Syria in a nutshell

"Other analysts are less forgiving. As’ad AbuKhalil, a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, who runs the popular Angry Arab blog, says the revolution has been fully co-opted—with the armed element, led by the main umbrella fighting front, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), working to pull the civilian elements to its side. “The Free Syrian Army took over and hijacked the uprising. Most activists stayed home and washed their hands of what was going on, and some still supported the FSA even if they did not join,” he says. “There is no civilian movement left: it was killed by the regime and the FSA.”"