Protesters in Syria have for a second day defied a ban on demonstrations, gathering in Damascus to demand the release of political prisoners.
Security forces broke up the protest using batons and at least four people were reportedly arrested.
On Tuesday, according to videos posted online, hundreds took to the streets of the capital and other cities calling for democratic reforms.
The ruling Baath party has dominated Syrian politics for nearly 50 years
Syrian troops have been deployed in the southern city of Daraa a day after an anti-government protester was killed when forces reportedly fired on a demonstration.
News agencies, citing residents, said that thousands of Syrians marched on Monday in the town following the funeral of Raed Akrad, the killed protester.
A resident told the AFP news agency that "mass of demonstrators started to march from the cemetery towards al-Omari mosque after the burial".
"Just God, Syria and Freedom," and "Revolution, revolution" demonstrators chanted, the resident said.
Another witness said security forces had been deployed to block protests, but people had gathered regardless.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201132112130110767.html
Is this "our" Maher Arar??
[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/23/daraa-protests-syria... protests are the spark that Syria needed[/url]
It appears so:
Furthermore, Syria's human rights situation steadily deteriorated under the new ruler, especially after the unofficial alliance with the Unites States to fight al-Qaida, a historically common enemy. For instance, it became clear around 2001 that Syria was a preferred rendition destination for terror suspects. The cases of Hydar Zammar, Ahmed El-Maati, Abdullah El-Malki and my own are only a few examples .
Right! Missed that somehow...
I thought I would post this link to BBC videos about Syrian schools because it has lots of footage of street scenes in Damascus and a good glimpse into Syrian society. Caissia watch it and get back to me with which parts of the city you think should be liberated with cruise missiles? So far the protests look about the same as the anti G8 protests in TO with about the same repressive response. Canada has what to teach Syria about responding to peaceful protests? If only the slogans those brave protesters in TO sang in unison where the thoughts of the majority of our citizens we might not have CF18's enbroiled in the killing of civilians in two countries at once. Have we saved the women of Afghanistan yet other than the "colaterals" that were sent to their maker by "friendly fire"?
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/04/syrian-school.html
I came back to Damascus yesterday to get a better sense of what's going on here, if anything. I'd gotten some anxious emails and read some alarmist reports in the western press.
As I write this now a traveller who passed Dera on his way through from Jordan reports that he'd seen 'packs' of young men roaming the highway a couple of kilometers from the city proper, looking for action, military units watchfully monitoring from a distance.
Here in the city people await a promised speech from President Assad to be presented sometime in the next couple of days; presumably he will deliver it in time to preempt anticpated demonstrations after this Fridays' prayers. Fellow travellers report enthusiastic pro-Assad demonstrations here in the evenings, which abated last night and I saw three nights of the same in Deir ez-Zur in the east. The town square occupied by an energetic crowd of mainly young men chanting and holding up posters of The Beloved Leader and holding up traffic, later promenading around the city in pick-up trucks and other vehicles, a lot of honking of horns, a lot of cellphones held aloft by passersby to record the commotion, revelry running late into the night, a sprinkling of automatic weapon fire disturbing efforts to sleep. But it was celebratory weapons-fire, a useful distinction.
I've noticed no change in locals attitude to towards me and other travellers here say the same and I've no plans to cut short my stay here. After the initial alarm wore off I grew quite angry at some of the articles I'd read in the western press, a piece in the NYTimes not just useless but actively malicious. Even this fairly cynical mind was surprised at the brazenness of some of what is presented as news.
There is no noticeable heightened presence of military or special police units here. That said I've also heard the body count is higher than reported but that is par for the course in these things isn't it?
My two cents.
editted to add: a report from a university connection suggests people expect things to get much bigger here, disturbing the picture above. So now I'm just confused.
Hey Merowe,
Here's Chavez' Take on it:
US, Allies Repeating Libya Strategy in Syria
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6096
On Saturday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the United States and other nations are seeking to intervene militarily in Syria, using the same strategy as in Libya. 'The supposedly peaceful movements have already begun, and then there will be some deaths and they'll be accusing the Syrian president of killing his people. Later, the Yankees come and want to bomb the people in order to save them, imagine that,' said President Chavez.
