Syrian Revolt Gets Traction as Tribe by Tribe the Country Turns on Assad
The result is a very different dynamic than the one Yasin left behind when he fled in mid-December. At the time, he saw scant evidence of mass shifts in sentiment or Free Syrian Army presence. Three weeks ago, though, “it exploded,” he said. The cause, he said, was that businessmen supporting the shabiha began to leave Aleppo, wary that the FSA had figured out at this point who was supporting the regime. “Aleppo is involved now,” he said. “Just like in Daraa, and then Homs, once it starts it never stops.” Last week, he received from activists in the suburbs various coordinating networks’ video clips showing thousands of people out in the streets. The shabiha were still there cracking down on demonstrators, he said, but this time, they were the ones covering their faces with scarves.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/13/syrian-revolt-gets-traction-as-tribe-by-tribe-the-country-turns-on-assad.html
Amusing tweet from another commentator:
iyad_elbaghdadi Iyad El-Baghdadi
I stand corrected. It's now a Salafi-Alqaeda-Qatari-US-Israel-Arab-Mossad-CIA-Google-Slicon Valley-Aljazeera conspiracy against #Syria.