[sutekidane]

Syrian opposition thought that they can win this fight by peaceful protests, some in the opposition are still thinking like that. That is naive, I agree with Ryzorian on this one.

Its not 2500 people dead, I saw some place that Army defectors mentioned that 5000 people are dead already.

The Syrian regime convinced the Alawites that if the regime is toppled they will be doomed. In reality it is the regime that is digging the grave for 10% Alawite minority.

Here are the steps the opposition needs to take:

- Opposition has finally united in a council in Turkey so that is a good step
- now they need to convince the minorities like Kurds, Christians and Alawites that they will not be persecuted in a new Democratic Syria under majoritarian or Salafi rule, they need to be won over with real promises of minority protection and effective stakeholder role in the democratic process
- army defectors must be organized and helped from Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi border camps to supply arms and run training camps for volunteer fighters
- main weapon of Syrian army are tanks and armored personnel carriers, so these has to be neutralized with anti tank RPG's
- minority Kurds, Christians and Alawites should be given a prominent role to lead this fight so they have the opportunity to prove their loyalty for the Syrian armed struggle for freedom

There is enough willing volunteers to fight in Syria, funding can come from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and other international sources. A comprehensive plan need to be made for the armed struggle and then go for execution of the plan. If the Syrian Air force is provoked to respond then demand can be made for No Fly Zone, but they will avoid using the Air force for this reason. Turkey is waiting in the sidelines and watching the situation, Iran is putting pressure on them not to intervene.

Bottom line is, Syrian opposition need to make a plan and take the decisive step, only then others will come forward to help if they see a real plan and action on the ground. For too many months Syrian opposition wasted their effort in a peaceful movement, while Assad took the opportunity to try to cleanse the opposition leadership. I think it is dawning on the opposition that this tactic is a mistake on murderous regimes. Better late than never. Gaddafi made the mistake of large scale killing and using Air force, so international community had an excuse to intervene - Assad is an idiot but shrewd enough to not repeat these mistakes. Also unlike Libya, Syria does not have much oil.

So in short, make a plan, get partners for fund, arms, border camps etc. and start executing the plan. Gandhi's peaceful protest has its place, this is not one of them.