Drums of War on Syria Getting Louder  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The Revolutionaries of Manbij” in Aleppo, Syria. Photo by Dona Bozzi. Copyright Demotix, July 23, 2013.
The drums of war are getting louder as US lawmakers prepare to vote on a “punitive” bombing campaign on Syria. Online, everyone has become an overnight expert on Syria.
Palestinian Iyad El-Baghdadi notes:
Isn't it amazing how everyone's conscience suddenly woke up when it comes to the horrible suffering of #Syria‘s people?
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) September 1, 2013
Syrian Mohja Khaf says she is against the war. She reasons:
My axis is women& men of the grassroots Syrian revolution. US strikes will not help their legitimate struggle for a free,democratic #Syria
— Mohja Kahf (@ProfKahf) August 29, 2013
US strikes are not a magical bullet that will take out the Butcher of #Syria and save the day.
— Mohja Kahf (@ProfKahf) August 29, 2013
U.S. strike is not a prayer-answer to the Syrian humanitarian crisis—it means more civilian agonies. #Syria
— Mohja Kahf (@ProfKahf) August 29, 2013
And she adds:
Let no one deny the horrific massacres of Syrian civilians by assad, no matter what position one has on the imminent U.S. strikes #Syria
— Mohja Kahf (@ProfKahf) August 29, 2013
Kahf reminds us:
No matter your position on US strikes #Syria, DO NOT DENY that young Syrians took to streets in genuine grassroots REVOLUTION. Goddammit.
— Mohja Kahf (@ProfKahf) September 4, 2013
And Syrian Amal Hanano adds:
Reminder: thousands of Syrians were killed for chanting: the people want to topple the regime. #Syria
— Amal Hanano (@AmalHanano) August 30, 2013
Syrian Maysaloon is surprised with the double standards applied by different countries:
Saud al Faisal says that Assad's use of poison gas cannot be tolerated. Funnily they didn't mind when Saddam used it #Pt #PotKettleBlack
— Maysaloon (@Maysaloon) September 1, 2013
And Dima Khatib adds [ar]:
مجرد ألا يثق المرء بالأميركان لا يعني أنه أصبح يساند نظام الأسد ولا يدافع عنه. كفى ممارسة للإرهاب الفكري والإقصاء باسم النضال من أجل الحرية
— Dima Khatib أنا ديمة (@Dima_Khatib) September 1, 2013
Just because someone doesn't trust the Americans doesn't mean he is siding with the Assad regime. Stop exercising intellectual terrorism and obliterating others in the name of fighting for freedom
According to Michael Hanna, a war on Syria could last for years:
If we want to have serious discussion about Syria, we should begin with understanding that this war, on current trajectory, will last years.
— Michael Hanna (@mwhanna1) September 2, 2013
From Bahrain, writer Ali Al Saeed tweets:
#Obama‘s message to evil dictators of the world: It's cool to slaughter your people as long as you don't use chemical weapons. #Syria #Assad
— Ali Al Saeed (@alialsaeed) September 4, 2013
In an earlier tweet, he wonders:
How is killing 100,000 & displacing 2 million people is fine, but using poison gas on 1000 requires military strike? #Syria #SyriaCrisis
— Ali Al Saeed (@alialsaeed) September 4, 2013
In Amman, the capital of Jordan, Ali Dahmash, witnessed an anti-war demonstration outside the US Embassy:
Just passed by the US Embassy in #Amman and there were a few 100 people peacefully protesting Obama decision to bomb #Syria – #Jordan #Jo
— Ali Dahmash (@AliDahmash) September 1, 2013
Commentator Marc Lynch adds:
Saddest part of Obama admin Syria war push is seeing them peddling the same arguments they spent two years effectively smacking down.
— Marc Lynch (@abuaardvark) September 4, 2013
While UAE commentator Sultan Al Qassemi asks:
Why do the Gulf States ($123B arms purchases from the US in 2010) & Turkey (Nato's second largest army) outsource their Syria war to the US?
— שחררו את פלסטין (@SultanAlQassemi) September 1, 2013
And it's fine to be confused, says Ms. Entropy, from Egypt:
Unlike many of the instant experts on #Syria, I know only enough about the context to grasp my ignorance – itself enough to break my heart.
— Ms. Entropy (@MsEntropy) September 1, 2013