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Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/04/assad_s_massacre_strategy
Assad's Massacre Strategy
(Foreign Policy) Hassan Hassan - Over the past several weeks, the Assad regime has escalated military operations throughout the country - shelling neighborhoods in previously loyal cities, using airplanes to drop "TNT barrels" containing hundreds of kilograms worth of explosives, and unleashing its militias to commit gruesome massacres By making regular Syrians suffer greatly for hosting rebels in their neighborhoods, the regime hopes residents will reject fighters - a tactic that has already succeeded in several areas across the country. Syria's internal dynamics have shifted. Syrians have largely split into two camps, whereas before there had been a large group in the middle that supported neither the regime nor the opposition. Slipping into the regime camp are mainly minority groups that were previously on the fence - Christians, Druze, and Ismailis - but have grown disenchanted with the rebels. Meanwhile, the opposition has clearly failed to unite and present a viable alternative to Assad.