The Assads are trying to reclaim Syria one mass murder
at a time, with mixed results. But at least they have a plan. Sooner or later,
opposition groups will need to learn that relying solely on our people’s
bravery and sense of defiance does not constitute a plan.
Tuesday October 18, 2011
Reports put today’s
death toll at 15 protesters, including 5 in Bab Al-Sibaa Neighborhood in
Homs City, 3 in the town of Qseir in the Homs Province, 5 in the
town of Hraak in the Deraa/Hauran Province, and 2 in Deir Ezzor
Province, including 1 in Deir Ezzor City and 1 in Albou Kamal City
on the border with Iraq.
Meanwhile, the Assad
killing machine spent the day carrying out sweep operations in the Damascene
countryside in search of defectors, several clashes have been reported, but not
exact casualty figures is currently available. The sweep, according to the
Syrian Revolution General Commission, involved over 40,000 loyalist troops, and
targeted the suburbs of Harasta, Moadamiyeh, Arbeen, Saqba, Hamouriyeh, Kafar
Batna, Jisreen, Mdeirah, Misraba and other communities in Eastern Ghoutah.
Links
Syrian
American Council demands action to stop assad’s increasing violence against
civilians: “We
urge the world community to use all means to protect Syrian civilians who are
only seeking freedom, safety and dignity.”
The Assads are trying to reclaim Syria one
mass murder at a time, with mixed results. But at least they have a plan.
Sooner or later, opposition groups will need to learn that relying solely on
our people’s bravery and sense of defiance does not constitute a plan. Neither
does the acquisition of that coveted prize that is international recognition,
which seems to be the sole preoccupation of the leadership of the Syrian National
Council at this stage, when they are not wrangling over names that is, because,
yes, that is still very much an ongoing thing. For the SNC at this stage is
like a multi-headed squirrel, with the different heads going after each other’s
nuts, if they could find them. Pun most definitely intended.
Meanwhile, the Assads don’t seem to be running
out of “nuts” who are willing to kill in their name and for their sake, or of
the bullets and tank shells needed for that. And the question facing us is: how
long will our people’s supply of willpower and sheer foolhardiness last? Time
is an amoral process, and is not necessarily on the side of the good and the just,
it’s on the side of the organized and of those who have a plan, no matter how
crude. We’re running out of time. We need a vision and a plan NOW.
The Assad killing machine shelled its way into
the town of Hraak in the Deraa/Hauran Province http://youtu.be/U4AVoC0Nt6E , http://youtu.be/yX3rcqd6pvs , http://youtu.be/-2r2S7fP4AQ When unarmed
protesters tried to stand up to Assad’s favorite engines of death http://youtu.be/GEpI-X8RIrg at least 5 of
them were killed http://youtu.be/AhBXfkG3oOQ
, http://youtu.be/wunG8WWYCZY A
martyr and his grandmother http://youtu.be/ckUp9ASW8Ok
After the shelling of Hraak, people from
nearby communities took to the streets to show their solidarity: Basr
Al-Harir http://youtu.be/5xnlvy0KzUo
Da’el http://youtu.be/F7Kk3m70Lx0
Ataman http://youtu.be/jcCYhzf6SSQ
Nasseeb http://youtu.be/nOB3HIshO7E
Student demonstrations: Jassem http://youtu.be/wQrAORzIkTQ Basr
Al-Harir http://youtu.be/SeHZRCVxc9A
Jizah http://youtu.be/3zxFAPMc8pA
Other major demonstrations: Um Walad http://youtu.be/ETv4KmXLFT0 Nahteh
http://youtu.be/zMjAGHA_ugY Ma’arabah
http://youtu.be/CR7fU3IsS9Y Tseel
“the people want international protection” http://youtu.be/jM2s6yOweDQ
Ankhel http://youtu.be/wLPeFoAz0g4
Abtaa http://youtu.be/50xZQiv3GJE
In Homs City, a barrage of gunfire at
dawn http://youtu.be/KH-bmm7JzXs ushered
in tanks in Deir Baalbah http://youtu.be/MurwUWX101U
In Bab Al-Sibaa, protester stand up to tanks http://youtu.be/wXL7RY-Pse4 which
continue to roam through the neighborhood http://youtu.be/QhDPY50d1Pg
In Karm Al-Zeitun, a tank take shots into the residential neighborhood http://youtu.be/rQCWo64kJL8
Bab Amr a martyr who died under torture http://youtu.be/p6dDjFNfbRE His funeral http://youtu.be/p2H5bKm04QY 2 martyrs
rom Khaldiyeh http://youtu.be/RsYhHgCMtHg
Their funeral http://youtu.be/4VaArLYfAHM
A funeral in Bab Dreib http://youtu.be/5O6vxaeWkDc
for the activist Adnan Ghalioun http://youtu.be/NHHLpQHRv2E
A sample of the shells used in Bab Al-Sibaa http://youtu.be/nGgu3UWDS1Y Assad
