Tanks Storm Hama

"Landep News"

Tanks Storm Hama

Reports issued on Monday morning show that the last governmental crackdown in demonstrators in Syria has resulted in up to 100 people killed, compelling British foreign secretary William Hague to demand the international community to intensify pressure on the regime in Damascus.

Germany has also called on United Nations members to overcome differences and present a common stance on the mass murder committed by Bashar al Assad in his country.

Hague called for a U.N. security council resolution that would condemn what happens in Syria, call for the release of prisoners, and compel the government to respond to the legitimate grievances of the people.

They also agreed that such a resolution could be difficult to achieve since there are nations in the UN security council that oppose such drastic measure, or at least they have until now, British foreign secretary say, but they will be contacted again in a matter of hours.

Arab nations must, in Hague’s opinion, join the West in condemning what is going on in Syria. A major player in this process can also be Turkey, whose role in convincing Assad to start reforms is very well known and who assumes a leading role in the Arab jolted world.

Hama under Siege

One thing is sure in the opinion of the British leader, the military intervention is out of the question, because the conditions that favored it in Libya are entirely different here, making intervention impossible to take into account even as “remote possibility.”

Hague took the opportunity to reassess his support for the action that is being carried on in Libya, where the military intervention saved a lot of people from being slaughtered by the regime of Qaddafi.

However, the fact that over the weekend a military chief of the rebels was killed is indicative of the fact that there are still many divisions among those who want the dictator gone.

As for Syria, international pressure and economic sanctions are the only viable options right now.

100 people were killed in Hama, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslims, in one of the most brutal interventions of the military that opened fire on people with heavy-machine guns. The military move ordered by the Ba’ath (Socialist) government comes at the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month of the Muslims.

Though international press is forbidden access in Syria, videos realized by people at the scene and posted on Youtube show corpses scattered on the streets, while human rights activists report the death of more than 136 people in Hama and other three towns of the country.

Hama has a tradition in governmental crackdown, since it was here in 1986 that Bashar al Assad’s father crushed an Islamist rebellion of the Sunni Muslims.

People are being presented in the videos walking with sticks and bats toward the tanks of the government, being practically massacred by the soldiers.

President Barack was appalled by the new massacre and the leaders of the democratic community condemned it also.

It is appreciated that unlike the Libyan case, where many high ranked officers refused to participate in the crackdown, no Syrian general has yet abandoned the regime.

People Protesting in Hama

The moves started in Syria by March, and were very mild as compared to those in Egypt or Tunisia. The people were protesting against corruption and demanded political reforms.

By then Assad seemed capable to control his people by a few limited freedoms granted to them, and he even made an attempt to introduce some changes.

The things got uglier and the entire reformist movement became an anti governmental protest as the crackdown intensified. At the end, all demanded the ouster of the president, following the suit of Egypt and Tunisia.

Since the beginning, the regime blamed everything that was going on on a conspiracy from western countries and Zionists, and motivated the sending of heavily armed troops by the need to ensure the order in the country against the “thugs” that were committing crimes all over it.

When the American ambassador took a trip at Hama and showed that there were no thugs in the city the regime reacted very brutally.

Reports come of almost 3,000 people who “vanished in thin air” since this unrest began and of at least 1,600 people killed by the government in what could easily turn into the bloodiest revolution in the Arab world.

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