A view of buildings damaged by what activists say is shelling by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, in the Damascus suburbs of Arbeen August 24, 2013.REUTERS/Ammar Dar
Divided Damascus Apprehensive, Hopeful Over Western Strike -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Shops in Damascus are open, and traffic chokes the main thoroughfares, but the mood in the capital, exhausted by more than two years of civil war, is growing restive as Syria faces the prospect of a military strike by Western powers.
Despite the bustle of daily life in those areas of the city not directly caught up in conflict, there is apprehension at what foreign intervention would look like but also hope.
Western powers could attack within days to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a poison gas attack last week that killed hundreds of civilians, envoys from the United States and its allies have told rebels fighting for his overthrow, according to sources who were present.
"The big fear is that they'll make the same mistakes they made in Libya and Iraq. They'll hit civilian targets, and then they'll cry that it was by mistake, but we'll get killed in the thousands," said Ziyad, a man in his fifties.
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My Comment: After two years of warfare .... the citizens of Damascus must be war weary to the extreme. And while many are hoping that such a military strike will alleviate their suffering .... put a quick end to the civil war .... I doubt that it will .... in fact .... there is a very good chance that it may now escalate to levels that would make the past two years peaceful in comparison.
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