The death toll from Friday’s “Good Friday Massacre” in Syria has risen to at least 112 according to media reports this morning. The violence isn’t over, either, as security forces fired live ammunition on mourners early Saturday, killing 14 more and bringing the toll to at least 126.
This death toll is in addition to hundreds of wounded protesters, many of them seriously wounded by live fire during the Friday rallies. The death toll, then, is likely not finalized, as more could die of their injuries going forward.
This was the fifth straight week of Friday protests in Syria, and each week the numbers have grown enormously. The tiny protests in the southern city of Daraa have given way to a nation-wide movement, and the violent crackdowns seem only to swell the size of the demonstrations.
The sheer number of deaths also sparked a backlash from some members of parliament, as two MPs from the Daraa region announced their resignation on Saturday. Nasser Hariri, one of the former MPs, announced that “if I cannot protect the chests of my people from these treacherous strikes, then there is no meaning for me to stay in the People’s Assembly.”
It's both tragic and ironic that this nascent 'democracy' rebellion had been financed (according to Wikileaks) by the US even BEFORE it stated. And the Syrian government knows it.
Our meddling has surely stiffened Syria's resistance to the local 'street' since the protesters are riddled with operatives who are financed by neocons in Washington and supremacists in Tel Aviv. This knowledge only increases division within Syria. The result?–more deaths, more chaos. Then again, maybe that's been the plan all along.
Among US-based neocons, this process is euphemistically called 'creative destruction'. Democracy, anyone?
I wouldn’t be so quick to suggest any black ops are involved. Israel seems particularly flat-footed and awe-struck by these events, and unsure what to do.
This chaos certainly doesn’t help them, so I don’t see why you would suggest they would stoke the fire.
If you think all these uprisings occurred simultaneously by coincidence, then you have been smoking too much pot. Or if you think these are Democracy movements, then you are not only smoking too much pot but you have your head stuck where the sun dont shine.