'What shameless cynicism! It's a new strategy they've invented, to generate armed conflict and spill blood in a country in order to then bomb it, intervene, take ownership of its natural resources and convert it into a colony,..'
Lieberman: Syria Could Be Next
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=129193
"If Assad does what Qadhafi was doing, which is to threaten to go house to house and kill anybody who's not on his side, there's a precedent now that the world community has set in Libya, and it's the right one,' Lieberman said on Fox News Sunday.
He suggested there is an American appetite to back freedom fighters outside Libya.
'Assad, the dictator, ought to and probably is getting a very clear message: 'if he turns his weapons on his people and begins to slaughter them, as Qadhafi did, he's going to run the risk of having the world community come in and impose a no-fly zone and protect the civilian population, just as we're doing in Libya,' Lieberman said."
Syria Unrest 'Cannot Be Contained' - by Kate Seelye
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-28/syria-unrest-c...
"Syrian dissidents tell Kate Seelye that even if the anti-government demonstraters fail to topple the Assad regime, things will never be the same in their country - and the no-fly zone over Libya is helping their cause.."
"Syrian journalist Mohammed Abdallah, who spent more than 6 months in a Syrian prison in 2006 for criticizing its human rights record says there is a new fearlessness in Syria, with Syrians reaching what he calls 'a point of no return.' Abdallah, who received asylum in the US in 2009 and now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, is one of a group of a dozen or so Syrian exiles in Washington who have been using the few tools at their disposal to raise awareness...
Other dissidents have been organizing protests in front of the Syrian embassy and White House. Some, like Radwan Ziadeh, the founder and director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies, have been focusing on outreach to US officials. This week Ziadeh is leading a group to meet with members of Congress urging them to support the Syrian opposition's demands. It wants Congress to press the US administration to back a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Syria, like the one held in February to denounce Libya..
Ziadeh who left Syria in 2007 to work at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington had been threatened with arrest for speaking out against the regime...Ziadeh has helped draft the 'Syrian Initiative for Change', a document signed by 150 Syrian dissidents both inside and outside the country. The initiative, which Ziadeh says will be released at the 'appropriate time' sets out steps to ensure a peaceful transition to democracy. Most notably, it calls for the army, led by Alawites in a Sunni majority country, to play an important transitional role, as in Egypt."
sounds like the CIA has their hands full steering this 'Arab Spring'..
Syrian state-run television says the country's cabinet has resigned as Syria experiences its worst unrest in decades.
President Bashar Assad accepted the cabinet's resignation following a meeting Tuesday in Damascus. The resignation is the latest concession by the government aimed at appeasing more than a week of mass protests.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/29/syria-cabinet.html
Noticeably fewer travellers about and thinning out by the day at least in this hotel; others bringing forward their departure date.
Watched massive demonstrations in downtown Damascus today, hundreds of thousands strong, the locals calling it a million man march, though women as present as men. People seemed highspirited and enthusiastic, groups spontaneously chanting, much honking of horns, I won't go on too long here; one stops to discuss events with me, and mentions provocateurs from Saudi sent to cause trouble - which on reflection wasn't as improbable as it sounds.
Anyway, I don't think we'll see an Egypt here, Assad is too popular. There will be concessions and an easing of restrictions I expect but i don't see any broad impulse for revolution. As I noted above, i do see a lot of axes being ground in the western press...
NDPP, I always have time for Mr.Chavez, thanks.
Syrian President Bashar Assad's speech to parliament Wednesday failed to offer any concessions to appease a wave of dissent against his authoritarian rule.
He addressed the nation Wednesday for the first time since unprecedented protests erupted two weeks ago and a day after his cabinet was reportedly forced to resign.
Some observers had speculated he would lift state of emergency laws that have been in place since 1963. Instead, he blamed "conspirators" for fostering discontent through social media and television broadcasts, and said they would be thwarted by the majority.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/30/syria-protests-assad.html
I saw hundreds of demonstrators at the corner of Guy and de Maisonneuve (downtown Montréal) last night - pro- and anti-Assad. The pro-Assad placards seemed more visible and much more numerous, but I couldn't stick around to really figure it all out. I've seen no MSM coverage yet, so here's an individual report with photos:
[url=http://www.demotix.com/news/645013/montreal-demonstration-support-syrian... demonstration in support of Syrian president Bashar al Assad[/url]
and:
[url=http://www.demotix.com/news/644977/pro-and-anti-syrian-government-protes... and anti-Syrian government protests in Montreal[/url]
I'm in Tartus for a few days; can't put my finger on it but the mood round here has shifted a bit, more paranoia away from the towns, not entirely pleasant. Deaths in Homs the day after I left...Will write it up in my blog, meanwhile thinking to slowly head north and away..
