{"id":16312,"date":"2012-10-03T10:04:34","date_gmt":"2012-10-03T14:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=16312"},"modified":"2012-10-03T16:02:04","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T20:02:04","slug":"car-bombs-ripe-apart-saadallah-square-in-aleppo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/car-bombs-ripe-apart-saadallah-square-in-aleppo\/","title":{"rendered":"Car Bombs Rip Apart Saadallah al-Jabiri Square in Aleppo"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Aleppo and Damascus are the two geese that lay Syria’s golden eggs. The revolutionaries must take them from the regime. The problem is that the regime cannot allow the opposition to have them alive. It will have to kill the golden geese rather than give them up to the enemy. Both sides will grind Syria’s two commercial and political capitals into dust rather then permit the other side to own them and harvest their golden eggs. Aleppo and Damascus produce much of Syria’s wealth. Even more importantly they are the two centers that extract that wealth from the rest of the country. During Ottoman times, it has been estimated that taxes on peasants were 4 times higher than on city dwellers.<\/p>\n

The country folk that have been at the heart of this rebellion waited for a Tahrir Square moment. They waited for the city people to rise up and come to their aid. Unfortunately, Aleppo and Damascus did not rise up or couldn’t. Over the last several months the revolutionaries have been taking the revolution to the cities. They insist that the cities cannot be allowed to sit out this revolt; otherwise, the regime will win. Amn wa Istiqrar – security and stability – has been the mantra of this regime for 40 years. The revolution cannot allow it to go on. By taking the fight to the city centers, they will deny the wealthier urbanites the security and safety they have always been willing to settle for.<\/p>\n

There is a strong class element to this struggle. It is not only about sect and religion. For the rural Syrians that make up so much of the militias destroying the city centers is a price they are willing to pay to set the city folk on fire. Of course Assad’s army cannot allow the cities to pass into the hands of the opposition. Whoever owns the cities, owns Syria.<\/p>\n

The opposition is counting on the fact that once security and stability is taken away from the middle Class and rich, they will side with their fellow Sunnis against the Alawite dominated regime. This is a safe bet. It happened in Lebanon and Iraq. Once the state is gone, people will cleave to their own community or tribe. Most Syrians, before this is over, may well be forced back to that default setting. Can a “free floating” individual survive in the jungle, where no rule of law protects him?<\/p>\n