Syria unrest: Protests in Deraa, Damascus and Hama

[brooklynite]

Source: BBC

Gunfire has been heard during a fresh protest march in the Syrian city of Deraa, reports say.

The marchers had attended funerals for some of the 25 protesters shot dead on Wednesday by security forces.

Demonstrations were also reported in the capital, Damascus, where there were some arrests, and in the towns of Hama and Tall.

Opposition activists had called for nationwide protests after Friday prayers, following a week of unrest.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12858972

---

As with Bahrain, it appears that promised reforms are coming too late to dampen public anger.

[bemildred]

1. Seems to be spreading ... nt

[pinboy3niner]

2. BREAKING, AP ~ Resident: troops open fire in Syrian city, Daraa

Source: AP

Resident: troops open fire in Syrian city, Daraa


By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Zeina Karam, Associated Press – 29 mins ago

DARAA, Syria – Syrian troops opened fire on protesters in the restive southern city of Daraa on Friday, shooting crowds that set fire to a bronze statue of the country's late president, a resident told The Associated Press.

The resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said heavy gunfire could be heard in the city center and witnesses had reported several casualties.

An activist in Damascus in touch with eyewitnesses in the village of Sanamein, near Daraa, said troops there opened fire on demonstrators trying to march to Daraa. He said there had been witness reports of fatalities, some claiming as many as 20 slain, but those could not be independently confirmed.

Tens of thousands of Syrians were taking to the streets across the country in the most widespread civil unrest in years, defying crowds of government backers and baton-wielding security forces to shout their support of the uprising in Daraa, according to witnesses, activists and footage posted online.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110325/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, brooklynite.

[FailureToCommunicate]

4. We have friends who moved back to Damascus just before this

wave of protests began washing over the Middle East.
We're hoping they're safe...

[pampango]

5. Aljazeera: Deaths as Syrian forces fire on protesters

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/2011325145817688433.html


The southern city of Daraa has seen a number of clashes between protesters and security forces

Syrian security forces have opened fire on anti-government protesters near the city of Daraa, killing at least 20 people, according to one witness. "There are more than 20 martyrs .... they opened fire haphazardly," the witness told Al Jazeera. Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, said Syrian forces apparently opened fire after protesters set fire to a statue of the late president Hafer al-Assad.

However Reem Haddad from the Syrian information ministry, told Al Jazeera that security forces had been given the order not to shoot at protesters "no matter what happens". "But things took on a different hue because inside these peaceful demonstrations there was another group of people who were armed ... and were shooting at the security forces and were shooting at other citizens in Daraa.

But an eyewitness told Al Jazeera that "there were no people carrying arms among demonstrators".

"What happened in the square ... was live ammunition, I was present myself and I saw the youth and other young demonstrators leading a peaceful demonstration. They were chanting slogans calling for freedom and transparency and an end corruption."

[Travelman]

6. Well, I guess it's time to bomb the shit out of Damascus.

Since we're in the neighborhood and all. That seems to be the new diplomacy these days.

[pampango]

7. Military action is a last resort. There are other steps the UN can, and should, take first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_to_protect

Threshold for military interventions

According to the International Commission for Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) Report in 2001, any form of a military intervention initiated under the premise of responsibility to protect must fulfill the following six criteria in order to be justified as an extraordinary measure of intervention:

Just Cause
Right Intention
Final Resort
Legitimate Authority
Proportional Means
Reasonable Prospect

Do you want to give the UN authority to instantaneously bomb any country shoots peaceful protesters? Or do you want to give governments that do that a free pass?

[Travelman]

8. I want to find out who the hell it is we're fighting for BEFORE we commit troops and matériel

and not find out after the fact that the supposed "good guys" we're fighting for have the backing of al-Qaeda.


ETA: And to hell with what the UN wants. If they want some place bombed, and there isn't a definite, demonstrable US national interest there, then let the guys with the blue helments do the bombing instead of making us their errand-boy.

[totodeinhere]

11. So the only thing that matters is US national interest and the rest of the world be damned?

How xenophobic of you. We are citizens of the USA but we are also citizens of the world. Human life in other countries is just as precious as human life in the USA.

[Travelman]

13. "Human life in other countries is just as precious as human life in the USA."

Therefore, let's bomb the shit out of a country.

Makes sense.



Look, I'm not saying that we should never ever ever get involved in anything. Obviously there are times and requirements that we do indeed get involved in some matters. We do, however, need to go about it carefully and deliberately and make certain of just who it is we're fighting for. "That guy's bad" does not automatically rule out "the other guy is even worse." Just because there is some sort of popular uprising does not automatically mean that the people uprising are seeking a peaceful, democratic way of life. Sometimes, popular uprisings bring about something worse than what was there in the first place. Before we start lobbing missiles, before we put our people in harm's way, before we start hurting people over where ever the problem is, let's make damn well certain that we're on the right side of the fight.

[plumbob]

9. Seems like the US has already got a free pass.

Anyone at all believe that these six steps were followed prior to the current attack on Libya?















Really?

[totodeinhere]

10. No, that is not the new diplomacy. But if the UN Security Council decides to

take some kind of action to protect civilians, then so be it.

Every situation is different. There might be a better way to approach the situation in Syria as opposed to the action the UN took with Libya. Or as a last resort force might also need to be used against Syria.

It's telling that you had no words of criticism for the brutal dictator in Syria who is killing his own people, yet you have no problem with criticizing the UN's effort to save lives. I think your priorities are all wrong.

[Travelman]

12. My priorities are just fine.

I'm not interested in getting sucked into another country's internal conflict. When it becomes a direct threat to US national interests, THEN we should get involved. Or is it somehow now OK that we went into Iraq? After all, Hussein was brutalizing, torturing, and murdering his own people like crazy there.

Why is it somehow mandatory for me to say something about the tin-pot shithead in Damascus who is crapping on his own people? That happens all sorts of places. It sucks, and I hate it for those people, but we can't just go around and fix everyone else's problems, bombing for peace.