Bashshar's 1st speech

Bashshar Al-Asad is proving that he is no less ruthless and merciless than his cruel father.  I think that many Syrians got a blunt message from him when he gave his first speech after the eruption of the revolt.  In his first speech came across as flippant, arrogant, and condescending.  It signaled to many Syrians the intentions of the regime.  Bashshar can't stomach that millions of Syrians loath him even if many other Syrians still support him--and I am not disputing that necessarily although it is not easy to measure and assess.  Certainly the massive crowds in many cities in Syria (outside of Aleppo and Damascus) can count as a plebiscite in which Bashshar does not earn the standard Ba`thist score of 99.99%.  I also hear from people in Syria (Syrians and journalists alike) and defiance is increasing and not decreasing.  We should not make normal the daily and weekly score of carnage.  The regime still resorts to the tale of "criminal terrorist gangs":  it is using the language of the Western "war on terrorism" to justify its war on its own people.  It is not up for Obama or Merkel to decide the status of legitimacy in any Arab country: but the people in question should decide.  And when they try to decide in Syria, they get shot at, by regime armed goons.  As for armed members of the opposition in Syria: that may be true and I even posted a picture early on, and I am sure that Hariri and Saudi gangs are trying to smuggle in weapons.  But I have to say: I have not heard from any journalist (even those sympathetic to the regime) who has actually seen any of those armed opposition people.  But I am not enjoying waking up every Friday to read a figure of "anonymous" dead Syrians, and I don't enjoy watching the voices of Arab counter-revolution, Aljazeera and Al-Arabiyya, exploit Arab uprisings to promote the horrific agenda.