FrostyBoy
Banned
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/25/syria-troops-open-fire-on_n_840594.html
Article continued at link...
Article continued at link...
Syrian Troops Open Fire on Protesters
- Thread starter FrostyBoy
- Start date
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- Tags
- 2011 mena protests
I was gonna post this story but then thought Syria is so boring, the only thing mentioning about Syria is al-Assad's wife :drool2:. Oh well, here's my contribution:
At least 30 people feared dead and many more injured as Syria explodes in violence
* 20 dead in Daraa after demonstrators target pro-presidential parade
* Violence breaks out in capital Damascus
* Images emerge showing youths trying to drag dead protesters through streets
* Claims government forces has killed scores of pro-democracy supporters after a week of protests
At least 30 people were feared dead and many more injured as Syria exploded in violence.
Soldiers opened fire on protesters in several cities and pro- and anti-government supporters clashed for the first time in the capital Damascus.
Across the country, tens of thousands of pro-democracy campaigners took to the streets demanding ‘freedom’.
The flashpoint was again the southern city of Daraa where heavy gunfire could be heard after crowds waving Syrian flags and carrying olive branches set fire to a bronze statue of the country’s late president, Hafez Assad.
Syrians gather during a demonstration by protesters in Deraa today after clashes with pro-president supporters
Thousands defied bans to flood into the central Assad Square after more than 20 people, including some who were inside a mosque, were said to have been killed by security forces during the week.
In Damascus, protesters shouting in support of the Daraa demonstrators clashed with supporters of President Bashar Assad outside the Umayyad mosque.
While in the city of Hama, hundreds braved security forces to take to the streets.
In 1982, the Syrian army had put down a Muslim Brotherhood-led uprising there when human rights groups believe tens of thousands were killed and large areas destroyed.
And in the western city of Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon, several protesters were detained.
Meanwhile, in the city of Aleppo, hundreds of regime supporters came out of mosques shouting ‘with our lives, our souls, we sacrifice for you Bashar’ and ‘Only God, Syria and Bashar!’
Support: People wave flags and images of Syrian President Bashar Assad during a pro-government rally in Damascus.
Pledges: Assad has promised to bring in reforms in a bid to stamp out an opposition movement
The protests follow the wave of pro-democracy demonstrations that have spread across the Middle East and North Africa.
Rattled by the unrest, the Syrian government promised on Thursday to consider lifting some of the Middle East’s most repressive laws in an attempt to stop the weeklong uprising from spreading and threatening its nearly 50-year rule.
But the promises were immediately rejected by many activists who called for demonstrations around the country.
‘We will not forget the martyrs of Daraa,’ said one. ‘If they think this will silence us they are wrong.’
Mr Assad, a close ally of Iran and its regional proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, has promised increased freedoms for discontented citizens and increased pay and benefits for state workers - a familiar package of incentives offered by other nervous Arab regimes in recent weeks.
Dragged to safety: Protesters attempt to carry a body after youths were fired on as they marched through the streets of Deraa in images that have just surfaced
Movement: Syrians take part in a funeral march in Deraa yesterday. Several people were shot dead by government forces outside a mosque on Wednesday
Tensions: Syrian security forces stand on a street during a funeral procession. The government has dismantled barricades in a bid to reduce trouble in Deraa
Officials have also suggested an end to emergency laws, which have been a feature of many Arab countries, allow people to be arrested without warrants and imprisoned without trial.
Human rights groups say violations of other basic liberties are rife in Syria, with torture and abuse common in police stations, detention centres and prisons, and dissenters regularly imprisoned for years without due process.
Presidential spokesman Bouthaina Shaaban blamed outside agitators for whipping up trouble, and denied the government had ordered security forces to open fire on protesters.
Flashpoint: The Omari mosque in Daraa which has become the headquarters of the anti-government movement
The death toll from the week-long crackdown is unclear and could not be independently confirmed, although activists say it was in the dozens before yesterday and could have been as high as 100.
The official figure is around 30.
Elsewhere there have also been reports that one person was killed in Jordan protests.
Footage emerged yesterday of the moment protesters desperately tried to drag away bodies after they were gunned down while marching towards police in Deraa chanting 'Peaceful! Peaceful!'
Intense gunfire is then heard, followed by scenes of panic as the bullets are fired into the crowd.
A second video, shot on Wednesday, then shows bodies lying in the street, with some of them being dragged away from the scene.
The coming days will be a crucial test of the surge of popular discontent that has unseated autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt and threatens to push several others from power.
Journalists who tried to enter Daraa's Old City - where most of the violence took place - were escorted out of town in two security vehicles.
'As you can see, everything is back to normal and it is over,' an army major, standing in front of the ruling Baath party head office in Daraa, told journalists before they were led out of the city.
