- 1,400 Syrians killed since March, say activists source
- » Quashing dissent, Bashar style: The above number, shocking as it is, isn’t even the full story — in addition to the 1,400 civilians believed dead, human rights groups (according to the good people at Voice of America) estimate as many as 10,000 are in detention. The Syrian government has no compunction about torture, either, leaving the grim task of wondering how many of those 10,000 are going through brutality above and beyond being locked in a cell. Bashar al-Assad’s speech on Monday, full of vague talk of reform and accusations against foreign saboteurs (this is a common tactic for him) has already been broadly dismissed by the Syrian public.