'West Aims To Disintegrate Muslim States'
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172770.html
"Tehran's ambassador to Damascus says that enemies and arrogant powers want to disintegrate Muslim countries in order to achieve their political objectives. The Iranian official said the enemies are creating tension in Syria as they are unhappy with the country's political independence towards regional and international issues.."
After Libya: 'Syria Next Piece On Geopolitical Chessboard' (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/libya-syria-geopolitical-chessboard/
"The Libyan crisis may repeat itself in Syria, believes independent journalist James Corbett, who joined RT to discuss the latest developments in the Middle Eastern country.."
Noticeably fewer travellers about and thinning out by the day at least in this hotel; others bringing forward their departure date.
Watched massive demonstrations in downtown Damascus today, hundreds of thousands strong, the locals calling it a million man march, though women as present as men. People seemed highspirited and enthusiastic, groups spontaneously chanting, much honking of horns, I won't go on too long here; one stops to discuss events with me, and mentions provocateurs from Saudi sent to cause trouble - which on reflection wasn't as improbable as it sounds.
Anyway, I don't think we'll see an Egypt here, Assad is too popular. There will be concessions and an easing of restrictions I expect but i don't see any broad impulse for revolution. As I noted above, i do see a lot of axes being ground in the western press...
NDPP, I always have time for Mr.Chavez, thanks.
His "authoritarian" rule?
The man is a fascist. Plain and simple. He has run the state using the SS as a model.
Most people can hardly wait to see the regime fall.
Which Way Is Syria Going? - by Mousa Ladqani
http://www.marxist.com/which-way-is-syria-going.htm
"Things have been changing very rapidly in Syria, including some violent shifts in the mood of different layers of society...We need to break the situation down into its different components to be able to understand it..."
Noticeably fewer travellers about and thinning out by the day at least in this hotel; others bringing forward their departure date.
Watched massive demonstrations in downtown Damascus today, hundreds of thousands strong, the locals calling it a million man march, though women as present as men. People seemed highspirited and enthusiastic, groups spontaneously chanting, much honking of horns, I won't go on too long here; one stops to discuss events with me, and mentions provocateurs from Saudi sent to cause trouble - which on reflection wasn't as improbable as it sounds.
Anyway, I don't think we'll see an Egypt here, Assad is too popular. There will be concessions and an easing of restrictions I expect but i don't see any broad impulse for revolution. As I noted above, i do see a lot of axes being ground in the western press...
NDPP, I always have time for Mr.Chavez, thanks.
His "authoritarian" rule?
The man is a fascist. Plain and simple. He has run the state using the SS as a model.
Most people can hardly wait to see the regime fall.
1. Where did I say 'authoritarian'?
2. 'Authoritarian' includes 'fascist'
3. As I've said elsewhere, I have to watch what I say here. Westerners using the internet are monitored. I've been disconnected twice in midstream on orders from unidentified agencies. Work with me here.
4. The fact is the regime has a great deal of support. So did the one that kept order with the SS.
(editted to reduce melodrama)
Syria issued a stern warning to the nation Tuesday to stop protesting, hours after security forces opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas on hundreds of anti-government demonstrators during a pre-dawn raid that killed at least one person, witnesses said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/19/syria-homs-protest.html
So compare that CBC coverage to the coverage of the Tahir Square massacre two Fridays ago that killed at least two peaceful protesters as the square was cleared of "trouble makers." The Egyptians claim that they were shooting blanks and indeed if they had fired live ammunition into the crowds it is certain they would have killed more than two people. I believe that the troops were issued blanks but certainly not the officers and special forces people.
Syria is the same. I don't believe for a minute you can open up with live fire on a crowd of demonstrators and only kill one. When the Americans tried that on their own people they killed four in Ohio. Either the Syrian military are bad shots and can't hit the broadside of a crowd or the reports are propaganda designed to build a case for bombing the Syrian people for their own good.
