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Syrians Wait Amid Fear, Anticipation and Long Lines for Groceries Fears Growing as Syrians Wait for U.S. Attack
(about 9 hours later)
BEIRUT, Lebanon — For many civilians in Damascus, fear — of harm befalling their families, of chaos, of the unknown — is the greatest burden as the threat of an international military strike on Syria looms. BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a narrow alley in the old city of Damascus, a shopkeeper who opposes the Syrian government spent Thursday as usual, drinking coffee with the other merchants who keep him company in place of long-vanished tourists. But the calm on the cobblestone street, he said, could hardly mask the fear and ambivalence over an American military strike.
A 50-year-old man who gave his name as Abu Maher drove to Damascus from the southern suburbs to try to buy three weeks’ worth of meat and canned goods. His family home is near a military base, he said, and many of its forces have moved into nearby civilian areas for cover. “Disorder, revenge. Sectarian violence,” he said in a text message, ticking off what he sees as the worst potential consequences of the missile strikes that American officials have threatened against President Bashar al-Assad’s government, which they blame for a deadly chemical attack last week.
His best option, he said, was to “close my door and wait to see what happens.” In Damascus, as people stock up on food and water and the government closes central streets and moves troops and matériel into residential areas and schools, even staunch supporters of the uprising against Mr. Assad are divided on the looming attack.
Government security forces have been decamping, moving troops and matériel not only into residential areas, but also into schools, according to other Syrians interviewed in Damascus, where the expectation of imminent strikes has halted normal life. Rebels, too, have been moving, seeking to put many miles between themselves and any military targets — as well as government forces that may be enraged and bloodthirsty after any strike. Some rebels said they hoped to take advantage of the chaos after any attacks to mount their own. Many here feel even a limited strike threatens to inject a new, unpredictable dynamic into a civil war that has largely spared their storied city. And some opponents of the government are loath to see direct American military intervention in their fight, fearful it will hijack and discredit the uprising they have waged for more than two years at great cost.
The prospect of direct Western military intervention against President Bashar al-Assad to punish him for a poison-gas attack last week for which the United States, Britain and France blame his forces could add a volatile new element to Syria’s civil war, damaging his forces, rallying his foes and hardening the international divides over how to stop a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people. Though some called early on for NATO intervention, others said they wanted support and arms from Washington — not an attack by the American military.
While the government has remained defiant, denying that it used chemical weapons and vowing to defend itself, many Syrians are bracing for the worst, some with a deep sense of fatalism. “We know what is best for our country,” said Fahad Darwish, 33, a supermarket worker in Damascus. “We don’t need the Americans to do it for us, and we will win this war by the Free Syrian Army,” he added, referring to the loose-knit rebel coalition.
“I bought enough food and alcohol, so I will die happy,” joked a 22-year-old saleswoman who gave only her first name, Nour, in Damascus, where lines built at grocery stores, banks and passport offices. People in the Syrian capital still have a lot to lose. As war ravages the densely populated towns surrounding it, central Damascus, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, remains largely intact. Supporters and opponents of the government still live side by side; as the shopkeeper put it, “People in Damascus are still coexisting.”
Many Syrians view the prospect of strikes though a lens of deep distrust of the United States’ motives. Even many who hate Mr. Assad loathe the United States for backing Israel. Also coloring views are bitter memories of the American-led invasion of neighboring Iraq in 2003 and the ensuing civil war that sent hundreds of thousands of refugees streaming into Syria. But that peace is vulnerable to an American attack.
Those legacies have left many in the opposition deeply reluctant to support American strikes — even if they see them as necessary after the poison-gas attack last week that left hundreds dead near Damascus. “They could have defended the values from Day 1 of our revolution and could have helped us, but they waited till the country was destroyed,” Khalid al-Khalifa, a novelist in Damascus, wrote on Facebook, declaring that he opposed American intervention.
“We have reached a state where the ideas of having dignity and caring about your country’s sovereignty are no longer something that we can hang onto when our people are being killed in this way that has no dignity,” said Rami Jarrah, a Syrian who runs the Cairo-based Activists News Association. “I am not happy, but there is no other solution. I know that if we don’t do something, we’ll lose.” “Tell me when did the invaders bring freedom?” he wrote. “The fall of the regime will satisfy me, but I don’t want our revolution to be incomplete after all this blood.”
Others welcomed what they saw as overdue retribution. “It is time to punish the Assad regime,” said an antigovernment activist in the northern Damascus neighborhood of Barzeh, where many people displaced by violence have come to stay. “We have been waiting for this moment for two years, and now it seems very close.” Even though American. officials say the attack is not aimed at toppling Mr. Assad or shifting momentum on the battlefield, residents fear it could cause civilian casualties and unleash uncontrollable forces. Some rebels said they hoped to take advantage of the chaos after any attacks to launch their own, including pushing deeper into Damascus, which shelters many who have fled fighting elsewhere. Others expect government forces and loyalists to be enraged and searching for revenge in the aftermath.
Across town in the neighborhood of Mezze 86, a security stronghold that is home to many military families and members of Mr. Assad’s Alawite sect, people were packing up and heading out of the city for safer ground. Some government opponents bitterly note that the American intervention comes after 100,000 Syrians have died, and that with foreign intervention already rife — their movement hijacked by foreign jihadists and thwarted by Russia, Iran, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite fighters — there is no clear sign the American moves will help them.
