SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Syria's Assad Refuses to Leave Power, Vows 'Iron Fist' Against Threats
Assad's forced accused of killing more than 5,000 since uprising began
Jan 10, 2012
In a speech on Tuesday at Damascus University, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blamed foreign conspiracies for unrest in Syria, and disparaged attempts from the Arab League to intervene in the violence.
Al Jazeera has video of part of Assad's speech:
Reuters reports that
His approach to unrest, casting it as a foreign conspiracy and countering it with violent repression and hazy promises of reform, resembled that of other Arab leaders confronted by mass protests in the past year. Three have been toppled.
Despite the persistent upheaval in Syria, in which insurgent attacks have begun to eclipse civilian demonstrations, Assad's security forces seem to retain the upper hand.
Assad remained defiant throughout the speech. Al Jazeera reports:
Striking a defiant tone, Assad urged Syrians to remain steadfast, telling them that "victory is near" and that outside forces had been unable to "find a foothold in the revolution that they had hoped for".
He also pledged to hit back at so-called terrorists following a pair of deadly bombings in Damascus and speading violence blamed on anti-government forces.
"There can be no let-up for terrorism -- it must be hit with an iron fist," he said. "The battle with terrorism is a battle for everyone, a national battle, not only the government's battle."
Assad, whose forces are accused of killing more than 5,000 people since the ongoing uprising against his rule began, is coming under increasing scrutiny from neighbouring countries.
That thousands of Syrians that have been locked up was notably absent from Assad's speech. The Guardian writes:
The appearance was Assad's first in public since Arab League monitors entered Syria last month, an idea he claimed was his own while attacking the pan-Arab body as a failure. There was no mention of withdrawing forces from cities or freeing thousands of prisoners, in line with an agreement between Damascus and the league.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In a speech on Tuesday at Damascus University, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blamed foreign conspiracies for unrest in Syria, and disparaged attempts from the Arab League to intervene in the violence.
Al Jazeera has video of part of Assad's speech:
Reuters reports that
His approach to unrest, casting it as a foreign conspiracy and countering it with violent repression and hazy promises of reform, resembled that of other Arab leaders confronted by mass protests in the past year. Three have been toppled.
Despite the persistent upheaval in Syria, in which insurgent attacks have begun to eclipse civilian demonstrations, Assad's security forces seem to retain the upper hand.
Assad remained defiant throughout the speech. Al Jazeera reports:
Striking a defiant tone, Assad urged Syrians to remain steadfast, telling them that "victory is near" and that outside forces had been unable to "find a foothold in the revolution that they had hoped for".
He also pledged to hit back at so-called terrorists following a pair of deadly bombings in Damascus and speading violence blamed on anti-government forces.
"There can be no let-up for terrorism -- it must be hit with an iron fist," he said. "The battle with terrorism is a battle for everyone, a national battle, not only the government's battle."
Assad, whose forces are accused of killing more than 5,000 people since the ongoing uprising against his rule began, is coming under increasing scrutiny from neighbouring countries.
That thousands of Syrians that have been locked up was notably absent from Assad's speech. The Guardian writes:
The appearance was Assad's first in public since Arab League monitors entered Syria last month, an idea he claimed was his own while attacking the pan-Arab body as a failure. There was no mention of withdrawing forces from cities or freeing thousands of prisoners, in line with an agreement between Damascus and the league.
In a speech on Tuesday at Damascus University, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad blamed foreign conspiracies for unrest in Syria, and disparaged attempts from the Arab League to intervene in the violence.
Al Jazeera has video of part of Assad's speech:
Reuters reports that
His approach to unrest, casting it as a foreign conspiracy and countering it with violent repression and hazy promises of reform, resembled that of other Arab leaders confronted by mass protests in the past year. Three have been toppled.
Despite the persistent upheaval in Syria, in which insurgent attacks have begun to eclipse civilian demonstrations, Assad's security forces seem to retain the upper hand.
Assad remained defiant throughout the speech. Al Jazeera reports:
Striking a defiant tone, Assad urged Syrians to remain steadfast, telling them that "victory is near" and that outside forces had been unable to "find a foothold in the revolution that they had hoped for".
He also pledged to hit back at so-called terrorists following a pair of deadly bombings in Damascus and speading violence blamed on anti-government forces.
"There can be no let-up for terrorism -- it must be hit with an iron fist," he said. "The battle with terrorism is a battle for everyone, a national battle, not only the government's battle."
Assad, whose forces are accused of killing more than 5,000 people since the ongoing uprising against his rule began, is coming under increasing scrutiny from neighbouring countries.
That thousands of Syrians that have been locked up was notably absent from Assad's speech. The Guardian writes:
The appearance was Assad's first in public since Arab League monitors entered Syria last month, an idea he claimed was his own while attacking the pan-Arab body as a failure. There was no mention of withdrawing forces from cities or freeing thousands of prisoners, in line with an agreement between Damascus and the league.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy