According to activists across the nation, the Syrian government has arrested over 1,000 people in the past seven days related to crackdowns against pro-democracy protests nationwide. The protests and violence against them have escalated for months.
The reports have security forces arresting 100 students at Damascus University for protests there, and some 400 students arrested at a university in Aleppo, following massive anti-regime rallies there.
The violence has left an estimated 1,300 protesters dead, along with hundreds of security forces. It has also led to tens of thousands fleeing into Turkey, and another 5,000 fleeing into Lebanon.
Not so with Iraq, however. Despite a growing number of reports of violence near the border crossing between the two nations, Iraqi officials say not a single Syrian family has fled into the war torn nation. No word yet if the violence has convinced the massive number of Iraqi refugees in Syria to return home or go elsewhere.
Deafening silence from the Antiwar readership on the subject. But just wait. If anyone dares do anything about it, then, they'll all come out of the woodwork to defend Assad and elevate him to the post of hero and victim just like Qaddafi. No shame, no hypocrisy, no conscience, no nothing. They have a built-in switch that's only trigger by the horrors of the Empire and blah blah blah but never those of the tyrants that oppress and slaughter their own people.
I don't want to take sides here just make an observation. The "oppress and slaughter their own people" kinnard is often the trumped up reason why outside Empires interfere with internal matters that are non of their business and heavy handedly make matters worse by killing even more people. Sometimes an order of magnitute more people as in Iraq.
Who are these "own people" of the tyrants? Are they traitors? We are told by all western governments since time immemorial they have the right to kill traitors. Were the Kirds Saddam Hussien's "own people" ? Yes? Well then are the Palestinians the native Zionists Israelis "own people"? What is the difference? Our US government seems to think there is a difference but I'm afraid I don't see it.