Truce or Dare? Assad moves
to neutralize capital
'To make the truce more attractive, the regime is offering the release of local activists and fighters, reinstating basic services like electricity and water, partial rebuilding, and the return of refugees. Through the return of refugees, weary activists believe, the regime aims to reinstate the old order of fear.
The collective punishment inflicted in Daraya, Barzeh and Maadamiya, will serve the regime well, they believe, as the returning refugees will resist any form of dissent or opposition. “The regime is now reaping the benefits of its collective punishment policy,” Alaa says, “it is what it knows best since the massacre of Hama in 1982; they plant destruction, and harvest fear.” '
Thus laying the basis for future massacres if the régime regains control (which I doubt, as fighters elsewhere are not going to lay down their arms). Resisting the militarisation of the opposition has meant leaving them defenceless against the régime all along.