Hama?

This is coolbert:

Demonstrations by the restive population of Syria, emulating the populations of other restive populations in Arabic speaking nations throughout the Middle East, met with violence from the authoritarian regime as rules in Damascus.

As well might be expected. The Syrian NOT adverse to "cracking down" or imposing draconian measure against any and all types of dissent.

Some updates and info from the DEBKAfile:

March 18 - - "Security forces break up protests against 'Assad family' in half a dozen cities across Syria."

"They are unprecedented since 1982 Muslim Brotherhood uprising in Hama. At least 7 killed, 150 injured"

March 21 - - "Syrian President Bashar Assad Monday, sent the 4th Armored Division commanded by his younger brother Maher Assad to suppress the three-day uprising in Darra (Deraa). The troops have also severed the South [southern region of Syria] from Damascus and Jabal ad-Duruz where a demonstration is planned for March 26."

Anti-government [anti-Assad] demonstrators in Syria face a particularly unique and very difficult challenge? The government in Damascus, Alawite controlled, are not even for a second hesitant to use very repressive measures to crush dissent, from what ever quarter and of what ever nature.

Almost thirty years ago now. The Hama Massacre.

The town of Hama in Syria, basically obliterated by the father [Hafez] of Bashir. Armor, special operations troops, heavy artillery, air strikes, even the purported use of lethal chemical agents used to eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood in revolt against the Syrian central government. Devastation on a total and almost apocalyptic scale.

"The Hama massacre . . . occurred in February 1982, when the Syrian army bombarded the town of Hama in order to quell a revolt by the Muslim Brotherhood. Hama massacre became the climax event of Muslim Brotherhood insurgency campaign . . . An estimated 17,000 to 40,000 people were killed in Hama, including about 1,000 Syrian soldiers, and large parts of the old city were destroyed."

Modern counter-insurgency experts would cite two examples of how an insurrection, a rebellion, a guerrilla war CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT!

One instance is the British response to the situation in Northern Ireland. The mailed fist in the velvet glove approach. Force but used selectively and judiciously and coupled with reforms and measures to provide an alternative to rebellion.

The second instance would be Hama! Massive force used indiscriminately and without any reservation, total and final obliteration and annihilation of your adversary the goal.

As was done at Hama!

Hama reduced more or less to the status of a ghost town. Bus routes through the city to other parts of Syria kept open, so that one and all could see the damage and pass their observations on to others the message of BEWARE being most unmistakeable!!.

As with those even perhaps today, right now, as we speak, on the streets of the various cities of Syria.

coolbert.