'CIA and Saudi Snipers In Syria'
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2011/04/cia-and-saudi-snipers-in-syria.html
"It is being reported that CIA and Saudi snipers are killing protesters in Syria in order to discredit the Syrian government...'
STRATFOR: Raw Intelligence Report - A View from Syria
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110425-raw-intelligence-report-view-s...
"What follows is raw insight from a STRATFOR source in Syria. The following does not reflect STRATFOR's view, but provides a perspective on the situation in Syria...
People are scared..Much of the violence is attributed by Syrians to those mysterious 'armed gangs'. Privately, my Syrian friends admitted that Bashar al Assad, the Syrian president, needs to make some major concessions quickly or risk continued protests and bloodshed which will be attributed to him and not merely 'the regime'..."
I wonder if Merowe is still in Syria. It looks like he was planning on leaving.
telesurtv.net and a couple of other news sources have been reporting that provocateurs (unidentified gangs or individuals) are responsible for the shootings.
Why would the CIA & Co. not have been involved? (Especially since religious fundamentalists seem to be the driving force in southern Syrian demos.)
If that is the case then I would expect the Syrian security forces to put an end to it. How can groups other than the military and security operate on rooftops in the surrounding area? In Canada our security forces control all the rooftops around major demonstrations and they too are armed and dangerous. No one could fire into crowds except our security forces because they control the high ground and sight lines.
I have been astounded by reports of indiscriminate firing into crowds but if it isn't the regime then the regime better step up and not only allow demonstrations but also protect them. Removing dictators is not an easy thing to do but I am a firm believer that if the guns come out any chance for peaceful change ends. When the shooting ends most times the most ruthless thugs are in control and the cycle of repression soon begins again. I hope the Syrians figure it out and peacefully make the necessary changes to some more democratic form of governance.
I wonder if Merowe is still in Syria. It looks like he was planning on leaving.
I left last Monday, overland from Aleppo to Gaziantep where I caught a plane. I shared a taxi with an Iranian Kurd, a Turk and a Syrian; and the Syrian driver. While the others cleared customs in ten minutes my passport took nearly an hour and the others were getting worried but I think the border police were confused by the multiple entry visa and the extension stamps.
I seem to have left at a good time. It seems surprisingly hard to get good information. We hear all these body counts but they're uncorroborated, just numbers in a propaganda war. What is really going on? I notice for all the western spin the protests remain localized. I don't understand why the security forces would suddenly ramp up the body count, I think they've been carefully avoiding that course so far and I can only see it feeding the rebellious impulses of the disgruntled. Maybe there is competition between the five different agencies.
Good to see you're safe and sound...
What's your take on the growing CIA sniper conspiracy? Did you hear anything about that while you where there? What is the Syrian take on it, if there is one?
Hi Merowe, yeah glad as well you emerged unscathed..
this analysis by former US official Paul Craig Roberts includes Syria as well as Libya so am posting it here as well as the Libya thread:
'US At Risk of War With China, Russia' (and vid)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/176960.html
"Washington is all for invading Libya and putting more and more pressure to intervene in Syria because we want to clear China and Russia out of the Mediterranean, [Russia has a naval base in Syria] Paul Craig Roberts former assistant secretary to US Treasury, said in an interview with Press TV, from Panama city."
Friends or Foes, Syria's Neighbours Wary of Assad's Ouster - by Barbara Slavin
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55395
WikiLeaks: US Secretly Backed Syrian Opposition
http://rt.com/usa/news/wikileaks-usa-syria-opposition-barada/
"According to classified cables released by WikiLeaks, the US State Department secretly finances Syrian opposition groups, including a satellite TV channel which broadcasts anti-government propaganda across the country..'
"As Syria accelerates a violent crackdown on opposition demonstrators, the country's rising instability and uncertain future are already reverberating beyond its borders in Iran, Israel, Lebanon and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.."
More than 200 members of Syria's ruling party are reported to have resigned in the southern province that has been the centre of anti-government protests.
A resident of the city of Daraa said the Baath party members quit in the town of Inkhil. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/28/syria-baath-party-resignat...
