Syria's endless cycle of violence

The rebellion in Syria, which can now technically be described as a civil war, continues to rage. End game scenarios are difficult to predict; however, what is clear is the that rebellion has grown and that fighting is impacting on much of the country, including the state's two primary urban areas, Damascus and Aleppo. Below is a recently updated video of Syrian rebels shelling (seemingly at will) the Damascus International Airport using medium range mortars. Rebels have also infiltrated the capital and carried out a number of devastating bombings. The video below shows a car bomb in Damascus on Christmas Day. With the appetite for war so strong still in Syria one senses that this is a war that could last a very long time. Even if Assad is removed somehow, the consequences of 45,000 dead on the national psyche will be hard to erase and the prospect of endless bloodshed fueled by political, ethnic and religious hatred grows more likely.