loyalists spray the neighborhood with a strange gas that causes a burning
sensation when people breeze it http://youtu.be/Q-5TMa9JcE4
Despite all this, people take to the streets at
night: Bab
Amr http://youtu.be/TJw95jLkqaM Wa’er
http://youtu.be/Ug1SEFGTMi8 In Bab Houd, protesters carry a banner
saying: “We’ve done our duty towards Palestine and Gaza, but Hamas let us down”
http://youtu.be/OmCA8QY4TtU Ghoutah
http://youtu.be/Nf1kMFl_bfM Jib
Al-Jandali http://youtu.be/qFZORTL62rk
Khaldiyeh http://youtu.be/4xqmurLE5q4
, http://youtu.be/AUZ-TpaNX74 Qoussour
http://youtu.be/HwgFTiFFRI8 Insha’aat
http://youtu.be/dVE8E5HyfBM Bab
Dreib http://youtu.be/vfcxfTigIhU
Jouret Al-Shayah http://youtu.be/TcXUjJ8-JeQ
Bayadah http://youtu.be/iOKKLs6d1eI
In the larger province, student protests
took place in Houleh http://youtu.be/CHF52cVuRWE
followed by a larger protest in the evening http://youtu.be/tr2LAvyQpsI In Tadmor
(Palmyra) http://youtu.be/byi2IPqD_sg
Qseir candlelight vigil http://youtu.be/4ddRQEt4pFo
In the capital of Idlib Province, Idlib
City, a funeral took place for the local activist Yameen Harmoush http://youtu.be/83NIECKGtm4 , http://youtu.be/MaJ_bHMtjPk In Sameen,
locals held a funeral http://youtu.be/ATDJwPrVRp4
for the local revolutionary singer felled on October 17 http://youtu.be/0Ost5Zoa8VI Later, the
town observes a general strike http://youtu.be/kkG8zprCikQ
and at night, the people gathered near the martyr’s home http://youtu.be/AE_jekbqDes
Student demonstrations took part in many
communities: Kafar Nabbel http://youtu.be/8Ks3xk-eyek
Idlib City http://youtu.be/6BZVRzM4zqc
Ma’arrat Hourmah http://youtu.be/yHj8yrMiqKk
Haass http://youtu.be/XceSXz7rHms
Ma’arrat Al-Nouman http://youtu.be/SJkQ8A4Oczg
Sinjar http://youtu.be/RYDcuNp9Du8
Other major demonstrations: Binnish http://youtu.be/OOhFBf_JbJ0 (night) http://youtu.be/DgTTLQX1TSU Idlib
City (night) http://youtu.be/j6kyU4CkvDk
Kafroumah http://youtu.be/wsC9x_5e3ao
Hbeit http://youtu.be/sby7T5XQ6nc
In Ma’arrat Masreen, protesters carry a banner demanding the execution
of the President and rejecting dialog http://youtu.be/LBh64alHhZk
Heesh http://youtu.be/3v816y3YwfU
In Damascus City, protests took place in Assaly
http://youtu.be/wAOJJZNUU9c Security
forces take over Saqba http://youtu.be/WfLccC0U354
, http://youtu.be/gCkE_Q-5kRc Zamalka
http://youtu.be/T9XN0odqBys Harasta
Banner says: “the only thing your escalation will facilitate is your demise” http://youtu.be/V0Qe0fx2F-g But Assad’s
loyalist militias soon invade the Suburb http://youtu.be/ukks9ifrgjc
, http://youtu.be/Q-rlKjG5LZs Zabadani
http://youtu.be/OSx5yrJ_8fE
Student demonstration: Douma student
mutiny in a local high school “One way or another, we will bury you underground
Bashar” http://youtu.be/K8G1VFKQvYA Barzeh
http://youtu.be/u_uJMD-i6d0 These
kids from Moadamiyeh think the Assad’s army is a traitor. Who can blame
them? Many of their fathers and older brothers are dead or in jail for their
opinion http://youtu.be/eGKFFZAFk5M Daraya
http://youtu.be/YtPvfXidZws Harasta
in the small alleys where loyalist militiamen are not present, students express
their frustration http://youtu.be/hPjKqIfGyLk
In Deir Ezzor Province, demonstrations
took place in Takaya Street in Deir Ezzor City http://youtu.be/Ci2hHOEWBLY In nearby Qraya,
students held an after-school demonstration http://youtu.be/H--AKtvBvDI Albou
Kamal a funeral for a local activist http://youtu.be/LCfwwRMuFeE
Mayadeen http://youtu.be/abpwDmtkeMY
This newly leaked video shows the destruction of
the minaret of the Othman Mosque in Deir Ezzor City from the perspective
of the people who did it: Assad loyalist militias http://youtu.be/awfuOO_cMT0 Assad had
claimed at the time that the minaret was dynamited by terrorists, saying “I am
a military man I know the difference,” he said.
In the province of Hassakeh, protests
took place in the Kurdish city of Qamishly http://youtu.be/JFt_PMFQVYs Amoudeh
http://youtu.be/iow6UdQvDLU Ras
Al-Ain http://youtu.be/dMCXBV9_5s8
In Aleppo Province, demonstration took
place in the besieged community of Anadan where protesters carried a
sign saluting the Free Syria Army, especially the two brigades allocated
to Aleppo: Al-Ababeel and Al-Houriyeh http://youtu.be/165nv0YqzsM
Baniyas students from a local girls’ school organize an
after-school demonstration http://youtu.be/FSMGGdFIDE4
