Syrian soldiers defecting in increasing numbers - UN

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

By Louis Charbonneau | Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:17am IST

(Reuters) - An increasing number of Syrian soldiers are defecting to the opposition, raising the risk of a Libyan-style civil war in Syria, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Wednesday.

"Where basic human rights are trampled and peaceful demands for change met by brutal violence, people are eventually compelled to have recourse to rebellion against tyranny and oppression," Pillay told the U.N. Security Council.

"It happened in Libya, it may happen in Syria," she said during a debate on protecting civilians in armed conflict. "More and more soldiers refuse to become complicit in international crimes and are changing sides. There is a serious risk of Syria descending into armed struggle."

Illustrating Pillay's point Syrian activists said that an armored government force stormed an area northwest of the city of Hama on Wednesday in pursuit of army defectors challenging President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/09/idINIndia-60425920111109

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I see this as good news!

When the revolution comes from inside, it's more meaningful.

The people truly want to have it...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. At first I read it as defecating, but then it all made sense

Agreed. This is good, no, great!

[tuckessee]

13. Civil wars are always good news.

All that destruction. All those dead people. What more could you ask for? Especially when they're foreigners and we can watch safely from afar and cheer on a faction we really know nothing about.

[Prometheus Bound]

14. Yes, quite lovely things to watch and cheer on the evening news.

Death, destruction, and unending horror.

Usually ending in one elite taking over from another in the end.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. I believe you misinterpret me.

These people are fighting for their freedom.

I hate the destruction, all the dead people.

But when war is the only way to rid themselves of their dictator, then war it is.

Assad will not be gotten rid of otherwise.

[Little Tich]

3. This is going to become worse before it gets better.

The Assad regime is armed to the teeth, and is not ready to throw in the towel. A Libya style opposition is not likely, for Syria is very fragmented, similar in a sense to the Balkans. There are many ethnic groups: Druze, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Alawites, and Palestinian refugees, just to name a few. None of these group feel much love for each other, and are mainly held together by the brutal Assad Regime. It's possible that Syria will descend into civil war, which is potentially a complete disaster. Armed intervention from outside is not likely in the near future either.

[tcaudilllg]

5. Nope nope nope nope nope.

The fragmentation is the setting for his power. It's what he relies on. But it can also be a strength.

[Little Tich]

9. Strenght? For whom?

[tcaudilllg]

16. For Syria.

[tcaudilllg]

4. "Risk of a civil war"

Ruh roh! That'd be bad for biz interests that coddled the Assad regime.

[Arctic Dave]

6. What are the numbers?

Five? Ten? Twenty?

Not much to go by, just emotional button pushing.

[tabatha]

8. Jeez. You have no facts, whatsoever - yet you pass judgment.

Do you think there would be a report about 5, 10, 20 or even 50?

Do you like dictators or something?

[Arctic Dave]

10. No this OP has no facts.

What are you some type warmongering fascist?

[tabatha]

12. Nope. I am against the butcher of innocent people.

I am also against making unsupported statements.

Btw, it appears that there are 10,000 deserters.

[tabatha]

7. Good, I hope they all do.

The defectors will not be rag-tag.

[Little Tich]

11. Syria's fragmented opposition - Al Jazeera

Source: Al Jazeera

As anti-government forces try to develop a united voice, Al Jazeera looks at the disparate groups within.

As protests continue within Syria, there have been proposals among leading members of the opposition to create a united front. However, several months into the uprising, political opposition groups inside and outside of Syria are divided.

The announcement of the formation of the Syrian National Council (SNC) on September 15 and the National Co-ordinating Committee for Democratic Change (NCC) on September 18 marked a new effort to co-oordinte political activity against the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

Meanwhile, military defectors who were formerly divided between the Free Officers Corps and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have coalesced under one organisational umbrella.

Additionally, while certain youth activists are represented on the SNC and NCC, there are others who continue to feel that these anti-government groups do not represent them. Some accuse those in exiled Western capitals of being out of touch with realities on the ground. Syrian protesters on the street also complain that the best-known internal dissidents spend too much time trying to win favours with diplomats in Damascus.

Read More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/11/201111413419372523.html