Friday protests in Syria get bigger every week. This was true again this week, where hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets nationwide, including reports of as many as 400,000 marching in the city of Hama alone.
Protests in the city of Hama were of a decidedly different attitude than elsewhere in the nation, as Syria pulled its troops out of the city yesterday. The crackdowns did not entirely halt, however, as 24 were reported slain nationwide.
Protesters in some of the cities were photographed raising red cards, a reference to a penalty in soccer which results in immediate ejection from the game. The cards were symbolic of their demands for President Assad to step down and allow free elections.
The reports of the “largest” protest in Syria yet has come out nearly every week, to the point of cliche. Still, the mass of demonstrations today clearly reflected that the opposition movement is growing all the time, and the Assad regime’s tactics, from promises of reform to wholesale massacres, have had little impact other than increasing the anger.
Do these people have any idea what they are asking for? What kind of government do they think they will get without Assad? Fools.
I think that they have an idea that they're asking for freedom. But what would they know, right? After all, they're all fools. They should listen to you. No doubt only a gringo can tell them how it's done.
Oh please, no need to get hysterical. Yes, they are asking for political freedom- specifically. But realistically, how is that going to come about? At what price? If Assad were to resign or be overthrown, is democracy and economic opportunity just going to suddenly appear and make it all good?
Hysterical? Is that the best you can do when faced with your inaccuracies?
Seriously, how is that going to happen anywhere in the world? Do you think that things will pan out any better for the Palestinians? Or the people of Yemen? Or Bahrain? Or the US for that matter if they ever decided to do what needs to be done? Aren't you being hysterical yourself when called on your hypocrisy?
Your replies make no sense. Relax and read the comment carefully before you start with your insults.
You'd have to graduate 6th grade first in order to understand my replies, Rick.
Jason, why are you spouting the neocon line on Syria? Even Kucinich has pointed out the obvious. Some of those "pro-democracy activists" were trained by us. If they "win" do you think that there will be a democracy? The most powerful and 4th most powerful militaries are posed on Syria's borders with their gov'ts talking about regime change. What are Assad's good choices? If he goes we'll see an occupation that makes Irag and Gaza look like a picnic.
Martin, are you saying the people of Syria are mindless robots who would gladly allow themselves to be slaughtered to please the US and Israel? Do you really think that lowly of the good and brave people of Syria? And if this applies to the people of Syria, shouldn't it also apply to reason then that the people of Egypt were put up to it by say, Chavez and Castro, for example?
Martin, you accuse Jason of taking like a neocon, whatever that means, and yet, you talk like an idiot with your assumption of the US and Israel occupying Syria, especially when there are NO American troops massing anywhere near the Syrian borders
I've read antiwar.com for about 6 years and regarded it as a valuable information scource. I'm sorry. There's something wrong here.
Look at Libya. What was originally portrayed as a spontaneous rebellion for democracy turned out to have its origins in Langley. Nato has killed more civilians than Khadaffi. I have to be suspicious of anyone who is leading us down the same path in Syria.
You people are so reversed brainwashed and you don't even know it. How sad! Your left-wing, anti-imperialist bullshit blinds you from seeing that, in the case of Iran, Libya and Syria, there are three sides to that coin: the West side, the government side and the peoples' side. You all go on your rabid anti-imperialist blah blah blah, salivating at the mouth without realizing that you've fallen for the counter-propaganda which is as bad as the propaganda and are doing the people (the only ones that count) a great disservice.
What a bunch of idiots!