At least 11 villagers have been killed today in the Jabal al-Zawya region of Syria, just south of the border with Turkey. The deaths came when Syrian troops attacked the region, with a number of tanks backing them up.
The troops reportedly were carrying out searches in the region following anti-regime sit-ins staged by lawyers. The attacks spurred calls for major protests on Thursday, in addition to the massive protests held regularly held on Friday.
The latest deaths add an additional layer of intrigue over the prospect of a “national dialogue” early in July, and has convinced more and more protesters that the offer is not sincere. The Syrian government’s offers for reform and dialogue have not slowed their crackdowns.
At the same time, that crackdown has done absolutely nothing to dampen the spirits of protesters, who after months of rallies and 1,500 deaths seem more determined than ever to see the demonstrations through to the end. Ultimately some offer of talks is going to have to be sincere if the Assad regime is to survive, because nothing short of massive reforms is going to satisfy the protesters.
ason Ditz’s enthusiastic statement of how “successful” the internet Syrian rebels have been by just continuing their confrontation with authorities is too much. First, the protestors have no legitimate political program. Not told by Ditz is that this YouTube rebellion feeds off of a very divergent group of opponents to forty years of Assads rule. Not given coverage is the conservative religious element that destroy what little secularization has been introduced in Syria. Not given coverage is that many of the areas that are given Facebook support were those in which Syrians came from to fight the US in Iraq. As of this posting, the internet titans have not produced a coherent political vision declaring what they stand for. Two, the harm that internet directed marches are not only hurting the regime, but the very country they say they are patriots of. Ditz should ask his “heroes” just what plans they have to provide jobs for the thousands of unemployed young men (many who are taking part in the demonstrations)? How will these “heroes” improve farming conditions when Syria is undergoing one of the longest and worse droughts ever? What will these “leaders” choose to increase Syria’s debt or to increase the price of food? Third, Ditz ignores the brave dissidents who came out to meet in Damascus to try to work out a solution to bringing an end to authoritarian rule while protecting the national and territorial integrity of their country. The internet condemnation of the meeting has been played up in the US/EU as a trick of Assad’s. But the real reason my be that they fear that their tirade has spent its course and the majority of Syrians want a resolution of the situation rather than prolonged turmoil.
The internet revolt will not remove Bashar Assad. They have three options. One, they can accelerate the growth of civil war with the aim of winning a protracted conflict and receiving arms and support from foreign countries. Two, they can escalate their confrontation with the objective of filming more carnage with the goal of inviting US/EU military invasion. Three, they can accept recognition of igniting the populace to resist dictatorship and join with other opponents of the regime to find a peaceful settlement of this tragic situation.
Let the killing continue. And the left still is deaf and blind to Assad's crimes.
In the US, we have what we refer to as chickenhawks. Safe from harm, they have no problem sending others to their deaths. Apparently, you do not keep up on the coverage–every western media has followed the story and replayed the events. Nothing was missed–even by the "left." The question is not what you oppose, but you what you stand for. $4 trillion dollars and a quarter of million dead and wars in a five countries is quite enough. It is time to keep America out of any additional quagmires.