Fighting reaches the gates of Damscus!

[jimmy olsen]

This is a really good sign.

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10273725-latest-violence-could-signal-new-phase-in-syria-conflict

Latest violence could signal new phase in Syria conflict
By Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC News correspondent

With fighting now encroaching the suburbs of the Syrian capital, the conflict is entering into a new dimension for the first time in nearly 10 months.

The Syrian military has regained control of the Damascus suburbs after rebel fighters over the weekend made strong advances around the capital, threatening the grip of President Bashar al Assad. The Syrian News Agency say security forces attacked "terrorist hideouts" in the Damascus countryside -- a loosely veiled acknowledgment that the fighting is now on the doorsteps of the capital.

But the attention on the capital and its outlying areas is a sign that rebel fighters who are part of the loosely knit Free Syrian Army have grown more brazen in their attacks as they go on the offensive against government troops. The fighting near the capital comes as a spike in violence has left several hundreds of people dead over the past five days. Both the government and opposition activists continue to blame each other for the violence that only seems to be escalating.
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Syrian opposition fighters say the spike in violence is a sign that Assad's regime is desperate and launching whatever counter offensive it can to crush a stubborn uprising against his rule. Syrian analysts say with the international community convening at the U.N. to discuss the Syria crisis, the regime sees a window of opportunity in which it can resort to violence before pressure and possibly action is ratcheted up against Damascus rendering it impossible to continue on the same path.

An Arab League monitoring mission tasked with making sure Syria complies with an Arab peace plan to end the violence has been suspended. Syrian opposition says this has given Assad the greenlight to crack down in the blackout of media and monitors.

Read more: Gunfire 'everywhere': Street battles rage in Damascus suburbs

Some Syrians say the Free Syrian Army has grown in strength as more supporters and defectors join its ranks buoyed by its will to fight on despite being overpowered and outnumbered. As their numbers grow, the Syrian military is increasingly fatigued and weary, according to opposition members. Time is the regime's enemy, they say.

But Syria's fault lines are now spilling over into the international arena. U.N. Security Council members are convening in New York on Tuesday to discuss endorsing an Arab League plan that calls on Assad to hand over power immediately. The biggest objection so far has come from Russia which sees such attempts as interference in Syrian domestic affairs.

Russia instead has gone on its own diplomatic offensive, offering to host negotiations between the Assad government and all of the opposition forces. But a member of the Syrian opposition tells me Russia's efforts are only so that it does not appear as an obstacle to the will of the international community without offering an alternative. The Syrian opposition will not enter into any dialogue with Assad's government without preconditions. At the top of its list of demands? The President must agree to step down from power immediately.

[Jaron]

Not a good sign for the people in Damascus.

[jimmy olsen]

Not a good sign for the people in Damascus.

Well, that's true.

[Tamas]

Oh goody, the other tribe is winning!

[Tamas]

[Tonitrus]

Nowadays his head would be cut off and paraded around on Al Jazeera.

[Sheilbh]

You've got to admire the Syrians.  They're having the most difficult revolution but they've also had the most lyrical and courageous.  Footage from yesterday of thousands chanting 'we want to execute Assad' in front of Assad's tanks was incredible.

[Mr.Penguin]

When in doubt...

[Tamas]

Jews: making the world easy to understand since the Middle Ages!

[Monoriu]

You've got to admire the Syrians.  They're having the most difficult revolution but they've also had the most lyrical and courageous.  Footage from yesterday of thousands chanting 'we want to execute Assad' in front of Assad's tanks was incredible.

Why is it the most difficult? 

[jimmy olsen]

You've got to admire the Syrians.  They're having the most difficult revolution but they've also had the most lyrical and courageous.  Footage from yesterday of thousands chanting 'we want to execute Assad' in front of Assad's tanks was incredible.

Why is it the most difficult? 

Libya had naturally separate geographic regions where hostile populations could rise up and seize total control and marshal resources and armies to take on the rest of the country. That isn't the case in Syria as far as I know.

[Sheilbh]

It's taking over nine months of almost daily protests in the face of extreme repression (shelling of cities and the like), because of that it has, I believe, the highest (estimated) death toll. Sadly because of the nature of the regime it's been the least reported.

One example is the song of the revolution.  It's not known where it started but the video is from Homs I think. An electrician led the crowd in a call-and-reply song denouncing Assad. The song's since become the anthem of the revolution. The electrician was found a few months ago dead in a river. His tongue and voice box had been ripped out.  Similarly the regime hands back bodies of protesters to their families. One case was of a twelve year old boy who'd been tortured to death, including having his balls crushed and his penis cut off. Then the body was returned to his parents to bury and scare. This regime will do anything to cling, which is another reason this has been the hardest, but I think most brave revolution.

[KRonn]

So what is the world waiting for to be more vocal, or do even something more tangible, to support the Syrian people? Instead of watching the slaughter, and saying little. This has been going on long enough, but our leaders seem afraid of taking sides. Probably in case Assad wins in the end so would become more difficult to deal with, if that's possible.

But then, I have no idea who or what powers would take over if Assad fell, and it may be a worse government. One that's more radical. But then Assad is a wholly owned subsidiary of Iran and Hezbollah, so if his government goes then at least changes for the better can be more likely expected. Certainly the people may have a chance. But I'm not sold yet on better governments and some forms of democracy breaking out from Arab Spring uprisings.

[mongers]

It's taking over nine months of almost daily protests in the face of extreme repression (shelling of cities and the like), because of that it has, I believe, the highest (estimated) death toll. Sadly because of the nature of the regime it's been the least reported.

One example is the song of the revolution.  It's not known where it started but the video is from Homs I think. An electrician led the crowd in a call-and-reply song denouncing Assad. The song's since become the anthem of the revolution. The electrician was found a few months ago dead in a river. His tongue and voice box had been ripped out.  Similarly the regime hands back bodies of protesters to their families. One case was of a twelve year old boy who'd been tortured to death, including having his balls crushed and his penis cut off. Then the body was returned to his parents to bury and scare. This regime will do anything to cling, which is another reason this has been the hardest, but I think most brave revolution.

Yes, very brave people.

[The Brain]

OMG is Paul OK?