Arrogance of Assad certain to lead to more bloodshed
Lewis DiuguidIn a rare public speech, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s pledge to step up his war effort is certain to cause more bloodshed in his country.
He spoke out in his military’s fight against “terrorists,” The Washington Post reports. Assad said, “They are the enemies of God, and they will go to hell.”
Yet the rest of the world see the conflict in Syria as an overflow of the Arab Spring in which people in such countries as Egypt, Libya and Tanzania rebeled and pushed for more democratic governments. About 60,000 people in Syria have been killed.
The fighting between government and rebel forces already has pulled in such countries as Turkey and threatens to spread more as refugees flee Assad’s rule. Assad’s defiant and arrogant statements over the weekend only serve to ratchet up the fighting and bloodshed in Syria.
It may be only a matter of weeks before the United States and the United Nations are forced to intervene as they did in Libya.
Phil Cardarella
5 months, 1 week agoThere is no way to avoid a Syrian blood-bath.
Assad gambled that he could follow the example of Iran and quiet the opposition by arresting and/or murdering the leaders of the demonstrations. In doing so, he — literally — killed off the easy to find and kill moderate, resulting in an opposition that was increasingly sectarian and vicious. After all, if you are going to kill the moderate opponents, what fate would await the rest? And, the Islamist nuts are the ones getting the money and arms from the fundamentalist Islamist countries.
Now, Assad is in a life-or-death struggle and has dragged his supporters into the same. Both sides are busy murdering. The life-expectancy of a POW is measured in minutes for BOTH sides. Is there anyone left in the Syrian Armed Forces who does not expect to be executed if the regime falls?
And the same is true for even many non-combatants.