The Frail and the Expendable 

"There has been a dangerous escalation of armed violence across Syria.

"Residents want the violence to stop and so do we, but the UN Supervision Mission cannot impose a ceasefire.  The path of non-violence is a choice for the welfare of all Syrians."  Sausan Ghosheh, UN-SMIS spokeswoman

Except for one little thing; non-violence is not a trait much tolerated nor practised in the Middle East.  The tribal antipathies and sectarian hatreds leading to violence in the Middle East are more common fare than any options toward settling differences calmly and with peace uppermost in mind.  Conflict is what generally ensues when there is a disagreement.

And this is precisely what has occurred with Syria's version of the "Arab Spring" that was meant to liberate oppressed populations from the burden laid upon them by their autocratic rulers, their benevolent dictators, their tyrannical governments, their aristocratic, entitled oppressors.  In fact, dictatorial rule seems to work very well in a culture and a heritage where violence is endemic.

Order is maintained through brutal restraint.  And although the result is an ongoing residual resentment that from time to time boils over until it is once again tamped down with matching violence and the resolve that ultimate power lends to such situations, order does prevail.  Usually it does.  On occasion, there is enough momentum for the population to turn in determined force against the regime.

As it has been done in Tunisia, and in Libya, and now in Syria, when the massed, inchoate rage of disparate clans, sects, ideologies, come together in a united urge to effect change.  Mostly, it is the young who are educated and unemployed who initiate protest, then joined by others, and often enough those lurking in the background are the groups whom the dictators wish to keep at bay, like the Muslim Brotherhood.

All over Syria, in scattered towns, villages and cities, the anger against the government military is growing.  Assigning tanks and artillery to surround rebel-held towns, barricading and bombarding civilian areas of dense occupation with helicopter gunships is guaranteed to breed rage and resentment among the populace.  Sending in loyal militias whose brutal blood-letting inspires fear and loathing simply cements that anger.

And now civilians who would likely never have become involved in a conflict that threatens their well-being support an insurrection whose growing efficacy against regime troops is proving a problem for the government.  Ruling government headquarters sacked along with government buildings torched are fairly good signs that a government is loathed and headed for the exit.

Graffiti reading "If you return, so shall we", confronts and challenges government troops to engage another day.  And in the violent melee the population is diminished by fear overtaking them leading them to flee their homes and empty their villages of their presence.  Gradually the death toll climbs, representing the too-early deaths of children, of women, of the elderly; the frail and the expendable.

Just more of the Middle East solutions to ongoing problems.