Syria is in the midst of a vicious civil war.
Islamic extremists have infiltrated the uprising and are launching attacks against the military and government, according to the government which nobody believes anyway.
In response, the military and police have cracked down hard. Open violence is rampant in the streets. People are reporting the sounds of automatic weapons and explosions as armed groups go after the police and Army.
The protesters say Syrian President must go?
Replaced by what? An Islamic caliphate or true democracy.?
That has yet to be decided. In the meantime there is open violence and bloodshed in the street.
GUN RUNNING IS RAMPANT
Gunrunning is rampant.
It is one indication that the country is descending into violence and civil war.
I talked with a guy on facebook in Syria who said an M-16 American made assault rifle goes for $2500 dollars on the street in Damascus. Out of curiosity I asked where the American rifle came from. The response was "Iraq".
An AK-47 goes for $2000 dollars and a rocket propelled grenade has gone up from $400 dollars to $2500, representing an almost 75% increase in prices. People are arming themselves, forming small bands of resistance fighters and taking the fight into the streets. It went from rock throwing and protest marches to people killing each other in armed conflict...
Several defectors involved in what they insist is a "small-scale arms trade" say most weapons that reach Syria are coming across from northern Lebanon, where the remote, unguarded frontier has been a no man's land for arms and weapon smugglers ferrying subsidized goods from Syria and weapons from Lebanon. Which sounds right, according to sources in the United States who lived in Syria and are busy monitoring news reports of the uprising.
They say there has also been a "flood of guns and RPGs into Syria from the Sunni Muslim tribes of Iraq’s Western Anbar province", who have close ties with their brethren in eastern Syria, hundreds of kilometers from Damascus.
Increasingly these arms are proving to be American made, like I said. Time and time again I asked the question where the weapons were coming from, time and time again I got the same answer Iraq. Many were stolen, misappropriated or ripped off from the American military in Iraq during the military invasion and subsequent occupation of that country.
ANOTHER SOURCE OF WEAPONS IS THE SYRIAN ARMY
Another Syrian man involved in arming the deserters and rebels said the other main source for weapons “is the Syrian army itself.” Which is evidence that Assad is losing his grip of control over the military and government.
“With the corruption that has infested the country, you can buy a lot from the army,” he said. “I heard of one case where a whole arms depot was being offered to be cleared but there were no takers because it was feared it could be a trap", one man said.
Efforts to play down the role of arms trafficking may be a deliberate policy by activists who have sought to highlight the peaceful side of the Syrian uprising.
Nevertheless, the fact is Islamic extremists have infiltrated the rebel side, including al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood (see article: "Al-Qaeda Chief Portrays Syrian Uprising as Islamic Battle Against US, Israel" http://cnsnews.com/news/article/al-qaeda-chief-portrays-syrian-uprising-islamic-battle-against-us-israel ).
It is a popular uprising, sure, but who will finally assume control of the country after the bloody civil war that is comming is anyone's guess at this point.
News reports are, as you can imagine hard to confirm, and rely on a network of informal sources using the internet to report what is happening on the ground in Syria.
Once President Assad is deposed, there will be a power vacuum that has to be filled. It will be filled by someone, possibly a dictator or strongman will emerge here.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, in a popular Lebanese newspaper warned that "extremist Islamists would take over power in Syria if the regime of President Bashar Assad were brought down by the ongoing popular uprising." This could pulge the country into civil war and chaos.
He said although Syria is currently ruled by "one party, religious plurality" that is tolerated in the Muslim country unlike that of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
Who will replace Bashar Assad if he falls? He will be replaced by the "Muslim Brotherhood."
“An extremist Muslim system will rise, replacing the plural system which is preparing to develop. We cannot today change a plural system in exchange for an extremist system that respects only one political ideology,” Aoun said.
Aoun has supported Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai who has warned that the collapse of the Assad regime would lead to the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and threaten the presence of Christians there.
LOOKING AT EGYPT TO SEE WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN NEXT IN SYRIA
Referring to last week’s sectarian clashes in Cairo between the Egyptian military and Christian Copts which left 26 Copts dead, Aoun said:
“What happened in Egypt gives us a clear picture of what will happen.
Do they want to turn Arab countries into unstable countries so that they can benefit and exploit the resources that exist there?
Do they want to partition the region into small countries ruled by sects? I don’t think that this project will pass.”
Western countries like the United States have no clue what could happen in Syria. The sanctions are hurting the economy and helping to distabilize the country. All indications are that Syria is decending into civil war.
Several friends in Syria are making plans to escape the country if possible, should it turn more violent. Others are hording food and money and trying to remain neutral. One things for sure as the violence escalates it could very well engulf the whole country...
One Syrian activist living in Charlotte, N.C., who wished not to be identified in this report said "Anything is better than President Assad. But I do agree that if hard line Islamic extremists seize control, it could mean more trouble in the future for everyone in my country."
Robert Tilford
Charlotte, N.C.
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