In the five months I have reported from Syria I have seen the country change dramatically. I witnessed how the grievances of generations were catalyzed by the unchecked carnage of the militarized state under the Assad firm. And how a diverse and determined resistance movement eroded the paralyzing fear that permeated society for years, while the calculated brutality of the regime accelerated.
Syrians have a deep and poetic historical memory. I remember a friend, after hearing that his cousin had been arrested, reciting the poetry of the 11th-century bard Abu Ala al-Maari of Maarat al-Numaan, one of many towns besieged by the army and Shabbiha militia in the hunt for the ‘armed gangs’ the regime blames for the unrest. Shabbiha means ‘those who make ghosts’. They are a brutal group of mercenaries from the ruling Alawite élite.
