Will Syria be immune from the Arab Spring? The regime is perfectly willing to use lethal force (as usual) to stifle dissent. And it's hard to believe President Bashar Assad would cave to anything less than armed rebels beating down his bedroom door.

Still, this latest protest shows that there may be some hope:

Update at 11:17 a.m. ET: Witnesses say Syrian troops opened fire today during a protest in Latakia, the AP reports. It is the first reported clash between security forces and demonstrators since a morning speech by President Bashar Assad, who promised job opportunities and a campaign corruption. Assad also blamed much of last week's popular protests on "conspirators."
 

Witnesses, who asked to remain unidentified for security reasons, say police opened fire during a protest by about 100 people — although it was not immediately clear whether they were firing in the air or at the protesters, the AP reports.

Update at 11:06 a.m. ET: Al-Jazeera TV reports that Syrian actvists are very disapponted with Assad's speech and have called for more demonstrations after Friday prayers.
 

 

Update at 8:28

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Roughly one year ago, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai suggested publicly to shocked international colleagues that if Western powers didn't stop asking him to end the corruption and increasing authoritarianism of his regime, he would quit politics and join the Taliban.

Karzai's bluster was met with shock, disbelief and finally boiling anger. Karzai's position owes everything to the billions of dollars poured into the country by generous international donors -- not to mention the sacrifices of thousands of killed and maimed ISAF soldiers. Those of us who support the international mission found ourselves undercut by the one leader in Afghanistan who ought to be its boldest champion. One of the worst aspects is that Karzai couldn't possibly justify his threat on pragmatic grounds, since poll after poll show that roughly 90 percent of Afghans despise the Taliban and rightly see them as the enemy. So Karzai's outburst wasn't ordinary lizard-brained demagoguery -- it was crazy talk.

Confidence in Karzai, never all that strong to begin with thanks to years of double-talk and government robbery schemes, has never recovered from that incident. No one was expecting Jacksonian democracy to spring up overnight, but neither can we forgive a decade...More >>

The United Nations Human Rights Council addressed the subject of the dire state of the human rights of Syrian citizens this week. The discussion did not, however, relate to the Syrians being shot at , murdered or imprisoned by their own regime in the town of Dara’a in southern Syria even whilst the council session took place. The resolution – proposed by Cuba, North Korea, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Venezuela – related solely to the human rights of “Syrian citizens” of the Golan Heights.

Whilst we are by now regrettably familiar with the UNHRC’s practice of sidestepping the issue of the human rights of millions of people who live under some of the oppressive regimes which also hold seats in that institution,  here we have an instance in which what should be an internationally respected body is fabricating supposed abuses for purely political ends. Sadly, some nations on the council which should know better – including the UK, France and Belgium - chose to abstain from the vote...More >>

Today's message from Hamas to the United Nations:

"Hey guys! We've been launching rockets indiscriminately at Israeli towns and cities from Gaza for the last week or so. The problem is that the Israelis keep firing back!

"We'd like you to get them to stop shooting at us so that we can kill them easier. Have a nice day and thank you for your ongoing support for our Jew-killing campaign."

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