Hama, Syria, (Prensa Latina) The city of Hama visibly reflects what 
 Syria is going through today.

Syria is a country now submitted to an 
 intense political attack, a terrorist violence imposed and fostered 
 from abroad, and a media campaign marked by distortion and false 
 statements about the reality.



Meanwhile, the people -who feel the tensions and the effects of that 
 campaign- live their lives without losing the hope that everything 
 will return back to normal.



This city, the capital of the province with the same name in the 
 center of Syria, was practically taken by groups of armed extremists, 
 accompanied by violent disturbances from July 31 to August 8, days in 
 which looting and plundering, material destruction and crimes were 
 perpetrated, such as the dismembering of the bodies of 17 dead police 
 officers.

 The agents were surprised at 05:30 local time by a band of well 
 equipped individuals who attacked them and destroyed their station in 
 the neighbourhood of al-Hader.

The terrorists then dismembered the 
 bodies and threw the pieces from the bridge on the al-Assi River, 
 residents told international reporters visiting the city.

 Images of the harrowing deed were shown by Qatari TV channel 
 Al-Jazeera and others.



Other bands destroyed and set fire to the Officers Club and to the 
 Provincial Court headquarters, which also houses the offices of the 
 Attorney General and the Notary Pubic of this province with 2.5 
 million inhabitants. The destruction is still visible.



With great difficulties, the workers of the court provide services to 
 the public, but they can only offer 30 percent of the services they 
 commonly offer because of the loss of files and information.

 Similar events took place in Daraa, Idleb, Deir Ezzor and Homs.

The 
 situation in those places has already improved, and even Deir Ezzor 
 returned to normal, but assaults, attacks, kidnappings and other 
 atrocities against civilians continue to occur in Hama.

 "We had to call the Army for help to liberate the city and its 
 inhabitants from the terrorism committed by those armed groups," the 
 governor of Hama, Doctor Ells A. Naem, told reporters.



In the court, General District Attorney Ismail Shafira said that the 
 material damages to the building, furniture and equipment caused by 
 the looting amounted to 20.2 million dollars, to which must be added 
 $510,000 for the loss of files and information.



Such events have altered the life of the city in which fear still 
 reigns. Shafira admits that they still feel fear, because they could 
 be the target of the armed groups that still roam the district.

 Governor Naem pointed out that the city is already stable, but he 
 still feels apprehension at night, and there are still cases of
 kidnappings and murders in settlements of the rural area and sporadic
 night attacks against police patrol cars and military positions still 
 occur.



Syria is criticized because of the use of the army to counter the 
 violent outrages of armed terrorist groups; channels like Al-Jazeera 
 and the Saudi Arabian Al-Arabiya reported that residential areas and 
 even hospitals in Hama were destroyed by the bombing of the military.



However, the reality is otherwise, as witnessed by the journalists 
 that visited the area.

 "The military are here to protect us from the destroyers", said 
 Ibrahim Hidjo, a driver who was waiting to be attended in the 
 provincial court. "We need them; who will stop those violent people?" 
 asked a woman that was identified as Marian Mosret. Other people 
 repeated the same views to reporters that sought their opinion.



The anti-Syrian campaign has said that those bands are armed 
 opponents of the government of President Bashar al-Assad, mostly 
 formed by deserters of the Army, but more and more evidence appears, 
 including public confessions by arrested leaders and members, that 
 prove they are supplied from abroad and that foreigners also take part 
 in the bands.

 The diversity and firepower of the weapons and, especially, the sophisticated communications equipment confiscated by the Syrian 
 security forces, some of which are authorized for use only by the 
 Ministries of Defense of the manufacturing countries, is evidence that 
 they have been brought into the country.



Citing European intelligence sources, the news agencies FARS and Cham 
 Press revealed that mercenaries have been trained even by US 
 specialists in bases in Turkey and Qatar with financing from Saudi 
 Arabia, to be infiltrated into Syria.



These sources affirm that the US company Blackwater Worldwide, 
 notorious for its close links with the US Central Intelligence Agency 
 and for the participation of its mercenaries in several areas of the 
 planet since its creation in North Carolina 10 years ago, is involved 
 in the case of Syria.



Observers agree that the intention of the centers of power in the 
 west and in the states of the Persian Gulf supporting them is to 
 overthrow the government of President al-Assad. Western military 
 commands and politicians say a Libya-style military incursion is not 
 the most convenient option for them.



That is why they have concentrated all their forces and resources in
 inciting violence and providing resources to generate centers of 
 violence in the country, and thus create instability and confusion to 
 weaken the morale of citizens and their security forces.

 Asmail Sharefa, District Attorney General, explains what happened in 
 the city.

They impose economic sanctions, encourage and finance 
 opposition groups outside the country, even talk of a Syrian Army of 
 Liberation, which Turkey no longer denies is in its own national 
 territory, and they strengthen the media campaign.

 Politicians, personalities and Arab religious leaders comment that 
 such an attack is due to the independent posture of Damascus, and its 
 firmness in defending Arab causes, such as the Palestinian cause.



They also warn that it is related to the new US strategy for a New 
 Middle East designed to assure their control of the oil resources and 
 to achieve a greater protection for its Israeli ally. They also assert 
 that the ulterior objective is Iran.



But political analyst Nicola Nasser sees it from a much more global 
 perspective.

 The journalist and researcher in Middle East matters warned in the 
 magazine Middle Online East about the existence of regional and 
 international strategic geopolitical factors, which are transforming 
 Syria into the frontier that can presage the emergence of a new era 
 for a multipolar world that would put an end to the unipolar order now 
 controlled by the US and the other centers of power in the West.



In that context, they would have to share such control with the 
 so-called emerging nations that, headed by Russia and China, are 
 striving to have a stronger voice and vote in global decisions.

 That multipolar world would emerge if the alliance led by Washington 
 fails to change the government and system in Syria, Nasser says. If 
 that analysis is correct, that would explain the harsh attacks against 
 Damascus and President al-Assad.



And while the events unfold, Najwa Alsaihi, a resident of Hama, 
 settles the papers at the provincial court for her son’s marriage on 
 January 1st, and she expresses optimism that by then her city will be 
 much safer.




Martin Hacthounis 
is Special Envoy of Prensa Latina in Syria.

December 9, 2011

 


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