Syria has been on my mind quiet a bit. Mostly not thinking about the kind of stuff in this video, but of the individuals and families that are more like you and I then not. I think about the people who fled that are now living in a Turkish desert dependent on others for their survival. What would it be like if my family had to live for the months or years in a tent in the desert?
So many of the soldiers in the FSA were average Joe's a little more then a year ago, now they are battle hardened killers. I wonder if they regret rising up?
I can't think Assad will hold on much longer. The Syrian army has very little freedom of movement, their planes are getting ground down by a lack of spare parts and a ton of air time. The FSA's capabilities grow by the day. The sooner the better, I hope that life can at least find a more peaceful normal for the Syrian.
I think they just want a normal life. I imagine that average Syrian citizens are probably divided into two camps. Those that just want to get out, and those that have been pushed too far and want to do something about it. Both love their home and just want safety, stability, freedom, and the ability to earn a living in a place where their children can earn a living. My fiancee's family is Armenian and Iraqi. Her sister was actually born in Baghdad. Her father fled Armenia to Iraq because of the genocide. They know a thing or two about oppression, violence, instability, and the choices you have to make when you're confronted with it. Being from Baghdad, her father actually supported the invasion of Iraq because of how brutal Saddam was. This surprised me, as they are Chaldean, and Chaldeans were comparatively protected under his reign. I guess it doesn't matter. Living under the whimsy of a brutal dictator probably doesn't feel to good even if his gaze isn't currently directed at you. It would probably be impossible to put into words how profoundly disappointed he was with our country's handling of the invasion, and what happened in the aftermath, but it was probably an affirmation of his decision to become an expat in another country.
War is awful. As an aside, IMO everyone that supports a war that their country is in should be willing to fight in it. I really do think the US needs a draft. A volunteer army is too selective about who goes, and it makes sure that most are able to forget about it.