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Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: November 17, 2011
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/11/17/130647/syrian-civil-war-seems-certain.html
CAIRO — The Syrian uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad appears headed toward a Libya-style civil war, with dissidents increasingly using violence against the government's forces and no apparent letup in the government's deadly crackdown despite a renewed Arab push for an end to the bloodshed.
In November alone, the Syrian government has reported at least 108 deaths of soldiers, police and other security forces in attacks by "armed terrorist groups," while army defectors calling themselves the Free Syrian Army claimed this week to have conducted attacks on several government targets, including a military intelligence compound, an especially brazen move.
It's impossible to verify how many members of Assad's security forces have been killed. Syrian officials have said in recent weeks that the pro-regime death toll is more than 1,000.
But if even a fraction of the reported deaths are true — and activists don't dispute that security forces are being targeted — the attacks on Assad's forces represent an escalation that many analysts say pushes Syria beyond any hope of peaceful resolution as long as Assad remains in power.
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