Great news. Hopefully this can begin a process of dialogue within the Baath party and the larger society. They need to keep the gains brought by the Baaths while opening up the governance system to include more voices. Maybe they need to add a second socialist party to their elections and move from a one party state dictatorship to a two party state oligarchy like the system used by the boss of the world. I suspect that like all systems it is the corruption that comes with various systems of government that drives people into the streets. I hear rumours that there are members of the Baath party in government that act like Campbell, Basi and Virk doing a BC Rail deal.
Where I live we deal with corruption by arresting low level political operators not their bosses. The same corrupt government then hires a Special Prosecutor who doesn't prosecute the case in open court but reaches a deal with the accused that they plead guilty to minor charges and their million dollar lawyers fees will be paid. The public never got to hear how crooked our politicians are. This is a win win deal all around for the Howe street law firms that are the backbone of the BC LIberal party. The Special Prosecutor is hired from a Liberal firm, Basi and Virk get their lawyers from a different Liberal firm and the taxpayers pay top dollar to those firms to engage in a legal charade. I hope no one decides to bomb me for their corruption.
The Battle Over Syria Is Decisive
http://www.voltairenet.org/article169565.html
"The determination to generate turmoil in Syria conveys a blunt foreign will to deplete this country which enjoys a key and decisive position in the conflict over the future of the region...It would be natural to place the action inside Syria in the context of the American-Israeli project to reshape the region and dismantle the resistance system.."
The Syrian Chessboard - by Pepe Escobar
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MD28Ak01.html
"...unlike Libya, Syria has no oil and no lavishly endowed sovereign funds. So it's up to Syrian progressives now to get their act together.."
Good to see you're safe and sound...
What's your take on the growing CIA sniper conspiracy? Did you hear anything about that while you where there? What is the Syrian take on it, if there is one?
I understand Lebanese elements are suspected in some of this.
Gunfire at a peaceful demonstration would be a very easy way to goad the security services and get a body count which does great damage to the regime's image.
I can't speak to a singular Syrian take; the idea that foreign agents were responsible is widely supported.
I think there are definitely foreign agents operating in Syria at the moment; I don't have enough information to identify the extent of their activity. Syrian tv was making much of video, including handheld cellphone clips which I took to be authentic, of specific armed elements firing on one of the demonstrations.The western press has missed much of this, for whatever reason.
US and NATO Allies Initiate Libyan Scenario For Syria - by Rick Rozoff
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/u-s-and-nato-allies-initiate-...
"...Libya and Syria are the only two Mediterranean nations and the sole remaining Arab states that are not subordinated to US and NATO designs for control of the Mediterranean Sea basin and the Middle East..."
Canada is most definitely 'subordinated to US and NATO designs' EH?
RT: Western Media Lies About Syria
http://rt.com/news/syria-lies-interview/
"...while media reports paint a picture of the situation in Syria as a mass public uprising brutally suppressed by the dictatorial government, the events are vicious in a totally different way by those living there. There's plenty of evidence of foreign interference..."
This is a subtitled version of a video by a defected soldier in Syria. The original Arabic one is of better quality.
Syria: Who Is Behind The Protest Movement? - by Michel Chossudovsky
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24591
"...There is evidence of gross media manipulation and falsification from the outset of the protest movement in southern Syria on March 17.."
The Siege of Syria: Perception Management and US Funded Unrest - by Tony Cartelucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2011/05/seige-of-syria.html
"...After admittedly organizing, training, funding and equipping the very mobs littering Syria's streets, many who have resorted to arson and armed clashes with Syrian security forces, the United States is pressuring the Syrian government to step down.."
Hugo Chavez, Monthly Review and the Syrian Torture State - by Louis Proyect
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/hugo-chavez-monthly-review-...
"...it should be understood that others besides MR Zine and Hugo Chavez view al-Assad as a 'reformer'. One levelheaded American leader has said that the elements that led to intervention in Libya - international condemnation, an Arab League call for action, a UN Security Council resolution - are 'not going to happen' with Syria, in part because members of the US Congress from both parties say they believe Assad is a 'reformer'..."
One levelheaded American leader
Methinks that is an oxymoron but I am willing to concede the possibility of one.
