Syria Video Special: The Shelling of Homs, Days 5 and 6
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 11:56 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran A call for help from Sheikh Ra'ed Al-Juri in Baba Amr in Homs, asking when the killing will stop
Just weeks ago, the Syrian regime was losing territory at an alarming rate to the insurgents of the Free Syrian Army. Last Friday, the FSA captured some key checkpoints and many pro-Assad soldiers.
Five days later, after a ruthless bombardment by regime forces, several hundreds are dead.
The military assault is designed to send messages. To the citizens of Syria, they are being warned that their support of the opposition and the Free Syrian Army is not acceptable and will be punished with extreme prejudice. To the insurgents, the message is simple is that you cannot win, for you are alone. To the members of the Syrian military, the message is defect, and this is the fate you will meet.
The question is, who is listening? The protests, even in Homs, continued on Wednesday. There were yet more reports of defections, particularly in Idlib Province in the northwest. Despite the onslaught, there is defiance is the voices of many, people who no longer believe they have any choice but to fight. For in this Syria, innocent bystanders can just as easily be killed by artillery shells as members of the armed resistance.