Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
BBC: Damascus: The changing face of Syria's capital
Seven million Syrians now need humanitarian assistance, according to an estimate from the United Nations. The Assad regime is being blamed by the UN for hindering the distribution of aid. In the capital, Damascus, people struggle to get on with their lives in the midst of a civil war.
President Assad was on TV this week. He denied there was any such thing as a liberated area controlled by the rebels in Syria, but the fact is that the only contact the President's men have with large parts of the country is through the sights of a weapons system.
That even applies to districts of Damascus. The regime controls the core of the city. But much of the sprawling, impoverished ring of suburbs around it is in the hands of the rebels. That is why all day, and sometimes all night, there is the crump of artillery fire from the Syrian army's positions directed into the concrete jungles on the edge of town.
The Assads seem satisfied that their claim that they are facing jihadist fighters has, finally, come true. Secular Syrians and others say the regime's own violence has created the conditions for jihadists to flourish.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22200360
President Assad was on TV this week. He denied there was any such thing as a liberated area controlled by the rebels in Syria, but the fact is that the only contact the President's men have with large parts of the country is through the sights of a weapons system.
That even applies to districts of Damascus. The regime controls the core of the city. But much of the sprawling, impoverished ring of suburbs around it is in the hands of the rebels. That is why all day, and sometimes all night, there is the crump of artillery fire from the Syrian army's positions directed into the concrete jungles on the edge of town.
The Assads seem satisfied that their claim that they are facing jihadist fighters has, finally, come true. Secular Syrians and others say the regime's own violence has created the conditions for jihadists to flourish.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22200360
In his conversations with some of Assad's people, the author assesses that they are confident that he will win because his "Russian and Iranian allies are holding firm". They may be right.
