Work cat.: U.S. Cong. House. Comm. on Foreign Affairs. Subcomm. on the Middle East and South Asia. Shifting sands: political transitions in the Middle East, 2011: pt. 2, p. 1 (in Syria, Bashar al-Assad's ... murder of peaceful protesters) p. 6 (killing, torture, detention, and abuse of peaceful protesters in Syria)

Wikipedia, Mar. 28, 2012: 2011--2012 Syrian uprising (ongoing internal violent conflict in Syria, part of the wider Arab Spring; public demonstrations began on Jan. 26, 2011, and developed into a nationwide uprising. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, the overthrow of his government, and an end to nearly five decades of Ba'ath Party rule; Syrian government deployed the Syrian Army to quell the uprising, and several cities were besieged; in late 2011, civilians and army defectors formed fighting units, which began an insurgency campaign against the Syrian Army)

New York times online, Mar. 28, 2012: World: Syria (unrest; United Nations in Dec. 2011 called the verge of civil war)

BBC news online, Mar. 28, 2012: article, Dec. 9, 2011 (Syrian protests trigger new deadly clashes)

Google, Mar. 28, 2012: (hit counts in millions, all qualified by Syria or Syrian and 2011-2012: revolution: 391 (includes many Facebook, YouTube, and blogs); protests: 250; uprising: 143; civil war: 131; unrest: 106; riots: 88; demonstrations: 60; rebellion: 58; revolt: 38)

New York times online archive, searched Mar. 29, 2012: (hit counts for 2011-2012 qualified by Syria or Syrian: unrest: 423, protests: 331, uprising: 305, demonstrations: 237, riots: 154 (however, term frequently lacks prominence or appears as part of indexing term), civil war: 120, revolt: 85, rebellion: 42)

White House web site, Sept. 12, 2013: Remarks by the president in address to the nation on Syria, Sept. 10, 2013 (Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war. Over 100,000 people have been killed. Millions have fled the country. In that time, America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help the moderate opposition, and to shape a political settlement. But I have resisted calls for military action, because we cannot resolve someone else's civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.)

The guardian newspaper WWW site, Sept. 12, 2013: article John Kerry gives Syria week to hand over chemical weapons or face attack, dated Sept. 9, 2013:(Kerry quoted as saying, "We will be able to hold Bashar al-Assad accountable without engaging in troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort in a very limited, very targeted, short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for Syria's civil war.")

Britannica online, Sept. 12, 2013: Syrian Civil War (In March 2011 Syria's government, led by Pres. Bashar al-Assad, faced an unprecedented challenge to its authority when pro-democracy protests erupted throughout the country. Protesters demanded an end to the authoritarian practices of the Assad regime, in place since Assad's father, Ḥafiz al-Assad, became president in 1971. The Syrian government used violence to suppress demonstrations, making extensive use of police, military, and paramilitary forces. Amateur footage and eyewitness accounts, the primary sources of information in a country largely closed to foreign journalists, showed the Syrian security forces beating and killing protesters and firing indiscriminately into crowds. Opposition militias began to form in 2011, and by 2012 the conflict had expanded into a full-fledged civil war.)

New York Times WWW site, Sept. 12, 2013: hit counts limited to the past 12 months (Syria + "civil war": ca. 5,000 hits; Syria + revolution: ca. 9,600 hits; Syria + unrest: ca. 3,600 hits; Syria + protest: ca. 7,000 hits, chiefly in the context of historical background)

Washington post WWW site, Sept. 12, 2013: hit counts limited to the past 12 months (Syria + "civil war": 1,145 hits; Syria + revolution: 245 hits; Syria + unrest: 215 hits; Syria + protests: 491 hits)

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