Dulce et Decorum est

As the “Arab Spring” unfolded, many Syrians looked on with envy, hoping for a chance to ride the waves of change. Yet, after a few failed attempts – the first being on February 5 2011 – many had lost hope. However, no one had envisioned the regime itself providing the spark for the revolution.

Syria’s regime has long been known for its ruthlessness and brutality, and its people for their calm and peaceful nature. However, the Assad regime crossed a line on February 27, which destroyed the fear barrier in many Syrians. Twenty primary school children had been arrested and tortured for writing anti-government graffiti on the school building. When an attempt to free their children resulted in the humiliation of the parents by the mayor, protests erupted in the city with the chant “death rather than humiliation” echoing loud in the protests. The regime tried to use brute force to bring back order, but all that did was cause anger among Syrians and start countrywide protests.

For the past year the Syrian revolution has defied all the odds. Many had predicted its demise very early on, but it seemed that the more force the regime used, the more determined the people became. Every attack by the regime led to more areas joining the revolution. Every death led to a funeral-turned-protest.

The regime intensified its operations to crackdown on the freedom movement. Deraa, the suburbs of Damascus, Idlib, Hama and the coastal cities all faced heavy military operations. The regime closed off these cities, causing shortages in water, food, electricity, and fuel, and systematically detained and tortured the citizens, in an attempt to force the people into submission. But all that was nothing compared to what Homs went through. The city was systematically bombed using artillery shells and multiple missile launchers; the water, electricity, food, fuel, and communications were totally cut off and the army drove people out of their homes to use them as sniper dens.

The only salvation is by force. The regime knows it has no way out.

Hospitals became slaughter houses – injured protesters faced torture and even death in hospitals, which led to the formation of field hospitals – makeshift clinics where doctors treated patients with rudimentary equipment. It became a crime to carry medication, blood bags or medical equipment – an attempt by the regime to eradicate any kind of opposition it faced. However, this was far from sucessful. Jacques Beres, one of the founders of MSF, visited one of the field hospitals in Homs and was surprised at the amount of work done with the few tools available to the doctors.

The regime tried to adopt certain reforms to reduce the intensity of the protest movement and reduce pressure on it. However many people saw these reforms as too little too late, most never meeting the demands of the people. The new constitution would have been very well received if it had been brought in at the beginning of the revolution. However, the regime began by accusing the protesters of being conspirers, American operatives, Mossad operatives or al-Qaeda extremists, among many others. It attacked the protests and incarcerated many activists as it looked to quell the rebellion.

When that failed, the regime tried declaring an amnesty but firstly many of those detained during the revolution were excluded. Anyway, by the time the amnesty came protestors had changed their demands from asking for freedom to asking for the fall of the regime.

Finally, the regime tried to pass off the new constitution as a very worthwhile and forward reform. To be honest I wasted my time reading the full constitution. It began by lining out all the rights of the citizens and the responsibilities of the government towards its citizens. Anyone reading it would have assumed they were reading a constitution of a country that fully respected human rights, not one that at the same moment was carrying out mass atrocities across the country. That aside, there were many other small laws that caused people to have many objections to the constitution. Examples of these include: giving the president two seven year periods in office that don’t include any previous time in office, meaning that Bashar will be in office until 2028, knowing how the election process will be. Secondly, it gave parliamentarians immunity from law as well as giving them the right to offer people an amnesty from any previously committed crimes. Many thought that this will just lead to the same situation as we have now, where people can do whatever they like without fearing any repercussions. However, the biggest and most fundamental flaw was the fact that on the day of the referendum, Homs, Hama and Idlib were heavily attacked and their citizens did not vote. Regardless of the outcome, the flaws of the constitution and the time it came at made many Syrians reject it out right.

Another possible way out was suggested by Tunisia: give Bashar Al-Assad immunity and allow him to seek refuge in Tunisia and so stop the bloodshed in Syria. This plan has many flaws. Firstly, the regime is not only Bashar; taking him out of the equation will bring his brother or some other family member in to fill his place and the situation won’t change. This family regime has been in place since 1970, a change to the figurehead will do little to change the way it is run. The only way to effectively change the current situation will be to completely uproot the regime. That aside, many Syrians, myself included, would not accept this suggestion to end the conflict. It is an insult to the thousands who lost their lives and others who were affected by the brutality of the regime. I don’t think many Syrians can bring themselves to tell these people, especially the orphans who lost their parents, that their sacrifices were in vain as we have decided to let the culprit go free.

Finally, militarisation, although controversial, is something that many Syrians agree on. The revolution began as a peaceful movement to gain freedom from an autocratic, dictatorial and oppressive regime. However, people can only take so much, and after months of vicious and inhumane attacks on civilians and after seeing whole families slaughtered for opposing the regime, people began losing hope in a peaceful resolution and decided to take the armed route. It began with army defectors creating brigades to defend the civilians against the attacks from the regime. Now it has spread to normal civilians. These freedom fighters are funded by donations from Syrians and other friends outside Syria and buy weaponry one or two rifles at a time, which then have to be smuggled into Syria through the border. However, despite all these restrictions and limitations, they have become a formidable force in many cities that the regime’s forces fear. Take Homs as an example. It is well controlled by the rebels- the army forces bombard the city from a distance but can hardly make their way into the city without fearing an attack that will eliminate more than half of the group.

Personally, I feel that the only salvation is by force. The regime knows that it has no way out and is fighting to the last man, so it would be delusional of us to think that at some point they will rethink their strategy. They will continue to kill and their methods and manner will only intensify. The freedom fighters are growing in numbers and strength by the day; they were able to hold off the regime’s attack on Baba Amr for around a month, protect the journalists in Homs, and even smuggle them out to safety, which is much more than can be said for their respective governments. These fighters have no fear – talking to them fills me with hope as I see their determination and strength. Whenever an alternative solution is suggested their response is to refuse. Their goal is to eradicate the regime that for years has done nothing but kill, torture and abuse Syrians.

Regardless of what route the revolution takes or how long it lasts, one thing is for certain: Syrians have decided on their goal. This regime will lose this battle; it’s but a matter of time. The question remains however: how many Syrians are willing to still stand by it as it kills their fellow brothers?