Damascus perseveres under shadow of war

Global Times ^ | 09/05/2013 | Yang Jingjie

[TexGrill]

As darkness fell in Damascus, the exchange of bombardments and mortar shells between government forces and rebels stepped up on the outskirts of the capital.

Inside the Old City, residents and visitors wandered through the historic heart of Damascus, packed with monuments, religious sites and craft shops. People smoking hookahs could be seen at every restaurant and coffee shop, despite the constant thundering several kilometers away.

At one restaurant in a Christian neighborhood of the Old City, joyful cheers and music played as a wedding party drowned out the sounds of artillery.

The party took place only one day after US President Barack Obama announced Saturday that he would seek congressional support for a military strike against Syria for the alleged gas attack in suburban Damascus August 21 by the Syrian regime, dispersing fears of an imminent attack that almost emptied Damascus' streets for two days.

Guests at the wedding party sang and danced to the song "Viva Syria," with one of them holding a poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"May God bless the Syrian army and President Assad," toasted the bride's father, followed by cheers from the guests.

Such scenes are a regular sight in nearly every party in the regime's stronghold regions after two-and-a-half years of a civil war, which the UN says has killed 100,000 people.

Under the cloud of a US-led strike and fierce fighting, hundreds of thousands of families are coping with the various miseries brought about by the conflict.

"We are a little bit scared, but we're not canceling anything," Rouba, a friend of the bride who only gave her first name out of security concerns, told the Global Times.

[TexGrill]

'Bomb the Christian infidel," says Bathouse Barry.

[BerryDingle]

People smoking hookahs could be seen at every restaurant and coffee shop

Smoking hookers?

[cunning_fish]