AND HOW’S IT GOING IN SYRIA?

AND HOW’S IT GOING IN SYRIA?

            I find a heavy dose of adolescent repetitiousness about the Syrian situation. The world comes along like a big daddy and says, “Stop it! Stop the fighting!” Like an exposed 13year old, Bashar Assad and his brother Maher, the enforcer, respond, “Ah, gee. I’m sorry. We’ll stop.” As soon as dad is out of sight, the killing begins all over again.

It hasn’t stopped.

When a team of U.N. observers initially drove into a suburb of Damascus, protestors showed up. The U.N. team’s purpose was to monitor the shaky cease-fire. Their objective had been to pave the way for other U.N. personnel to arrive for reinforcement of the international community’s desire to bring an end to the 13 month deadly conflict in Syria.

Syrian troops responded by firing on the demonstrators.  At least eight people were wounded. Of course, the explosion of conflict the moment observers arrived could only make matters worse.

The United Nations has its hands full with the unwieldy violence that never ceases. Here’s another example. When the U.N. team made an unannounced visit to the Damascus suburb of Arbeen, a local activist said residents guessed they were coming because military tanks parked throughout Arbeen withdrew just before the U.N. teams arrival. Syria’s military haven’t stopped playing the “cat and mouse” game.

When the U.N. car arrived, local residents emerged waving signs and protesting the Assad regime. A local activist (his identity remains anonymous to protect the man from retribution)  reported hundreds of demonstrators crowded around three U.N. Land Cruisers shouting and protesting against the government. One local citizen standing in the back of a pickup led the crowd in singing, “Bashar, Bashar, we will not kneel.” Another handwritten sign taped to one of the cars read, “The murderer keeps killing, the observers keep observing, and the people keep up the revolution.” A video of the scene showed protesters walking down the boulevard and surrounding the car just as a boom exploded. Smoke filled the air and the UN vehicle sped away with the sirens blaring. After the U.N. team fled, government security cars drove through the area firing indiscriminately. An observer reported 20 people had been injured.

Reports of refugees fleeing in to Turkey report that Bashar Assad is attempting to stamp out as much resistance as possible before a U.N. brokered cease-fire is fully in place. In the villages of Taftanaz and Killi, a photograph given to the Associated Press by the resistance showed a dozen corpses wrapped in blankets sitting in a mass grave site in Taftanaz.

Because Syria borders five other nations and has close ties with Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the country remains a vital geopolitical linchpin. Fighting jeopardizes each of these countries. Observers believe Assad continues to play for time. The battles continue.

Will they stop? Not soon.
Question: How can any government trust the Assad government again?