In consequence of that violence, the U.S.-mediated Assad-internal opposition talks failed, which anyhow were inconsequential as the internal opposition do not represent more than 5 percent of the protestors. What the regime promised in Damascus, it broke in Hama, as the people of Hama seem to be reliving 1982 at the moment. in 1982, there were no Salafi elements, just massive anti-regime demonstrations in Hama, Idlib, Aleppo, and Hums, which were dealt with violently, and then covered up by internal media as an Islamist armed takeover thwarted by the heroic regime. Further, the same dynamism of the sociable image-conscious president using his thug brother for the dirty work is being repeated now.
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Bashar al-Assad (right) with his brother Maher (left) and brother-in-law Major General Assef Shawkat (center) in June 2000. Khaled al-Hariri/Reuters
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Electricity has been cut off in Hama for two weeks now, and the regime has been trying to enter the city but all its attempts were thwarted by the people’s coordinated establishment of roadblocks.
In a systematic manner, after finishing with Central-north Syria (Jisr al-Shughur, Tal Kalakh, rustan, Talbiseh…etc.), Maher’s forces are targeting the other high priority areas, Hama and Damascus. Many officers have been mobilized from Jisr al-Shughur directly to Hama and Damascus, especially that Ramadan is in three weeks, with two mass prayers daily, and four Fridays, amounting to 62 possible demonstrations opportunities for protestors.
To more recent incidents, the U.S. and French ambassadors visited the besieged city of Hama last Thursday and remained throughout Saturday. They were welcomed and showed around. Their presence meant that the regime could not send in their death squads in front of the diploat witnesses. The Syrian people online on and TV reacted by inviting the ambassadors to visit their cities and towns as an insurance against the Assad death squads.
The demonstrators were burning Hizbullah and Iran flags, and welcoming the ambassadors with olive branches and roses. Do these acts seem like a common or rational behavior of Salafi or terrorist elements? No, they don’t, but the regime ordering thugs to attack the French and U.S. embassies in Damascus for three consecutive days in reaction are.
The regime sunk to new lows by attacking diplomatic missions, what more is needed to convince world powers that it has lost its legitimacy?
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