And for their lives!
They are still the cornerstone, as they have been the lead world feature each day.
"Syrians flee as forces continue assault; Town is center of crackdown" June 12, 2011|By Liam Stack, New York Times
CAIRO — Syrian security forces continued to bombard the restive northern town of Jisr al-Shughour yesterday as people struggled to escape, residents said.
Just what the Middle East needed: another refugee crisis.
Isn't Syria taking care of millions of Iraqis we drove there?
It was not clear yesterday why at least some parts of the town remained out of the control of security forces, with reports indicating that local residents who stayed behind to defend against the assault were badly outgunned....
The town has been tense for days, since more than 120 members of the country’s security forces were killed by what state television called “armed gangs.’’ Local residents reject that version of events and say the soldiers were killed by other soldiers when they tried to defect.
If the residents’ claims are verified, they would represent the first incident of large-scale army defections and fighting among security forces and pose a grave challenge to the government of President Bashar Assad, who has relied on security forces to crush an unprecedented popular revolt against more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by his family.
Security forces massed near the town for several days last week, finally storming it Friday night after a daylong drive north in which they burned fields and fired on civilians in several villages, according to residents.
In other words, they behaved like Israelis.
Many residents from the villages also fled into the mountains and toward Turkey. Fires burned on the hillsides on Friday night, said one resident of Jisr al-Shughour reached by phone, as troops pursuing fleeing residents of one of the villages, Al Sarmaniyah, set the brush afire as “revenge.’’
More than 1,000 refugees have fled to Turkey from Syria’s impoverished and rural northwest in recent days, and many more are said to be camping near the border and hiding in the region’s hills....
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"Syrian tanks smash uprising to regain town; Turkey condemns regime’s violence" by Liam Stack and Sebnem Arsu, New York Times / June 13, 2011
CAIRO — Syrian troops retook control of a rebellious northern town yesterday, smashing what remained of an armed uprising after thousands of residents fled to neighboring Turkey....
For two days, the Syria military closed in on the town, Jisr al-Shoughour, bombarding the countryside and burning fields, before launching its final push yesterday. As heavy gunfire and explosions pierced the countryside, small numbers of fighters who remained behind — including soldiers who defected, according to some of the men — fought a relatively brief battle with the Syrian military.
The government’s ability to crush the opposition at Jisr al-Shoughour may prove a limited victory. In military terms, it was an uneven battle against a far weaker opponent.
What did they do, steal the U.S. playbook for invasions?
But the political repercussions are still uncertain, analysts said.
Do you know what I think of politics these days?
PFFFFFFFFFFFTTT!!
While the goal may have been to frighten other potentially restive communities into obedience, the government has been confronted with a problem of its own: Turkey has allowed thousands of residents to flee, giving a very public face to an uprising that has otherwise been cloaked behind state censorship and repression....
A public face the world media -- save for blogs, God bless 'em -- denies Palestinians.
Six Jewish Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
Oh, that does pretty much explain the tilt.
For the moment, Syria has stuck to its narrative....
Just like a newspaper sticks to its.
During the past several days residents said they and a group of military defectors had worked together to organize the defense of the town. Defectors, still equipped with military weapons including assault rifles, ammunition, and hand grenades, manned checkpoints at the major entrances to town, said Jamil, while residents ran patrols and “monitored the area’’ with hunting rifles, sticks and binoculars.
I was led to believe the peaceful protesters didn't really have weapons so they couldn't have killed cops.
But yesterday morning those defenses appear to have collapsed beneath an overwhelming military assault, according to accounts provided by three men who said they members of a committee of townspeople, tasked with participating in the town’s defense.
“They surrounded us from different sides with their tanks, machine guns, and warplanes that also participated in the assault,’’ said Mohamed, 25, reached by phone as he fled for the Turkish border.
He said the military attacked the northern entrance to town, which until the attack began was the only safe escape route out of Jisr al-Shoughour, with scores of tanks and that “shots were falling like the rain.’’
“I fled after our numbers decreased because of the heavy gunfire,’’ he said. “How can we face them? They have machine guns and we have sticks.’’
Now you know how a Palestinian feels.
*********************
Since the tension in Jisr al-Shoughour began, the number of military defectors in the town has been unclear, and residents have reported for days that a large number of the defectors fled the town soon after the initial battle with their comrades in the army, either fleeing for the Turkish border or changing into civilian attire and returning to their hometowns.
Then they would be.... insurgent terrorists like Taliban, right?
The number who remained in the town to help coordinate its defense is unclear.
“Some of the defectors either died or fled up to the hills in villages like Sheikh Sendian and Darkish,’’ Mohamed said. “A lot have been killed but I don’t know the number.’’
After that gay girl blogger turned out to be a lie I don't know what to believe in my paper.
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Gee, I can't remember the last time -- if ever -- that I saw a photograph of a Palestinian refugee over the last 60 years.
And Turkey had other business yesterday:
"Turkey’s ruling party won a third term in parliamentary elections yesterday, setting the stage for the rising regional power to pursue trademark economic growth, assertive diplomacy, and an overhaul of the military-era constitution....
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