(Newsweek) Janine di Giovanni - What emerges from a recent trip to Damascus, and conversations with dozens of people there who say they still support the government, is a deep sense of dread, kept at bay by distraction and, perhaps, delusion. There is a class of Assad supporters who go about their daily business - pool parties included - while the skyline burns. As if the war is happening in some other place, people drink champagne in the Damascus neighborhood of Mezzah and partake in glamorous fashion photo shoots and go shopping at the luxurious boutiques that line Shukri al Quatli Street. The secret police, the Mukhabarat, hover in hotels, restaurants, and cafes. They bug telephones and hack into people's emails, trying to weed out those who may not sympathize with the regime, clouding everything with suspicion. Barzeh is the home of a large military hospital, where I watched as men silently load the mangled bodies of 50 government soldiers into wooden coffins. It's an acute reminder of how hard Assad's forces are getting hit by the opposition. The hospital director says around 100 soldiers are killed every week.
2012-07-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive