The Daily Clue #2: The Hama Massacre
Syria, 1982.
Hafez Assad, the dictator of Syria had outlawed all political parties except his own (the Baath Party) and opposition began to surface from the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood had the goal of overthrowing the Syrian government. This of course didn’t sit well with Assad, who went on to do what many an Arab dictator has done when facing similar problems.
The city of Hama had been more persistent with it’s criticisms of Assad and the Muslim Brotherhood had a relatively strong foothold there, according to Syrian government sources at the time, 200 armed men.
Assad wanted to set an example.
Starting February 2nd the town was put under siege and suffered severe military attacks (according to some sources including chemical weapons) resulting in anywhere from 20,000 - 40,000 civilian deaths, depending on the source. This of course included women, children and the elderly. Assad wanted to set an example and so he did. Today, his son still reigns Syria.
