The Degenerate Apple
Syria's leader is most certainly his father's son. His credentials have been fully realized; the old adage of the apple never falling far from the tree recognized, the son emulating the father to condemn a resurrection of the masses to blighted and bloody failure. And everything will return to the normalcy of repression and human rights abuses.And who cares, actually? Because, in the Middle East, the dictators you know, however bloodied their hands, may be less brutally troublesome than the ones waiting in the shadows.
Restraint is hoped for, so that there might be some bit of moral cover for the international community.
But blandishments don't work when the tyrant is arrogantly entitled and culturally endowed with the assurance that he alone has the right to control every aspect of peoples' lives, and should he wish to withdraw the privilege of life from those among his subjects who are clearly undeserving of continued life, he may do so.
"They entered the city from each of its four corners and just started shooting. They are breaking into peoples' homes and opening fire into their houses." Five thousand troops with armoured personnel carriers and tanks advanced on Daraa in the early morning hours as people slept, unaware, until imams broadcast warnings to take cover, but by then it was too late and the firing was initiated.
Bashar al-Assad knows his rights and they are divine; he may do as he wishes with his people. His brother is head of the national military and upon him he can rely, for the military shares his sectarian Alawite values and the bulk of the population does not.
Damascus and Aleppo are quietly his, and he has little to fear of a popular, mass uprising. Hamas and Hezbollah would prefer to hang their futures on this assurance. And Iran watches the proceedings warily. But the international community, prepared to overlook much, busy with involvement in Libya, is becoming troubled by the clear evidence of massive violations of humanity.
Where civilian activists simply gathering on a street are confronted by soldiers busy erecting mounted machine guns and firing. To demonstrate that they are unarmed and passive, the activists lie down on the street where they are assembled, vulnerable.
But nothing stops the live firing of the military with their machine guns.
Labels: Chaos, Conflict, Middle East
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, April 26, 2011
<< Home