Gunfight in Damascus

20 March 2012 08:24 pm

With gunfights on the rise in the Syrian capital, the civil war is imploding disproportionately.
 Reports of door-to-door fighting and the rebels consolidating their positions in the thickly populated urban areas, in Damascus and in other major cities, are more than enough to unnerve prospects of peace and reconciliation. Moreover, the government's stance that it is busy fighting an invisible enemy in the form of infiltrators and terrorists is making the equation more and more complicated. The good point, however, is that brand names such as Al Qaeda, and the like, are off limits to this day.
This is why the security forces are on the rampage shielding behind the excuse that the uprising is not indigenous and has been choreographed by vested interests to weaken the country. More than 8,000 casualties and an unending civil-strife have rendered the republic shaky to the core. And this brewing storm right inside Damascus is likely to have serious ramifications on the country and the embattled leadership's future. Given to understand that some of the most sensitive military and government installations are in and around the capital, this warfare could prove to be the proverbial last nail in the coffin for the Baath regime.
The deteriorating situation is not without a context. The capital bloodshed has come close on the heels of serial bomb blasts in Damascus and Aleppo, pointing at a new dimension in the crisis. The precisely targetted events merely suggest that some homework is definitely involved and the crisis at hand is heading for a catastrophe. President Bashar Al Assad, it seems, has missed the bus, as he is too adamant to call it a day. Similarly, diplomatic moves on the part of the United Nations and the Arab League are stuck in the module of official reciprocity, and it is too late an option to expect a generous response from Damascus. Russia and China, too, are in a complex syndrome of their own, as they rapidly face marginalisation in dealing with their beloved Arab ally. The fact is that the regime is unyielding and wants to make its people bleed. Hoping for piecemeal measures and betting on the slogans of reforms now seems to be an academic exercise, and doesn't come to address the urgency on ground. The Syrians are in need of a thaw and it's high time for Assad to realise it in all sincerity. The disaster in Damascus has to come an end.
Khaleej Times