© The Associated Press
The Syrian government claims members of the security forces were killed in a rampage
The Syrian government claims members of the security forces were killed in a rampage
The reported killing of more than 120 security forces personnel in and around the town in recent days is by far the biggest frontal challenge to Bashar al-Assad's regime since the revolt began in March.
The authorities have made it clear they will act decisively and forcefully to restore control.
It is a challenge they cannot ignore without admitting that they have lost control of a significant chunk of territory.
Preparations are under way for what local residents fear will be "another massacre", with troops and tanks from dependably loyalist units reported to be making their way towards the area.
The current lull is clearly the calm before the storm.
Syrian state television has been preparing the way for the campaign, repeating gruesome footage of some of the dead bodies, interviewing wounded survivors and loyal citizens calling for army intervention, and declaring that there is a "popular consensus" behind a military crackdown.
Activist internet sites, in counterbalance, have been carrying footage of night-time vigils and demonstrations in many towns and villages throughout the country, declaring solidarity with Jisr al-Shughour and calling for the overthrow of the regime.
Comment: It would seem that recent "poster child" of this revolution and her story of woe, which western media has been so happy to promote, doesn't actually exist. As to the numbers of people killed by Syrian troops in recent months, if the psy-ops campaign against Libya in the run up to Operation Odyssey Dawn is anything to go by, then the numbers are probably inflated and don't take into account that Syrian authorities are dealing with an armed insurrection led by 'previously unknown terror groups'.
Just like the Kuwaiti ambassador's daughter crying before Congress about Saddam's troops throwing babies out of hospital incubators in Kuwait in the run-up to the Gulf War...
Just like the wrong image of Neda Soltani was strobe-flashed across the world after someone (among many others) was murdered under mysterious circumstances during the orchestrated riots that followed Iran's presidential election in 2009...
Just like Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian activist supposedly stoned to death by 'them brutal Iranians', accompanied feature articles about her that were carried by mainstream media outlets the world over. SOTT.net found out that this story was first leaked by Radio Farda, the Iranian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a CIA propaganda mill, in conjunction with The Media Line, a Zionist propaganda mill. This Jerusalem Post article broached the story of the non-stoning to the mainstream media on June 30, 2010...
Just like the Libyan 'rebels' telling us that "Gaddafi's army will kill half a million", when in all probability the 'rebels' are actually a clandestine unit of the Secret Team.
How can anyone have faith in ANY Western media story that paints Iran or Libya or Syria in a negative light when the psychopaths in Washington and Tel Aviv have been openly stating that they want to invade these countries as they did Iraq and slaughter millions more. If you fall for this one and agree with British Foreign Secretary William Hague that it's time to carpet-bomb Syria, then you've fallen for the oldest trick in the book: the pity ploy psy-ops. How many times do you want to played for a fool?