Syrians have only their own cowardice to blame. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ns-fall-prey-to-gun-law-idUSBRE9A507C20131106 In Assad's Damascus, Syrians fall prey to gun law Reuters Staff DAMASCUS (Reuters) - When armed men appeared at a home in the northern Damascus district of Rukn al-Din, they told the elderly woman who answered the door they were state security forces carrying out a routine inspection. Then they made off with her valuables. When the crime was reported, police refused to investigate - a sign, say residents, of the impunity of President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces and allied militias blamed for a wave of abductions, theft and property seizures. Echoing complaints from rebel-held territory, where shadowy armed groups abuse and exploit civilians on the other side of the frontline, Syrians in the capital say the problem there has been exacerbated by the expansion of militias known as Popular Committees, which form part of Assad’s response to the uprising now in its third year. On joining a local committee, the new member gets a monthly stipend, a Kalashnikov rifle and a mandate to join vigilante operations throughout the neighborhood. However, with so many armed men now patrolling turf and with little oversight, many in Damascus say the government is sanctioning little more than a network of robbers. The thieves in Rukn al-Din, a middle class area nestled under the army-controlled hills that hem the north of the city, struck at prayer time - a moment in the day when they knew many residents would be at the local mosque. They said they were from State Security - not an organization Syrians say no to - and said they were doing a routine neighborhood check. “They clearly knew there would be only an elderly woman at home at that hour,” said a man who is close to the family and was present at the home after the robbery. “They told her to bring all the home’s valuables and place them on the kitchen table - so as to ensure her belongings were safe while the men freely inspected her home”. She did as they asked, bringing out jewellery belonging to herself and her daughters, and all the family cash - a sizeable sum in times when civil war has left people wary of banks. “She was still making them tea when they made off with everything. By the time we got back, they had completely disappeared,” said the family friend. The family tried to file a police report, but the precinct chief refused to follow it up. “When we told him the perpetrators identified themselves as State Security, he went pale in the face and threw his arms in the air. He said he could not get involved, that he was not going to mess with state security,” the man said. “Basically, we’re all fair game. No one looks out for us.” The identities of those involved are withheld for their safety. Restrictions on media reporting in Syria prevent journalists from approaching officials for comment on cases. “WILD, WILD WEST” One Damascus lawyer, who routinely deals with missing persons and accusations against state employees, described life in many government-controlled areas as the “Wild, Wild West”. “In my district, Popular Committee guys receive a 15,000 pound ($90) monthly stipend from the government,” she said, referring to an area in the south of the city. “But they get a gun and a carte blanche to bully and rob the rest of us.” She echoes a common resentment toward the Popular Committees, even among supporters of the Syrian government who feel they are a necessary evil and protect them from rebels camped in the suburbs, some of them with a taste for vengeance against religious minorities they see as Assad loyalists. Even though Committees do not have great official authority - they report to neighborhood State Security chiefs - their word carries weight because they are trusted by the higher authorities to know who among the locals might be a “trouble-maker” - a sympathizer with the rebels. This power, locals say, has led to wanton acts and personal vendettas that leave others in the district feeling vulnerable. One woman from an area close to the frontline east of the centre recounted how, a few months ago, her 20-year-old son was snatched at a checkpoint near his home that was manned by a Popular Committee, among them young men who knew him. “To this day, we don’t know why they did that. Maybe my son upset someone in the committee. Maybe they were in a bad mood. We don’t know,” said the woman, who used the name Um Hassan. The young man was released after nearly eight months detained without trial or due process. His feet looked “like bear claws, swollen and cracked from all the beatings”, his mother said. No reason was ever given for his detention, and Um Hassan fears retribution from the committee if she complains. “Let’s just count our blessings and stay out of trouble,” she said, reflecting a general mood among Damascus civilians. BLIND EYE The tribulations of residents in government-controlled areas are matched by those in rebel regions, covering much of the country, where many fighters have resorted to looting. But alarmingly for many in the capital, who for decades enjoyed the day-to-day security that came with the ubiquitous police presence which kept Assad in power, that state apparatus now seems to be turning a blind eye - at the very least - to what seems like random violence and property crime. In central Damascus, several high profile cases of robbery have hit neighborhoods close to imposing buildings housing branches of the State Security service - areas where no stranger stays unnoticed for long, and where Syrians would, in the past, never dare to defy the law. “Not a single ant moves around here without State Security knowing,” said one person living near such an establishment. Yet robberies have occurred and law enforcement officials have often refused to intervene, several residents have said.. Some in the city have lost out in other ways. In the prosperous southwestern district of Kafar Souseh, many luxurious and fully furnished homes with absentee owners are now squatted by army officers or state security officials. They moved in weeks ago when they believed a U.S. military strike on Syria was imminent, feeling safer inside the city than in their garrison towns in the suburbs. Travelers have also been victims. One man, whose first name is Issam, recalled an inter-city coach trip to Damascus after which passengers found their luggage had been systematically ransacked and stolen by soldiers and militiamen at checkpoints - apparently in collusion with the bus driver. Several other people in the capital told similar stories. Even in the heart of the capital, considered the most secure part of Syria and firmly in government hands, checkpoints have turned into places of petty theft. Throughout the city, grocers located near checkpoints have cut back stocks of ready-to-eat food because soldiers and state security men routinely help themselves to anything from chocolate to bread and cheese without paying. “Or they give me 5 pounds for something that cost me 50 pounds wholesale, and they know I can’t argue with them,” said Abu Abdo. “So now I only stock cleaning products and fresh vegetables that they can’t eat right away. And no more candy!”
Establishment conservatives and liberals alike have been trying to start this war for years now. There is zero proof that Assad is to blame for this gas attack, just like there was zero proof when it happened the first time and Obama wanted to start a war there. It's all bullshit folks. If you think these war mongering establishment pricks give a fuck about 60 dead Syrians you are fooling yourself. We probably killed more than that already with our bombs in the past 24hrs. Approval from Congress is needed to start a war. Proof is also needed that Assad is responsible. Neither have been provided. Anyone who supports this action under the false pretenses of "protecting Syrians" is buying into a false narrative and supporting another war we can't and won't win.
If Assad is gassing his own people we need to kill Assad. A drone strike would be nice. All the other shit is just window dressing.
What incentive does Assad have to gas his own people? Generally people don't do things just to do them, even if they are corrupt and evil. There needs to be a motive and as of now, there's not. The only motive I can clearly see is the United States repeatedly trying to start a war there, and using any excuses necessary to make it happen. Dictators are corrrupted in the quest for power and assets. They don't just gas people for fun, there needs to be dollar signs attached. There is no cheese at the end of this tunnel for Assad, it makes no sense. There are dollar signs attached to us having a presence in Syria, however. Just like there have been dollar signs attached to every other conflict we've started (and not finished). Like I said, if you think U.S. politicians give a fuck about 60 dead Syrians, then you are thinking too highly of them. We start wars for the acquisition of power and assets and nothing more. There are worse atrocities than this gas attack happening in other places RIGHT NOW and we couldn't give any less of a fuck.
So, you are implying the US gassed those people? That seems pretty far-fetched. We've already got 2000 soldiers in Syria. Trump could order another 200,000 there tomorrow, even if there had been no gassing. Instead, we've once again opted to fire a few missiles and call it "mission accomplished". If somehow we were itching to go to war, why not do it after the gas attack last year? We didn't need another gas attack for justification. Your conspiracy theory just doesn't hold water. barfo
I quit reading your post after the first sentence lol. "So what your saying is...." No, that's not what I'm saying. Thanks for inventing a narrative on my behalf, though.
