WaPo | Three years into the revolt against his rule, Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad is in a stronger position than ever before to quell the
rebellion against his rule by Syrians who rose up to challenge his hold
on power, first with peaceful protests and later with arms.
Aided by the steadfast support of his allies and the deepening
disarray of his foes, Assad is pressing ahead with plans to be reelected
to a third seven-year term this summer while sustaining intense
military pressure intended to crush his opponents.
The strategy is
not new, but in recent months it has started to yield tangible progress
in the form of slow but steady gains on several key fronts on the
battlefield that call into question long-held perceptions of a
stalemate.
Most notably, the government has pushed the rebels back
or squeezed them into isolated pockets in large swathes of the
territory surrounding Damascus, diminishing prospects that the
opposition will soon be in a position to seriously threaten the capital
or topple the regime.
For those who joined the effort to unseat
Assad three years ago, flush with the fervor of the Arab Spring protests
sweeping the region, the realization that the rebellion is faltering is
“deeply depressing,” said Abu Emad, a student activist who has watched
as the government has steadily crushed the armed rebellion in his
hometown of Homs, once regarded as the epicenter of the revolt.
Saturday
marks the third anniversary of the initially tentative anti-government
demonstrations that spiraled into civil war, and many Syrians are
wondering whether the 140,000 deaths and the displacement of millions of
people were worth the price, he said.
“More than ever there is no
hope. Not on the ground and not politically,” Abu Emad said, using a
pseudonym to protect his identity. “For the rebels to win, it will take a
miracle.”
