Tagged: Bashar Assad

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

As the bloodletting in Syria carries on, President Bashar Assad's government doesn't have a lot of allies left.

The conflict in Syria is now nearly a year and a half old, and there appears to be no end in sight.

August was the deadliest month yet, with thousands of people, mostly civilians, killed in fighting around the country. While anti-government rebels are making advances, government troops are digging in their heels.

It started as a protest movement. Now, analysts in the U.S. and the region agree, the conflict in Syria is a civil war.

A Civil War

Even Syrian President Bashar Assad came close to acknowledging as much in a speech last week.

Syrian president Bashar Assad made one of his rare, pre-recorded appearances on Syrian television today, proving that he is not dead and retains control of the Syrian government. He shows up in a carefully produced setting in the president's palace while orchestral music (not unlike Pirates of the Caribbean) swells behind him.