[dennisw]

This is how Arabs deal with opposition. Assads pop killed up to 30,000 at Hama by shelling the city. Then had to be persuaded to tear the place down, he wanted it left as a warning. Jordan killed thousands when they expelled the PLO.

In retrospect I understand why Assad decimated Hama in 1983. That city was ruled by the Muslim brotherhood and was their base of operations. They tried to assassinate Hafez Assad.
You know Wafa Sultan? Her professor was murdered in front of her in 1979 by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which btw is Sunni and Assad is Alewite which is much closer to Shiite. This murder was the turning point for Wafa Sultan.

[SJackson]

In retrospect I understand why Assad decimated Hama in 1983. That city was ruled by the Muslim brotherhood and was their base of operations. They tried to assassinate Hafez Assad.

I understand the why, just pointing out the difference in tactics and media coverage. The US and Israel do all they can to avoid civilian casualties. Arabs, understanding that terrorists mix in with the civilian population, simiply surround the place, turn off the utilities, and use artillery. And no one says a thing, that's what Arabs do after all.

Some media coverage of Israel's operations in the Tripoli area last year.

Excerpts

Fleeing Lebanese Speak of Indiscriminate Bombing
by Dahr Jamail

ADDABBAOUSIYEH (northern Lebanese border) - People fleeing the bombing of Lebanon say the Israelis are targeting civilian neighbourhoods and vital infrastructure, and not just Hezbollah centres.

The bombing has killed more than 100 Lebanese civilians so far.

"Everything is being bombed," a teacher from the United States who was on vacation in Beirut told IPS. "It's terror. We've literally been terrorised."

"We have not slept for three days because we were living in terror and never knew when the Israelis would bomb us since they were hitting everything," he told IPS.

"And now all we can do is worry, since the Israelis are taking it out on the innocent people."

"I saw them bomb a hospital yesterday," he told IPS. "I left just hours ago. They are bombing everything -- houses, casinos, fuel stations and so many bridges."

"The warplanes bombed the Palestinian camps in Tripoli, they are attacking up and down the coast, and the port in Tripoli was also attacked."

[SJackson]

If I recall correctly, the charge against Sharon which caused him to resign was essentially that he didn’t understand Arab barbarism. Muslims attacked Shatilla a couple years later killing 600 or 700, wounding in the thousands, no one said a word.