Can Western correspondents in the Middle East read English at least? "In these areas, the most dangerous elements, particularly for the
regime, are those who cloak themselves with the legitimacy of the state
and work from within the folds of government for their own benefit, thus
exacerbating the crisis.
Even before the Syrian uprising broke out, there was an army of corrupt officials operating like mafias in all aspect of the state bureaucracy. They are the ones to blame for having alienated a sizeable section of the Syrian population in the first place.
They come in all shapes and sizes: those who hoard goods to raise prices, who gamble with the country’s currency, who smuggle and sell Syria’s heritage on the black market, who are outright thieves and criminals dressed up as soldiers. They can carry on because they enjoy political cover from officials with influence in government.
Some have even committed the ugliest massacres like the one in the town of al-Baidaa (Banyas), in the name of the Popular Committees tasked with defending their localities. Has anyone in the upper echelons of the state heard of Hilal al-Assad and his gang? Do they actually think his presence on the ground actually helps Syria?
And what about the security forces and their many criminal practices, be it kidnapping protesters they filmed at demonstrations for ransom, to arresting and harassing people for voicing the slightest objection to government policies, to the mistreatment of those imprisoned in the regime’s notorious detention centers."
Even before the Syrian uprising broke out, there was an army of corrupt officials operating like mafias in all aspect of the state bureaucracy. They are the ones to blame for having alienated a sizeable section of the Syrian population in the first place.
They come in all shapes and sizes: those who hoard goods to raise prices, who gamble with the country’s currency, who smuggle and sell Syria’s heritage on the black market, who are outright thieves and criminals dressed up as soldiers. They can carry on because they enjoy political cover from officials with influence in government.
Some have even committed the ugliest massacres like the one in the town of al-Baidaa (Banyas), in the name of the Popular Committees tasked with defending their localities. Has anyone in the upper echelons of the state heard of Hilal al-Assad and his gang? Do they actually think his presence on the ground actually helps Syria?
And what about the security forces and their many criminal practices, be it kidnapping protesters they filmed at demonstrations for ransom, to arresting and harassing people for voicing the slightest objection to government policies, to the mistreatment of those imprisoned in the regime’s notorious detention centers."
