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Assad's Syria Slowly, and Surely, Unraveling

(Der Spiegel-Germany) There is no widespread revolution in Syria like there is in Libya. Instead, the country has disintegrated into a surreal patchwork of places where it is tense but quiet, and combat zones in which the regime's most loyal units are killing people indiscriminately. What began in mid-March in the country's far south as a revolt of local tribes against the government's arrest and torture of young people has gradually spread to almost every city in the country. Since early June, when residents of Jisr al-Shughour on the Turkish border began shooting at advancing army units, parts of the north have descended into civil war. The old mechanism of revolts and repression doesn't work anymore. Violence no longer leads to subjugation, but rather to rage and resistance. Two weeks ago, the regime announced that "armed groups" had killed 120 soldiers in Jisr al-Shughour. In fact, there were no 120 dead soldiers. Instead, 20 to 30 people, some of them soldiers, had been shot dead by local residents defending their city.
2011-06-23 00:00:00
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