Socialist Worker Online - An uncertain future for Syria's revolution
At one point soldiers boarded my bus and searched it very thoroughly. They weren’t looking for terrorists or dissidents. They were searching for young men born in 1992 to immediately conscript them into compulsory military service.
This new generation of young men are refusing to military service because they don’t want to kill their own people, and neither do they want to die at the hands of the armed elements of the uprising. This is especially true for youths from the revolution’s hotspots: Homs, Hama, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib. On reaching Salamiyah I felt a freedom that I’d never previously experienced in my life. The people that I knew had transformed themselves in the space of less than a year.
The idea of outside intervention is becoming more popular in Syria, especially inside the revolution’s hotspots. But myself and two other activists spoke out against any form of international intervention. We want to oust Syria’s dictatorial regime, but we do not want reduce Syria to a pile of bones passed between the jaws and paws of international powers.
I replied that this is a revolution against the regime in Syria. I am with the people and against imperialists. Supporting the revolution does not means that allying with imperialists or being blind to their agenda. I don’t want outside intervention—I want Assad to listen to the angry masses and negotiate with the opposition movement rather than suppressing it.
http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=27214
