Posted on 03/23/2011 8:35:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Syria has moved suddenly to crush growing protests in the country, an act in sharp contrast to previous conciliatory efforts by President Bashar al-Assad. As many as 15 people were killed Wednesday when security forces moved on a mosque in the southern city of Daraa in which protest organizers were based.
When the same security forces killed half a dozen pro-democracy protesters in the southern district of Horan on the weekend, Mr. al-Assad acted as if it had been a terrible mistake. He took the uncharacteristic step of apologizing to the families of the victims in a telephone call to community leaders. He then dismissed the town's mayor and dispatched a delegation of senior officials to hear the people's complaints...
Wednesday's heavy-handed measures, however, revived memories of the terror instilled by his father... The name "Hama Rules" came from the brutal 1982 crackdown on members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the central Syrian city of Hama, in which thousands of people were killed and buried beneath the rubble of a large part of that city. The giant unmarked landfill cemetery was left as a reminder...
For four decades, the al-Assads have relied on a concoction of personal fear and Arab dignity to maintain control of the country. The fear was a result of brutal security practices; the dignity came from Syria, alone, standing tall against Israel, backing opponents of the Jewish state, refusing to concede an inch of the Golan Heights to their occupier...
"No fear after today," the protesters chanted after Saturday's violence against them. It was the very sentiment expressed recently in Yemen and in Egypt and Tunisia before that...
Would a Syrian Sunni majority view Hezbollah as positively as the al-Assad regime does? Would it view Iran the same way?
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
So when does the bombing begin?
ha! You beat me to it.
The To-Do list may be a bit long...
Beat me!
The Middle East is just bursting with Democracy these days.
If you mean the "Democracy" that means that two wolves and a sheep vote on what's for dinner.
If our heads were not firmly in our arses, we would be pushing hard to bring down Syria and Iran.
LOL! You nailed that one!
Ba’athists vs Muslim Brotherhood. Let them kill each other to the last camel_____r
When will the wildcat general send in the tommyhawks.
</dripping sarcasm>
Maybe the doofusses in DC can apply some special KMA in support these Syrian Freedom Lovers/Democrats?
Yes, but not in that order — destruction of the Shiite order in Iran, and basically the complete annihilation of Islam in that country, would be of immeasurable benefit to that region and indeed the world. So, first Iran, then Syria.
OTOH, I suspect the Iranian mullahcracy serves the purpose of something just over the horizon that is non-Arab (although the mullahs are propped up by imported Arab “Palestinian” thugs), and Zero et al are of the belief that having even more theocracies to counterbalance the Shiite-heads is a good thing. My view is, Muzzie heads on the ends of the pikestaffs are a good thing, everything less is moderation in the pursuit of justice.
I also agree with rmlew, and reiterate one of my own — that the great thing about a Moslem civil war is, everybody wins.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.