Syria.....and endless war?

The recent sweep of protests across the Middle East not only exposed many realities about undemocratic nations, but what power the people of a nation actually hold. Syria's harsh and stagnant dictatorship at first seemed immune to the wave of unrest that swept through most of the Arab world after the revolution in Tunisia in January 2011. The Assad regime has massacred many Syrians in 1982, and has prisoned and tortured thousands during its rule. And now they are at it again thinking they can get along with it and crush the protest from the beginning. The whole situation of the senseless killings is the subjectivity of the brutal regime. Assad was following some rule of law that was just a little different from our concept of rule of law.

The most recent violations of Syria’s security forces bring to light the risks involved when a country is on the verge of political transformation. A handful of demonstrations were called in Syria, however the demonstrators were always outnumbered by the police, and demonstrators were fired upon, arrested, or dispersed. Given the large protests in March in the southern town of Dara'a, where citizens were outraged by the arrest of more than a dozen schoolchildren for writing graffiti. More protests followed, in Dara'a and other parts of the country; after a few days, the regime responded with force.

Syria's human rights situation is among the worst in the world, according to human rights organizations such as the Human Rights Watch. There is a call from the international community as well as human rights groups for the US and European Union to implement sanctions against Syrian officials involved in the killings. The authorities arrest democracy and human rights activists,censor websites, detain bloggers, and impose travel bans.Arbitrary detention,torture, and disappearances are widespread. Although Syria's constitution guarantees gender equality, critics say personal status laws and the penal code discriminate against women and girls. Moreover, it also grants leniency for so-calledhonor crimes. In the last week Syria’s opposition crackdown has left more than 120 people dead. A conservative estimate of at least 300 people, have died, since the uprising began five weeks ago. These figures are unofficial as Syria has expelled journalists from access to troubled spots. On April 17, rejecting the Syrian president's latest effort to mollify them, thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities and towns, using a national holiday commemorating the end of French colonialism to widen their challenge to his family's iron-fisted autocracy. Security officers responded with deadly force, including live ammunition fired at a funeral and the seizure of critically wounded demonstrators from a hospital.

The importance of democratization of Syria will greatly impact that of other countries in the region. The issue of democratization in Syria lies not solely with its people; the issue is far more complicated. Syria, the only ally of Iran, is a dictatorship where power is inherited. If Syria becomes democratic, it will be as if the arms of Iran are cut off. Given the current political administration in Iran losing its only ally will have detrimental effects, on their states political affairs. In 29 March, the entire Syrian cabinet was asked to resign by the president. Adel Safar was named the new prime minister and his new cabinet was sworn into office on 14 April 2011. The Emergency Law was rescinded on 21 April 2011.