By early afternoon, tens of thousands, many of them coming from nearby villages, gathered in Daraa's central Assad Square, chanting pro-democracy slogans such as 'freedom, freedom', a resident said over the telephone.
He said the demonstrators carried Syrian flags and olive branches.The resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said more than 50,000 people were protesting. The crowd chanted against presidential adviser, Buthaina Shaaban, who on Thursday announced government measures to improve the standard of living in Daraa.
After the Friday prayers in the village of Dael, near Daraa, men on motorcycles and cars honked their horns while several hundred men marched, some of them carrying Syrian flags and chanting: 'Dael and Daraa will not be humiliated!'
Plainclothes security agents watched without interfering.
Scores of people were gathering in surrounding villages in what appeared to be preparation to march to Daraa. But Syrian soldiers deployed along the highway, apparently to prevent such a march.
A human rights activist, quoting witnesses, said thousands of people were gathering in the town of Douma outside the capital, Damascus, pledging support for the people of Daraa. The activists asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
In the capital, about 200 people near the central Marjeh Square shouted: 'Our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you Daraa!'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...forces-open-Sanemein-Deraa.html#ixzz1HeH5UHu5
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
The entire region is aflame with civil unrest. al-Assad must be totally freaking out after watching what just happened to Mubarak and what is currently happening to Ghadaffi. Can Iran be far behind? Great to see tyrannical despots under siege by the proletariat.
Unfortunately with Iran the military and law enforcement seem to be very blindly loyal and deeply entrenched with the ruling tyrants or are part of them unlike some of the other places that are slowly making progress.
GregCentauro
Banned
Are you listening, Italy?
I think the whole movement is gaining momentum and people are being inspired by one another and seeing Mubarak fall after being around for so long has given them a sense of hope, probable similar to whar happened in Europe and America in the 18th century. I disagree with you on the Iran point as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was VOTED in as President so they have democracy in a political system and have chosen someone we don't like, if he was a Shah that was from a ruling family then it would be comparable to Syria. Bear in mind Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are also oppressive regimes (Sunni minority governing a Shia majority) but it would not be in the west's interest for them to fall.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was democratically elected as President by the people of Iran, many of them like him whether we like it or not. Why would Iran's military turn on their constitution and overthrow the democratically govt they are sworn to protect, many Americans despised Bush but would it have made you happy if the US army had stamped all over the constitution and overthrown him?
Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
There are serious doubts that Ahmadinejad was "democratically elected" as you say. The fact is that the results of the election were greatly disputed at the time. You are correct, however, that the army supports Ahmadinejad. However, the spark that is igniting these uprisings seems to be coming from the people, not the army. Hell, the Syrian army is shooting at the protesters! No one's talking about military coups here....these recent events are a result of the people rising up. Big difference and I could easily see Iranian dissidents becoming active in the face of all this turmoil. The response is likely to be swift and merciless (just like Ghadaffi) so....would we be so inclined to bomb the shit out of Iran if Ahmadinejad responded in the same fashion? :dunno:
No. Again, however, it is not a congruent situation. If the people rose up en masse to get rid of Bush (or Obama or whoever), I would definitely support it if I believed in the cause for which they were fighting. So would Thomas Jefferson by the way:
From the Declaration of Independence:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Well stated and I couldn't agree more.
On the plus side, maybe this will shift some hatred away from the West and towards their own dictatorial regimes.
Kingfisher
Here Zombie, Zombie, Zombie...
Are we going to shoot down their airforce as well? Ugh...
Kadafi has to be one of the ugliest SOBs I have ever seen. 
Facetious
Moderated
FrostyBoy
Banned
I think the answer is find a comfy chair, a glass of something brown and iceless, perhaps something to prop your feet on, and lets watch the fuckers kill somebody besides us for a change. This is one of those cases where I really hope the CIA has their undercover people out there stirring this shit up from both sides.
emceeemcee
Banned
So an apartheid state using it's military force to destroy several countries would be a positive thing?
Advocating destruction of entire countries.... we usually only hear that kind of shit out psycho religious types.
you're sharing some great idealogical company there boy george.
You don't belong amongst humans.
emceeemcee
Banned
just be sure to blame somebody else when the blowback finds it's way onto American soil
GregCentauro
Banned
That's not necessary. Persia was Israel's best (and only) friend in the region before the Islamic Revolution. Relations will improve again, once the mullahs have been ousted. Most Iranians are tired of the Shia Republic. That's the most important domino to fall in the Middle East. When Iran becomes secular, their terrorist puppets in Lebanon and Palestine (Hezbollah and Hamas) will die a sudden death.
Syria can easily be kept in check by Israel's military ally Turkey. All they have to do is cut off water supplies. Almost all drinking water in Syria comes from rivers running through Turkey.
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