Pro Regime Intellectuals: A Leader Who Cannot Protect our Sons Must Step Down

Pro-regime writers and activists launched a media campaign on social media websites to express their burgeoning disgruntlement at the Assad regime and its media outlets, which they described as a “real partner” in the slaughter of their sons. Ahmed Al-Ahmad, a staunch supporter of the Assad regime, said that “our sons are not puppets for sale or slaughter. A leader who cannot protect our sons must step down, whoever it was; enough of favoritism and betrayal. There are lethal weapons that can wipe Al Raqqa off the face of earth, but treason is behind what happened in that province. I was the first to tell my sons to leave the battlefront, and also asked my brother-in-laws to think about who are we dying for? To recapture Al Raqqa? Enough with blood, slaughter, hypocrisy and betrayal. I know many people will be surprised by my speech.” One of the organizers of the “Where Are They?” media campaign directed inflammatory remarks to the leaders of the army of the Assad regime following the publishing of videos showing pro-Assad soldiers being executed by ISIS militants in Al Raqqa. “ISIS militants drive our soldiers like dogs while our political leadership is busy opening recreation centers. They left them to die after they had evacuated the Iranian and Russian officers, while we are being victimized for the sake of power and self-enrichment. It is time to awake!” Nasr al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, said that ISIS’s takeover of the Tabaqa Air Base in eastern Syrian comes within a series of the Assad regime’s systematic handover of its positions in eastern Syria to ISIS. “The Assad regime is seeking, through this tactic, to win the sympathy of the international community and to give the impression that it is a target for terrorism. Moreover, Assad’s sacrificing of 650 soldiers who were left to die in the air base while sending helicopters to evacuate the officers clearly shows that Assad’s sole concern is not the safety of his soldiers but the survival of his regime. It also proves that Assad is ready to sacrifice his own soldiers in return for achieving political ends.” (Source: Agencies)