Fast-forward 30 years. Assad's son, Bashar, is blasting civilians in Homs with rockets and heavy artillery. Once again, the regime says any bloodshed is the work of "armed terrorist groups."
In 2012, however, we can see what the regime is doing in real time. Brave Syrian civilians are risking their lives to take cellphone videos and relay them via YouTube. They broadcast live accounts to CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp. via Skype with mortar fire booming in the background.
We watch scenes of wounded children, pulverized apartments, and hospitals filled with wounded but lacking supplies. The gut response is "Do something!" But there is a huge disconnect between what we see and what we can do.
Not surprisingly, Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), and Joseph Lieberman (I., Conn.) are calling for the United States and its allies to aid and arm the Syrian opposition.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA), made up of defectors from Assad's forces, is reportedly receiving some help from Persian Gulf Arab states and managing to capture or buy small arms within Syria; it even has acquired antitank weapons.
Experts such as Jeffrey White of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy believe the FSA (whose current strength he puts at 4,000 to 7,000 troops) "can contribute to a process that causes the [Syrian] army or regime to break" through a war of attrition, especially if the rebels get more antitank weapons.
But the Syrian army rebels are up against a huge government army of about 300,000 men. Its top generals and elite forces are all members of Assad's minority Alawite clan (unlike the mostly Sunni foot soldiers). Backed by Iran, armed by Russia, they will fight to the end.
