Syria: death in Damascus
It is 16 months since the Syrian uprising began, and one day's loss of life merges inexorably into another. But Wednesday was different, for two reasons. Fighting continued into its third day in the heart of Damascus, proving that the Free Syrian Army can now hold ground against forces which are superior in every way to them. And, for the first time, the conflict came up close and personal to Bashar al-Assad.
The attack that killed three or perhaps four members of his inner circle was not merely in the capital, it was within national security HQ – the stronghold within the stronghold. The death of any one of the assistant vice president, General Hassan Turkmani, the defence minister, General Dawoud Rajha, and the interior minister, Mohammad Shaar – whom some reports said was slain, and others injured – would have been a significant moment. Their simultaneous slaughter blows a hole in the heart of the government. Most significant of all, however, is the loss of Mr Rajha's deputy, Assef Shawkat. He is the architect of the crackdown, and – as the president's brother-in-law – he was woven into the Assad clan which has dominated Syria for four decades.
Replacement appointments were rapidly announced, a reminder – if one were needed – that a regime that retains a monopoly on air power and serious artillery is in no mood to run up the white flag; the dreadful truth for the Syrian people is that there is very likely a good deal more bloodletting to come. But not even the most ruthless new face from the regime can do much about several inconvenient truths. Before this past week, there were streets in Damascus where talk of horrors in Homs seemed like dispatches from another country. But after the International Committee of the Red Cross decreed Syria to be in civil war at the weekend, tanks were called out in Damascus on Monday, and – on top of the security HQ attack – there has been serious skirmishing and an unexplained blaze in the barracks that guards the presidential palace. If the trump card of the regime had always been to retain order in its heartlands, it is a trump card that events are conspiring to snatch away.
Even now, the regime retains some genuine support. Escalating sectarianism could see this harden among the Shia Alawite minority, from whom the Assads are drawn. Traditionally, however, they drew their strength from a broader coalition, taking in Kurds, Christians and indeed parts of the Sunni middle class. Recent defections have narrowed this base. Syria's Sunni ambassador to Baghdad, Nawaf al-Fares, jumped ship last week, just as Manaf Tlas – a general from the country's most powerful Sunni family – had the week before. Wednesday's killings narrow the ruling circle again: Gen Rajha was an orthodox Christian while Gen Turkmani was another in the rare breed of powerful Sunnis. As crowds openly cheered in Damascus, the regime's bloodcurdling threats of revenge only served to heighten the sense of a cornered clique.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/18/syria-death-in-damascus-editorial
