The unclarified mystery about the struggle in
Who began it? The story commonly offered is that children scribbled some grafitti against President
But who reinforced and spread the initial popular uprising, and where did the arms and subsequent organization and promotion of protest come from? What prompted the sentiment that quickly began to be whispered from one person to another, and one town to the next, "Bashar -- he's finished!" Why, and what did anyone actually know?
Well, he should have worried, since a dissident committee -- or committees -- suddenly were active abroad. The revolt was getting arms and ammunition.
Assad and his government first claimed that
Then the story being spread outside
This is also unconvincing since the attack on
What then?
The only peaceful end to the Syrian crisis is continued international intervention, mediation and negotiation. The Russians have indicated that they will cooperate if their economic and long-standing political interests in
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