Remembering Syria: Homs ‘Ghost Town’ Under heavy Regime Bombardment

By | Jul. 12, 2013 |
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In winter of 2012, the world was mesmerized and horrified as the Syrian Baath regime drew up artillery pieces and its tanks and fired on non-combatant civilian districts.

Now, non-combatantants are under artillery barrages, and it seems as though the world is paying no attention.

In Homs, according to the official newspaper al-Watan, there was street to street fighting between the regime army and the rebels. The Syrian army claimed to have chased all rebels from al-Khalidiya and Bab Hud. In a another battle, the army said it dispersed rebels who had been trying to gain control of grain silos in the district of Shinshar. The regime admitted to deploying artillery bombardment against the rebels in Al-Rastan, Al-Ghantu, Al-Za’faranah, and Kfarlaha, near the lake in Hurbnafsuh. . .”

Aljazeera English has a video report:

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5 Responses

  1. Was thinking much the same these last couple of weeks. Interesting how quickly our attention wanders – quick, did you see the latest about Justin Bieber?

    Sigh.

    • In fairness, Egypt was a big story which unfortunately dwarfed other events. There was a lot that has happened in regards to the Syrian conflict. Homs has been devastated and the regime has shelled other populated settlements as well.

      A recap of further stories:

      – Islamist militants trying to attack and take over some northern towns which are pre-dominantly Shiite (not sure if they’re Alawite) and pro-Assad

      – A car bombing in a parking lot in Lebanon, in a pre-dominant Hezbollah area.

      – Russia claimed rebels used chemical weapons and has proof. Unproven elsewhere.

      – Aleppo residents protest against rebels in squeezing their supply lines in a bid to weaken the regime’s hold on the city.

      – Pro-Al Qaeda extremist militants, such as Al Nusra Front, consolidating their power through religious judicial courts, and now killed a senior Syrian rebel FSA leader.

      – Pakistan Taliban have formally confirmed their presence in Syria.

      There’s a lot more that’s happened which I’m sure I’ve missed in the last few weeks. But these were the most recent Syrian developments that got overshadowed.

    • Islamists are taking over the war. Yet another terrible decision by the West to arm the rebels.

  3. I bet quite a few folks who visit this site are familiar with both the label, and the substance, or lack thereof, of something called “Anomie.” A waypoint on the path to Ragnarök, link to en.wikipedia.org

    Here’s one characterization of “anomie:”

    Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist, introduced the concept of anomie in his book The Division of Labor in Society, published in 1893. He used anomie to describe a condition of deregulation that was occuring in society. This meant that rules on how people ought to behave with each other were breaking down and thus people did not know what to expect from one another. Anomie, simply defined, is a state where norms (expectations on behaviors) are confused, unclear or not present. It is normlessness, Durkheim felt, that led to deviant behavior. In 1897, Durkheim used the term again in his study on Suicide, referring to a morally deregulated condition. Durkheim was preoccupied with the effects of social change. He best illustrated his concept of anomie not in a discussion of crime but of suicide.

    In The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim proposed two concepts. First, that societies evolved from a simple, nonspecialized form, called mechanical, toward a highly complex, specialized form, called organic. In the former society people behave and think alike and more or less perfom the same work tasks and have the same group-oriented goals. When societies become more complex, or organic, work also becomes more complex. In this society, people are no longer tied to one another and social bonds are impersonal.

    Anomie thus refers to a breakdown of social norms and it a condition where norms no longer control the activities of members in society. Individuals cannot find their place in society without clear rules to help guide them. Changing conditions as well as adjustment of life leads to dissatisfaction, conflict, and deviance. He observed that social periods of disruption (economic depression, for instance) brought about greater anomie and higher rates of crime, suicide, and deviance.

    Durkheim felt that sudden change caused a state of anomie. The system breaks down, either during a great prosperity or a great depression, anomie is the same result.

    link to criminology.fsu.edu

    Still unclear on the concept? Now that attention is turning back a bit to that place called “Syria,” as “IsitorisitnotacoupanddidtheUShaveanythingtodowithitthistime” fades into the general irrelevance, go spend some quality time viewing the plethora of little video vignettes conveniently collected and cataloged at “Syria Video,” link to syriavideo.net That should pretty much clear up any lingering confusion or uncertainty about who rules, in the state of Anomie.

    Then tune in “hellfire video” on Youtube, for some more fun…

    It’s like the rules in a bar fight: there ain’t none.

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