The more dictator Bashar al-Assad brutalizes Syria, the more determined the people are to oppose him

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad addressed the Parliament on March 30, 2011. (Getty)

Tuesday, April 19th 2011
Editorials
NY Daily News (New York, USA)

It looks like they have finally had enough, and how could they not? The people of Syria, their will stiffened, are coming out in growing numbers to protest the rule of Bashar al-Assad – the man who calls himself president but has no more democratically legitimate claim to that mantle than you do.

But far more than Assad’s legitimacy is at issue. There is also the brutality with which he has thrown into prison, or into graves, any who dared to challenge the state.

There is his attempt to suffocate expression by banning Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and other sources of communication.

There is his ongoing crackdown on mostly peaceful protests, in which dozens of ordinary Syrians have been killed and hundreds have been thrown into jail without charges.

The Syrian opposition last week released what it claimed was an official document detailing the regime’s internal strategy for snuffing out dissent.