Saturday, March 26, 2011

Syrian Forces Open Fire on Anti-Government Protesters

At NYT, "Syrian Troops Open Fire on Protesters in Several Cities" (via Memeorandum). And at WSJ, "Syria Regime Rocked by Protests":
Thousands of protesters demanding political liberalization marched in cities across Syria on Friday, an unprecedented display of public dissent that prompted violent clashes with security forces and left dozens dead and injured, according to witnesses and media reports.

The protests, once unthinkable against a regime believed to have an unshakable grip on security, came a day after President Bashar al-Assad's government announced economic and political concessions aimed at appeasing protesters and getting them off the streets.

Some U.S., European and Israeli officials saw the potential weakening of Mr. Assad's government—a close ally of Iran and key player in regional politics— as an important opening to significantly undermine Tehran's role in the region.

But there remained concerns that the turmoil could usher in more wide-scale bloodshed or, should Mr. Assad fall, another regime hostile to the West.
You don't say?

At Neocon Express, "
Syrian Regime Mowing People Down in the Streets - Obama Silent":

The top video was available on YouTube just as this entry went live. The middle video c/o Neocon Express. And at bottom, protesters destroy a statue of the late Syrian strongman Hafez Assad.

2 comments:

Norm said...

Funny how RT Russian Television (the video in the middle)producers go right back to their communist roots. At the 2:20 mark there is a quick interview with Sara Flounders, she is a well known communist in the NYC area. In fact, she belonged to a Stalinist organization. For many years she has taken an active role in the operation of radio station WBAI, the station where Democracy Now originated with Amy Goodman. So we see that when RT News wants to air an opinion, they go right to the local communists...why am I not surprised.

Mr. Mcgranor said...

I see that authoritarian culture rears its ugly head. Now you all should know why their rulers wanted to ban western t.v. Although i sympathize with the protesters--it still will not appeal me to supporting U.S. intervetion.