Fear and Loathing Fear In Damascus: Letters from a dissident and other links

(The post-title is not in reference to my life here, but of many Syrians)

Opinions and analysis on the street regarding the recent protests and killings veer from one extreme to the other. A Syrian friend's star-struck gaze at the television during Assad's speech, along with exaggerated sighs of endearment, resembled that of a tween at a Justin Bieber concert, while others used expletives to describe what they were seeing. Regardless of your opinion here, however, it’s wise to keep it to yourself. Amid all the speculation, one thing is for sure: the administration has been successful at spreading its own version of the truth, which has contributed to an already abundant amount of confusion.

The following are some of the better articles on Syria that I've read recently:

Syria: The Republic of Fear - written by a Syrian dissident about the secret police and the challenges of organizing and assembling for change.

The Delusions of Bashar al-Assad - opinion piece arguing that "The rhetoric of resistance no longer conceals the repressive policies of the Syrian regime."

The Ghosts of Syria - on the secret police and recent deaths in Lattakia.