Syria’s civil war: An update

Air Date: August 9, 2012

A Syrian boy looks at the bodies of nine Syrians found dead in an open field and taken to the town of Anadan outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. (AP Photo)

Hour 1

The conflict in Syria has claimed more than 17,000 lives by some estimates. What started as a peaceful protest to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime almost a year and a half ago has turned into a bloody civil war and one that is increasingly sectarian. For two weeks now, fierce fighting has ravaged the country’s most populous city, Aleppo, as government forces try to take back rebel held neighborhoods. But analysts are predicting the collapse of the Assad’s government, particularly after 20 high-level government defections, including Syria’s prime minister. This hour, we get an update on the crisis, talk about the country’s future, and discuss that the international community should play in the conflict or in a transition? We’ll talk with SAMER ABBOUD, an assistant professor of International Studies at Arcadia University and a Fellow at the Center for Syrian Studies at the University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland and STEPHEN STARR, a journalist and author of the new book “Revolt in Syria: Eye-Witness to the Uprising.”

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[audio: 080912_100630.mp3]

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