The number of dead in Syria, Arab civilians killed by Arabs, attached to security forces of the regime, is rising.
On July 31, we read that Syrian soldiers stormed Hama leaving at least 136 dead. The next day, August 1, Syrian activists reported that at least eight people had been killed after government forces launched fresh attacks in several cities. On August 4, Syrian rights groups didn''t have a clear count of casualties or injuries by Wednesday night, as a communications blackout resumed in the evening. Insan, a Syria-focused rights group based in Europe, said it accounted for 10 people killed by 10 a.m., and 86 injured by 11 a.m.
The number of dead is approaching 2000. More than were killed in Gaza during "Operation Cast Lead." And we all remember the hue and cry then.This is a terrible situation, made worse by the lack of sincere international response. And one Ramzy Baroud, a syndicated columnist and the editor of Palestine Chronicle, while concerned, too, seems to be making it all worse being a conspiracy theory advocate in this piece where he writes:
...Syria was and will remain a target for Western pressures. But what needs to be realized is that these pressures are motivated by specific policies concerning Israel, and not with regards to a family-centered dictatorship that openly murders innocent civilians in cold blood. In fact, there are many similarities in the pattern of behavior applied by the Syrian Army and the Israeli Army...
Of course, his gross propaganda throw-away is to be expected, but does Baroud expect us all to blame Israel for unfairly, as it were, treating Syria as a pariah? Are we to sit back and wait for a few more thousands of dead? His thinking on what we should do faced with this calamity (and we''ll disregard the potential implications in this matter for Israel if Israel''s security is affected in the future by Syria if the Golan Heights status is altered) is this:
...there is only one way to read the future of Syria. The Syrian people deserve a new dawn of freedom, equality, social justice, free from empty slogans, self-serving elites and corrupt criminals. Syria and its courageous people deserve better. Much better.
That''s it? They deserve better? But how?One thing for sure, they need better than Baroud.