Syria Regime, Opposition Say Country Not in Civil War, Despite U.N. Statement
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syria has not entered into a civil war, the regime and an opposition group said on Wednesday in response to the U.N. peacekeeping chief's statement to the contrary.
"This announcement makes the killer and the victim equal and ignores all the massacres committed by the Assad regime," the Syrian Revolution General Commission said, adding that people in the country "are only asking for freedom and dignity."
"We again confirm that our peaceful revolution and our self-defense will continue" until the fall of the regime of President Bashar Assad, it said in a statement received by Agence France Presse.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said on Tuesday that the situation in Syria could be qualified as a civil war, as violence escalates and Assad's forces seek to retake "large chunks of territory" lost to the opposition.
Also on Wednesday, the Syrian foreign ministry said the country is not in civil war but is fighting "terrorists," and expressed "surprise" at statements made the day before by the peacekeeping chief.
"Talk of civil war in Syria is not consistent with reality... what is happening in Syria is a war against armed terrorist groups plotting against the future of the Syrian people," the ministry said.
When an uprising broke out in March last year, the regime unleashed a brutal repression of protesters, leading rebels to take up arms against the government.
The authorities have consistently blamed violence on "armed terrorist groups," and failed to recognize the existence of a widespread anti-regime movement.
In 15 months, at least 14,100 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in violence, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
13 June 2012, 14:23
25
Yes what's happening in Syria isn't a civil war...it's an ethnic cleansing campaign against the majority of the population which is being funded by Iranian Majoos Filth and their Russian barbarian allies.
It's time to wipe out any remnants of Iran in the region.
13 June 2012, 14:25
24
OK OK. No civil war. Let's call it butchery. Sound better this way mooo?
13 June 2012, 15:28
05
People on the ground in Syria are frightened from government forces and shabihha because they slaughter and butcher men, women, children, and elderly, however they are relieved and embrace the FSA and the rebels. Indeed there are terrorists in Syria, and indeed they are being fought, but these 'terrorists' are the government forces and their scum.
13 June 2012, 16:54
03
Indeed they are fighting terrorists, they already killed more than 13000, didn't know they were harboring so many of them... Or is it what we call collateral damage?
13 June 2012, 17:08
21
All the posts above condemn the regime, yet a driver by reader who is unable to defend what is happening decided to just vote down the comments. Who is the unknown non-thinker?
13 June 2012, 17:16
00
Of course it is a civil war, the regime has been warning of it since the beginning now it's wish have come true.
Only if I were a few years younger to enlist in the Lebanese Army. Sooner or later we would be part of kouwat al rade3 in Syria and I just always wanted to stand at a checkpoint and invent new words for ID card so to confuse the hell out of occupants of the cars stopping.
13 June 2012, 17:21
52
I watched a British sky news report about the last suicide bombing in Damascus... I was surprised about the reporting of a victim. He was a 18 year old Sunni from Homs whose family refused to join the revolt. The "free Syrian army" or rebels, beheaded 2 of his brothers for refusing. He then joined the Syrian army and was murdered in the suicide attack at a bus station. I have to disagree with the Syrian official denial that this is not a civil war. Yes they can be classed as terrorists, but this is definetly a civil war. A terrorist group would only be a few hundred at most. This is almost half the population fighting. When it's a civil war, it's the worst kind of war.
All we should hope for is the foreign players supporting both sides, have a little bit of a humanity and call on both sides to have serious talks. The fuel for this fire is being poured on by foreign forces.
13 June 2012, 19:01
22
Listen my friend, I highly condemn any use of violence and especially the gruesome loss of life you described. What I condemn as well are the cheap techniques which cheap media use to equate between intentional, systematic, merciless attack on civilians that the government of Syria is launching on the population, and criminal activity that occurs in a domestic war which can hardly be avoided. If Sky News thinks they can make a point by focusing on the pimple when the whole butt is in their face, then they can officially be labeled as blind retards.
13 June 2012, 19:39
32
Hitech.
If you think that sky news that is owned by Rupert Murdoch's news corp... That is partially owned by the saudi,(tri hard Lebanese) prince bil al walid, is cheap media than I agree! What you failed to understand is my surprise that they actually portrayed an other side! sky news or CNN, they mention "Assad's forces" or the tyrant or dictator Assad against innocent civilians. Never do they mention that most of the Syrian population see or believe that it's their government forces or Syrian forces against rebels or terrorists!
So I was suprised that they actually highlighted another point of view, that goes against the standard western version that the vast majority of Syrians are peacefully objecting to the brutal Assad tyrant. Neither side can or should claim the moral high ground. The "rebels" are just as brutal and barbaric as the current Syrian regime. However, their track record is that they are less tolerant of religious diversity!
13 June 2012, 17:37
01
Syria Denies Being in Civil War, Says Fighting 'Terrorists' .....
They are so right, this is why they are committing such UNCIVIL attrocities.
13 June 2012, 19:30
04
A dictatorship never acknowledges the reality till this reality brings it down.
Using the terrorists pretext and the accusations of conspiracies by Israel and the USA have been effective excuses used by the Syrian regime to oppress any one opposition. This time the opposition is massive and real and the regime is frustrated by the ineffectiveness of its old tricks.
There is a civil war in Syria it is between the oppressors and the oppressed. Barbaricacts could be committed by either side but the regime still has by far the upper hand in inflicting atrocities on its opponents and their civilian surroundings.
13 June 2012, 20:03
10
But they are fighting terrorists!
They are terrorists and they are fighting terrorists... It's that simple.
13 June 2012, 20:17
00
hello brothers and sisters of Lebanon,it seems that we haven't learn our lesson yet,i have been reading comments for a year or so,and regretfully we still didn't learn from our past blood taste history of civil war.
We as Lebanese regardless of religion that we believe in where the looser and we still pointing fingers @ each other.Don't you think it's time we shake hands and work towards restoring Lebanon once was before 1974? that whole world was jealous @ us! Please dear brothers and sisters of Lebanon,work for Lebanon with Lebanon for Lebanon and never against Lebanon,the cedar has right for honor,lets give her just that and make her proud of us. long live Lebanon.
I love all regardless of your beliefs.
LEBANESE VETERAN
13 June 2012, 20:21
00
Dear administrator,i am Lebanese with USA citizen,have the right to express my thoughts,with all my respect to ,display it.
thank you
13 June 2012, 20:24
02
@ado.australia: I don't care if Sky News is owned by Bill Gates, if they behave like cheap media, they are cheap media. What's the difference between Sky News or SANA or the Syrian national television in this specific case? These reports are used by Assad to continue using brutal force against a civilian population. It is being used as an excuse by governments like Russia and China and by individuals to give Assad a longer leash so he can kill more. I'm not denying that what you mentioned took place, I am condemning equating these reports with what Assad is doing and claiming to show the other side, then these reports end up supporting Assad when hundreds are being killed daily and children are being slaughtered at the hands of his government and militias. Force brings force, misery brings misery, killings bring killings, but the fact is Assad is a killer, a butcher, and he is the offender.
13 June 2012, 20:42
00
when you are oppressed, you eventually reach a breaking point. If the syrian population are terrorists and extremists - then, it's this regime which has made them so. I dont agree with terror tactics, but they are fighting for their freedom using any means available to them - against a repressive govt with much mroe resources at it's disposal.
