Editorials & Other Articles

bemildred

(90,061 posts) Tue Sep 24, 2013, 07:59 AM Sep 2013

'Stop the blood': Years of war drain once-passionate Syrians aiming to topple Assad

DAMASCUS, Syria – In 2011, Syrian activists were inspired and believed they were capable of ousting President Bashar Assad. Now, after living through two and half years of violent war, many are exhausted and discouraged.

“Stop the war. Stop the blood. The Syrian people are tired now,” said Khaled Khalifa, author of the acclaimed Syrian novel “In Praise of Hatred.” He is now fed up with the revolution he once longed for.

“You can play revolution for some time,” Khalifa said recently. “But not for a long time.”

If the revolutionaries are exhausted, so is the government.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/24/20662765-stop-the-blood-years-of-war-drain-once-passionate-syrians-aiming-to-topple-assad

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'Stop the blood': Years of war drain once-passionate Syrians aiming to topple Assad (Original Post) bemildred Sep 2013 OP

Kind of hard to a have a clean revolution in a geostrategic hotspot. Democracyinkind Sep 2013 #1

The genocidal turn to the civil war was also entirely foreseen - that's why feeding it with leveymg Sep 2013 #2

Perhaps "unforeseen." Not "unforeseeable." Igel Sep 2013 #3

Democracyinkind

(4,015 posts)

1. Kind of hard to a have a clean revolution in a geostrategic hotspot.

Reply to bemildred (Original post)

Tue Sep 24, 2013, 08:03 AM

Sep 2013

I'm reminded of all the people that predicted the stalemate when the first blood was drawn during the original protests.

leveymg

(36,418 posts)

2. The genocidal turn to the civil war was also entirely foreseen - that's why feeding it with

Reply to Democracyinkind (Reply #1)

Tue Sep 24, 2013, 09:06 AM

Sep 2013

weapons and foreign fighters flowing from Libya makes the US and NATO complicit in genocidal outcomes, along with the Saudis/GCC, the Turks, the Russians and Iran.

Samantha Power and Susan Rice are complete hypocrites about this, as is Hillary Clinton - Gen. Petraeus was merely an unabashed monster. Obama may have done the right thing by firing some of them, but he's the one who approved the U.S. role in regime change to begin with.

Another stain on America's bloody and tattered garment.

Igel

(35,337 posts)

3. Perhaps "unforeseen." Not "unforeseeable."

Reply to leveymg (Reply #2)

Tue Sep 24, 2013, 10:04 PM

Sep 2013

Look past the Western border or the Eastern border or the Southern border of Syria and what do you see?

Lebanon, Shi'ite/Sunni/Xian civil war that lasted decades.

Iraq, a Kurdish/Arab civil war followed by a Shi'ite/Sunni civil war.

Jordan, with the Pal/Hashemite split ... and with Zarqawi, of Iraq fame, originating from a strongly Salafist belt in the country. Not far from Syria.

Syria was a special case, untainted by the Kurd/Arab, Salafist/moderate, Sunni/Shi'ite splits that surrounded it and were know to be present inside of it?

Wishful thinking and motivated reasoning. It wasn't foreseen because it wasn't in anybody's political interests to foresee it.

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