Syria Conflict: Who is in
control and what is life like?
The BBC ran a report last night on one of the kids whose torture for writing anti-government graffiti set off the revolution. He went to fight with the Free Syrian Army, and says there is no other option than the overthrow of Assad.
You don't hear that much from the BBC, or the rest of the media. Introducing the report last night, the presenter said that "Fighting between government and rebels has ripped the country apart", as if they were equally to blame. A previous anchor yesterday had said, "It is a sectarian war, with an Alawite supported government agaainst Sunni rebels," when it is Assad's narrative that his enemies are all Islamic radicals rather than people struggling for dignity and the end of a torturous monarchy.
There will be marches tomorrow on the third anniversary of the Syrian revolution. There was a debate in the British solidarity movement about whether to raise slogans of a No Fly Zone or against intervention. I think it's good that the latter in particular was defeated, as it has been one of the lies of this conflict that the danger was of the Americans reprising the Iraq invasion, rather than the real murder, chemical and otherwise, that Assad has inflicted with the help of Russia and Iran. I think the most important thing at the movement is unity in the fight against the dictatorship, and that we should avoid any split between those outside the organised left, who tend to reflect the enthusiasm for demanding the US do something of the majority of the refugees from Assad's terror, and the left now just getting involved, that from past experience feels like sticking in a demand that the West stay out as a precaution.
I saw some of the former group suggest that they might bring placards calling for a No Fly Zone on the march tomorrow anyway. I don't think it's the best demand, partly because expecting more direct intervention isn't going to produce results when the West has been trying so hard to stay out of the conflict. I am in general in favour of the demand being heard. But while I think it is more the responsibility of the Left to appreciate what Syrians think, it would be easy for the different supporters of the Syrian revolution to get arguing with each other, and would rather nobody provokes a split unnecessarily.