Syria shooting people in several cities during protest
Image via WikipediaMilitary troops opened fire on protesters in the southern part of Syria on Friday, according to news reports quoting witnesses, hurtling the strategically important nation along the same trajectory that has altered the landscape of power across the Arab world.So far the Syrians have been wise enough not to unleash their air force on the people. That could give others the excuse to unleash a no fly zone. I think Syria will be careful to mainly use snipers to kill opponents. That was very effective for Iran and the West and the UN did nothing to inhibit them.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators in the southern city of Dara’a, on the border with Jordan, and in some other cities and towns around the nation took to the streets in protest, defying a state that has once again demonstrated its willingness to use lethal force. It was the most serious challenge to 40 years of repressive rule by the Assad family since 1982, when the president at the time, Hafez al-Assad, massacred at least 10,000 protesters in the northern Syrian city of Hama.
Human rights groups said that since protests began seven days ago in the south, 38 people had been killed by government forces — and it appeared that many more were killed on Friday. Precise details were difficult to obtain Friday because the government sealed off the area to reporters and denied access to the country to foreign news media.
“Syria’s security forces are showing the same cruel disregard for protesters’ lives as their counterparts in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
The new round of protests and bloodshed came one day after the Syrian government tried to appease an increasingly angry popular revolt with talk of improved political freedoms and promises of restraint. Instead, it unleashed its forces, firing on peaceful demonstrators trying to march into Dara’a, according to The Associated Press and videos posted on YouTube. There were reports of security forces firing on civilians in cities around the country, as well.
In Sanamayn, a city of 27,000 people about 40 miles north of Dara’a, a video posted on YouTube showed at least seven bodies lying on stretchers, bloodied, at least three clearly with gunshot wounds. Residents speaking to The A.P. said as many as 20 people had been killed, figures that could not be independently confirmed.
In the capital, Damascus, several hundred opposition protesters tried to rally, too, but were quickly dispersed by security forces as pro-government supporters took to the streets honking car horns and waving photographs of the president, Bashar al-Assad. It did not appear that the growing wave of anger and protest had yet taken hold in the capital as it had in the south and east, though there were reports of troops opening fire on demonstrators in the suburbs of Damascus.
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What should be a concern for Syria is that each funeral they cause gives the people another reason to have an angry demonstration. It becomes a unicycle of violence with each killing spurring more nonviolent protest. It also could lead to a violent reaction and in Daraa there have been some attacks on places like the Baath Party headquarters and some government offices.
The Government is close to pushing the people of at least one region into a general uprising. As the killing spreads more will likely follow.
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