I Fear This Terrible Massacre Will Be The Beginning Of A Long Civil War In Syria -- Patrick Cockburn, The Independent
World View: The chances of compromise were never great, but they now seem to have been killed along with Houla's children
Parts of Syria are convulsed by civil war, while in other areas life continues almost as normal. At the same moment as more than 30 children had their throats cut and dozens of civilians were killed by shelling in Houla in central Syria on Friday, people in Damascus were picnicking on the slopes of Mount Qassioun, overlooking the capital.
Fighting can be intense, but it is also sporadic, even in highly contested areas. Over the past week, insurgents, many of them defectors from the army, have been fighting to capture Rastan, a strategically placed town on the road running north from Homs. During the same period, militants in the small city of Douma, an opposition stronghold on the outskirts of Damascus, were involved in UN mediation over access to hospitals, the release of detainees and the restoration of services. Soldiers manning sand-bagged checkpoints surrounding Douma's narrow streets, where shops and markets were reopening, looked bored and relaxed.
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My Comment: I now expect an Iraqi style of civil war, with asymmetrical warfare being the tactic of choice by the rebels against superior Syrian military forces.