flag they'd should use in their reporting. 184.161.190.97 (talk) 14:27, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The first instance of this logo was in a reddit post linking to a Twitter post that showed this logo on a white background with Arabic text calling for the mobilization of rebels in southern Syria. "Operations in southern Syria" was written in English below the logo. If this is not the SOR's logo, then what organization does it belong to?

Here is the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivilwar/s/BkCDoDZsTt SolxrgashiUnited (talk) 16:52, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's probably made up. It doesn't really matter; unless that logo's authenticity can be verified via something better than a Reddit discussion, it should be removed from the article. Cortador (talk) 17:21, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That Reddit post links to a tweet [1] David O. Johnson (talk) 17:28, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Definitely not good enough. That'd be a single self-published source. Cortador (talk) 19:29, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I found a Facebook post: [1]

I found a news article with SOR's logo [2]

I have also translated arabic text from the image:

"God is Most Gracious, Most Merciful. And if they seek your help in religion, then you must help them.

With the outbreak of battles and the expansion of fronts in the liberated north and the conquests that God has honored us with, we hereby declare the following:

- Announcing a general mobilization and alert for all revolutionaries in Hauran to begin military operations.

- Calling on the officers and members of the regime to defect quickly and granting them security to be in the ranks of the free, revolutionary people.

- Raising the maximum readiness in Hauran and working within a coordinated operational plan.

- Strike with an iron fist and severe force anyone who ignores this warning, which is the last for the Assad regime.

We are in the southern region, as is the case in the provinces of Idlib, Aleppo and Hama, as the Syrian regime threatens that the southern land will be a graveyard for its officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers.

- Southern Regions Operations Room" SolxrgashiUnited (talk) 19:59, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

All I see when following that link is a post stating (in Arabic) "There is no god but Allah" from 2019. I don't see the flag anywhere. Cortador (talk) 20:13, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I copied the wrong link. Here is the correct one [1] SolxrgashiUnited (talk) 20:20, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed." Cortador (talk) 20:49, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Strange... this link worked for me just an hour ago! I found a few news articles with logo of SOR, have a look: [1] [2] [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] SolxrgashiUnited (talk) 21:15, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Some of these look dodgy, but if the announcement with the logo is authentic, that'd do. Cortador (talk) 23:47, 31 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]