Syrian troops pound central town; at least 43 die
Syrian government troops pounded a central town with artillery and heavy machinegun fire Thursday, a day after authorities released hundreds of political prisoners and the president set up a committee for national dialogue in an effort to end a 10-week uprising against his regime, activists said.The bombing of the town of Rastan in central Syria started on Tuesday and has killed at least 43 people so far, according to Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
I guess Syrian government troops are now shooting artillery at those CIA provocateurs, how smart is that? Or maybe this is all fake?
The fix is in. I heard Canada's state media calling for intervention in Syria. The war hawks are pounding the drums of war again. Fuck I hate imperialist assholes and this new NATO colonialism is as evil as anything this planet has ever seen.
This is no more fake than the Canadian made armoured cars that rolled into Bahrain to crush a non violent protest. Did you notice we care about citizens of Libya and Syria when they are hurt by their government but say nothing about Israel or Saudi Arab and are now actively supporting the brutal regimes in Tunisia and Bahrain that have also shot their citizens in the streets. But since they used union made Canadian war materials they must be good guys.
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Palestine. All currently under attack by this alliance and its ally Israel. How many hundreds of thousands of civilians will NATO kill in this decade. Will it be a higher body count and more displaced people than Iraq. If you start to bomb Syria where do the refugees from Iraq flee too? How about the Palestinian refugees in Syria? Where do they run to?
The British Empire continues to "reserve the right to bomb niggers."
Britain is training Saudi Arabia's national guard – the elite security force deployed during the recent protests in Bahrain – in public order enforcement measures and the use of sniper rifles. The revelation has outraged human rights groups, which point out that the Foreign Office recognises that the kingdom's human rights record is "a major concern".
11 Dead as Israel Opens Fire On Golan Protesters
Israeli gunfire killed 11 people and wounded about 220 others on Sunday as demonstrators on the Syrian side tried to cross the ceasefire line on the annexed Golan Heights, Syria's SANA news agency said.
"Annexed" is such a Ribbentrope. You never hear that one any more.
The CBC Radio report this morning was a nice bit of propaganda. The Golan apparently fell into Israel's lap by accident in 1967. The Israelis tried to give it back to Syria in return for peace, but the Syrians refused.
Speaking of propaganda, MSNBC called the massacre of unarmed civilians by the Israelis a "battle."
Israeli troops on Sunday battled hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to burst across Syria's frontier with the Golan Heights, killing a reported 20 people and wounding scores more in the second outbreak of deadly violence in the border area in less than a month.
It wasn't a massacre, it was an "outbreak," like the flu.
IAC: Syria - Taking Sides Vs Imperialist Invasion
http://iacenter.org/nafricamideast/syria060811/
"...It is clear that the US and its allies are trying to use these protests in Syria to their own advantage..."
I've heard from a Tunsian e-acquaintance that there is a lot of Syrian soldiers are leaving the army because of some of the things they're being told to do, rumoured even to be rape, but has anyone else heard this and maybe have a newslink?
Its unfortunate that the Syrian people, like much of the nations in the Middle East, are in the crosshairs of the Western hawks and corrupt "populist" regimes of their own.
I finally met up with an old friend in Berlin, who arrived in Damascus for a weeks' holiday just as I was leaving, in late April. She speaks Arabic and was one of a dwindling number of foreigners and she made useful contacts with pro-democracy demonstrators - with whom she maintains contact. While her own safety was never at issue there were days she followed advice and stayed in her hotel and she saw plenty of undercover secret police about - recognized by dark baseball caps, sunglasses and leather jackets apparently. Hugo Boss where are you?
She reports tanks in the street in Damascus on her arrival. Many of her demonstrator contacts have since been arrested; many report deaths. One alarming story from a woman from Douma who reported seeing police agents lining up three young men under a bridge and summarily dispatching them, leaving the bodies where they lay. A fourth thrown to his death from atop the same bridge. The woman was in shock, and fleeing her home.
Its too bad no one in the west has any contacts in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It seems the only atrocities anyone knows about are ones NATO talks about.
Lets bomb Damascus with uranium tipped ordinance. Lets start now why wait. I am sure that the Iraqi refugees inside of Syria will be grateful for the west liberating them a second time. Many of them are still in shock and awe from the first peace mission.