An employee of the military housing authority who gave only his first name, Samir, said he had sent his wife and their 3-year-old daughter to their family home in Tartus, on the Mediterranean coast, while he stayed behind to join any military reaction to a strike. Russia maintains a small military base at the Tartus port. Others reluctantly welcomed the attack.
“Having dignity and caring about your country’s sovereignty is no longer something that we can hang onto when our people are being killed in this way that has no dignity,” said Rami Jarrah, a Syrian who runs the Cairo-based Activists News Association. “I am not happy, but there is no other solution. I know that if we don’t do something, we’ll lose.”
People braced for the worst, scurrying to passport offices, banks and grocery stores, planning to skip work and school, and posting pleas on social media for seats in cars headed to the Lebanese border.
“I bought enough food and alcohol, so I will die happy,” joked a 22-year-old saleswoman who gave only her first name, Nour.
In the neighborhood of Mezze 86, home to many military families and members of Mr. Assad’s Alawite sect, people were packing up and heading out of the city.
An employee of the military housing authority who gave only his first name, Samir, said he had sent his wife and their 3-year-old daughter to their family home in Tartus, on the Mediterranean coast, while he had stayed behind to join any military response.
“I am ready to fight the Americans and defend my country,” he said. “We have no other choice: victory or death,” he added, reciting a line often used by rebels.“I am ready to fight the Americans and defend my country,” he said. “We have no other choice: victory or death,” he added, reciting a line often used by rebels.
While the extent of government preparations was not clear, Damascus residents said security forces had blocked traffic on some main roads and unstaffed checkpoints. A Damascus teacher who gave only his first name, Hazem, said the Ministry of Education had handed control of a number of schools in central neighborhoods to the security services.
A Damascus teacher who gave only his first name, Hazem, said the Ministry of Education had handed control of a number of schools to the security services. “Since schools are protected internationally, many are occupied by the security forces, and they have moved in their gear and arsenals,” he said.
“Since schools are protected internationally, many are occupied by the security forces and they have moved in their gear and arsenals,” he said. Rebels, too, have been moving, seeking to avoid being hit by the strikes or attacked in retribution by government forces, and preparing to sweep into bombed bases and scavenge arms.
Some of Syria’s disparate rebel groups and opposition members said they had left homes and bases because they feared the strikes could unleash a harsh government response. “If the United States decides to hit, we are expecting more brutality and massacres from the regime,” said Bassel Darwish, an activist in central Syria who said he had fled his office for fear of the strikes. He said he worried that Free Syrian Army camps could be hit, and that the government would attack villages, killing civilians.
“If the United States decides to hit, we are expecting more brutality and massacres from the regime all around Syria,” said Bassel Darwish, an activist in central Syria who said he had fled to the mountains. “We fear that the attacks might reach the headquarters of both the Free Army and government forces and the regime might fiercely attack the villages, killing more civilians.” Others laid plans to capitalize on the distraction.
Others laid plans to capitalize on any international strikes. “If the international community moves, we will too,” said a rebel fighter near Damascus who goes by the name Abu Tamam.
“If the international community moves, we will, too,” said a rebel fighter near Damascus who goes by the name Abu Tamam. “We expect a security vacuum in the capital with the beginning of U.S. operations, so we will enter the capital with the beginning of the U.S. operations hopefully to control large parts.” That is the shopkeeper’s greatest fear. Though he supports the rebels, he said he would personally confront them if they tried to enter the old city — because, he said, the government would not hesitate to bomb it, as occurred in the historic souks of Aleppo to the north.
But reflecting the deep division in the rebel movement, one Kuwaiti fighter and financier from the extremist Nusra Front, which is linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq, said members of his group considered American strikes an “inevitable evil” that could target them. Reflecting the deep division among those fighting Mr. Assad, one fighter, a Kuwaiti from the extremist Nusra Front, which is linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq, called American strikes an “inevitable evil” that could target his group.
“I expect that the United States will attack or try to attack our bases, and they will announce that the Syrian regime did it to start chaos in the region,” said the fighter, Abu Thur al-Muteiri. He said the Nusra Front had moved its fighters to new locations.“I expect that the United States will attack or try to attack our bases, and they will announce that the Syrian regime did it to start chaos in the region,” said the fighter, Abu Thur al-Muteiri. He said the Nusra Front had moved its fighters to new locations.
“Sooner or later,” he said, “we will be targeted by the U.S.A.” “Sooner or later, we will be targeted by the U.S.A.,” he said.

Reporting was contributed by Hwaida Saad from Beirut; Karam Shoumali from Antakya, Turkey; Hala Droubi from Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and employees of The New York Times in Damascus and Beirut.  

But for most it was just a matter of hunkering down, and waiting. A 50-year-old man who gave his name as Abu Maher drove to Damascus from the southern suburbs to try to buy three weeks’ worth of meat and canned goods. His family home is near a military base, he said, and many of its forces have moved into nearby civilian areas for cover.
  “I will close my door and wait to see what happens,” he said.

Reporting was contributed by Hwaida Saad from Beirut; Hala Droubi from Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Karam Shoumali from Istanbul; and employees of The New York Times from Beirut and Damascus, Syria.