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Mon, Dec 19, 2011 | Rubin Reports | By Barry Rubin

Syria: The Forgotten–Including by the Obama Administration–Revolution

I feel guilty every day that I don’t write about Syria’s revolution. There are massive numbers of demonstrators taking high risks and often paying with their lives; there is a higher proportion of really democratic-minded people than in other Arab countries; and there is general international indifference to their battle in contrast to the “glamor” surrounding the far-shorter, much less bloody Egyptian uprising. The estimated death toll is over 4000 though, of course, nobody knows for sure.

In contrast to Egypt, and partly due to the inability of journalists to cover the story, the Syrian insurgents aren’t made into celebrities. And, curiously, the regime that is repressing them isn’t stigmatized anywhere near what happened to the far less repressive governments in Egypt and Tunisia or even, for that matter, democratic Israel.

Much of the news is the bare stuff about lists of demonstrations and acts of repression. At the end of this article I have appended the story of one province on one day alone to give some sense of the magnitude of the battle.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration, so eager to overthrow friendly regimes in Bahrain, Egypt, and Tunisia, has a peculiar disinterest about doing more against the hostile regime in Syria. Of course, for almost three years the U.S. government considered that anti-American, terrorist-sponsoring, repressive regime to be friendly or at least potentially so. For the U.S. government to do more, I’m not talking about military intervention but far more basic efforts.

As Tony Badran writes in Lebanon Now:

“It became obvious that four months after President Barack Obama called for Bashar al-Assad’s departure, his administration has yet to develop a policy to achieve that objective.”

U.S. officials sound as if they are advocating conciliation between the regime and opposition, something they never sought in Egypt or Tunisia.

In addition, rather than have a real independent policy, the Obama Administration seems just to be following the Arab League’s lead. Yet, as Badran explains, by continually minimizing what it is willing to do the Obama Administration even undercuts the Arab League’s leverage.

To make matters worse, the administration subcontracted the issue of choosing the external leadership of the opposition to an Islamist Turkish regime which, naturally, favored the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists. These people might be friends of the Turkish regime but they certainly aren’t friends of the United States.

Ammar Abdulhamid, the most reliable source of news from Syria (his reports can be found here), has pointed out that the demonstrators are increasingly angry about the Turkish-picked, U.S.-endorsed Syrian National Council, which is only one of a half-dozen or more opposition groups.

He writes:

“Because the international community is not willing to intervene at this stage, Because the situation on the ground is getting more and more tragic by the day….Because military, security and political defector can be counted on the fingers of one hand, it’s about time we realized that ours is a longer term struggle and we started planning and strategizing accordingly. Any group that wants to truly represent and lead the revolution down the road should arrange its priorities in the right manner:”

“Getting international recognition at this stage is not as important as consolidating our base of support and legitimacy on the ground….Armed resistance has become a fact on the ground, even if it is still in its infancy….A political group that has no real control over armed resistance cannot hold the country together in that most critical period of transition that lies ahead. As such, we are not just talking about creating the façade of control, but the reality of it. SNC leaders have excelled in creating façades but not realities. That’s good for them, but it is not good for the country….”

“Only when we have established enough credibility and legitimacy among the ranks of the revolutionaries, can we begin to push back on certain issues and advocate stances that may not be popular, but which are, nonetheless, right, for the country and the revolution….”

“Moreover, we have helped undermine our own credibility over the last months on account of our well-publicized internecine bickering, which often reflected personal egos and ambitions than any principled stands.”

“So, our priority at this stage should be to get internal recognition, not international one. When that is truly “in the bag,” international recognition will follow.”

Here is his account of developments in Homs and Homs province for December 18 (please copy and paste the link into the address field of your browser):

Homs

Scenes of devastation in Bab Al-Sibaa Neighborhood in Homs City: http://youtu.be/vv5yS9Mzw6c
Karm Al-Zeitun: http://youtu.be/3zhrynOvxFw
Targeting people in cars is a favorite pastime for snipers, as this human brain in the front seat can attest: http://youtu.be/DP9qitwLfpk
And this wounded man from Bayadah Neighborhood: http://youtu.be/B5x5ULqwr6s
People stuck at the crossroads due to sniper action: http://youtu.be/_Iq8NhujCUM and http://youtu.be/QvYYwR1wgDM

And martyrs keep falling — Wa’er: http://youtu.be/U8qJJ1qnQ-k and http://youtu.be/ZWzG12ZQWbc
Khalidyeh: http://youtu.be/MIk_dtfZkFE ; http://youtu.be/Y7oeZ-VCEgU ; http://youtu.be/5Fw8lN6S6Hc
Jib Al-Jandali: http://youtu.be/BXaC7DdBwzM

And people keep holding funerals — Qoussour: http://youtu.be/Zvo14iso3wc
Wa’er: http://youtu.be/bJ9UTFH0828

Still, and with the involvement of actress Fadwa Sulaiman, who is an Alawite, protest leaders keep sending messages of inclusion: http://youtu.be/IE2417ZiNUU
stressing that their fight is against the Assad Gang, not the Alawite community: http://youtu.be/NQ-eXQL_k-w

In the historic city of Tadmor/Palmyra in the larger Homs Province, loyalists tried to reassert central control today: http://youtu.be/qZ4zLr_ywRw
And martyrs fell: http://youtu.be/UmycLw81rtk

A similar development takes place in Qseir: http://youtu.be/YsJ9vl3zUC0
And the town offers more martyrs: http://youtu.be/SWl4hXIp_ls and http://youtu.be/znQ3rCQrpsw
and holds more funerals with people shouting “death is better than humiliation”: http://youtu.be/Q5ebTfljIrI

Pictures

Demonstrators against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad display a banner during a march after Friday prayers in Kafranbel near Adlb November 18, 2011. Picture taken November 18, 2011. (REUTERS/Handout)

Kafranbel, Nov 11, 2011 (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Syrian-Days-Of-Rage/103579039742154)

Kafranbel, Oct 14, 2011. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arab-Spring-Syrian-Uprising/131221383622232)

Syrian demonstrators protest against President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Kafranbel, Sept 30, 2011. (Photo by Reuters)

Banner reads: 'USA People, You Lived 11 September One Time, But We Live It Every Day. Kafranbel, 31/5/2011' (REUTERS)

Kafranbel, Oct 28, 2011. (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=192518524159984&set=pu.117883441623493)

Demonstrators protesting against Syria's President Bashar Assad gather in Kafranbel, near Adlb 6 December 2011. Picture taken December 6, 2011. (Photo: REUTERS - Handout)