Rumors are abound as to who is responsible for carrying out a deadly attack in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Friday. In the past the regime has blamed attacks almost exclusively on the opposition; in this case they have blamed Al Qaeda. The opposition has vehemently denied that it has had any involvement in this. The leader of the Free Syrian Army has admitted to attacking an intelligence building in a suburb of Damascus, but denies carrying out this attack. The opposition, and many others, see the government blaming Al Qaeda as a tactic to legitimize their control of the country. They are hoping that this will endear them to the international community. If it is Al Qaeda, which has not claimed responsibility, it would mark one of their most sophisticated attacks to date. If true, they were able to get into a highly secure area of the capital just as observers from the Arab League arrived. The truth of this might be even more disturbing. Many in Syria believe that it was Assad and the regime that carried out this attack. Ben Ali was said to have been contemplating a bombing in the final days of his reign in order to show the world that he needed to be in power. It really is not beyond the pale to imagine that Assad could order a bombing like the one on Friday. Hafez al Assad, Bashar al Assad’s father, used fighter jets to carpet bomb 10,000 people in Homs in the 1980’s to suppress mass protests. The regime is still under the impression that brute force will stop the protesters. In spite of the bombing huge crowds filled the streets through out the country. In Damascus their were huge pro-regime crowds chanting “Death to America”. This illustrates how divided the nation is between pro and anti regime elements. It may be time to admit that the civil war everyone has been predicting will happen has already happened.
Porkins Policy Review 