You use violence against these protestors then the dead become martyrs and it encourages others to join the revolution. Revolutionary jihad. In Egypt it didn't started off reasonably small then Mubarak's security used force and others followed and things just grew until it reached a point of no return where Mubarak could no longer survive. The more people Assad kills the more people turn out to rise up against him. If the man had been smart he would have used the bribe approach. Call for an official day of calm and make promises on reforms without specifying. Hold a national day of celebrations .. fireworks, street parties all at the presidents personal expense. Create a jobs program get the unemployed young Syrians working harder and thinking about revolution less. A good old fashioned bribe can work wonders when you want to put down a revolution.

The Syrian regime applies the passive resistance against Israel. It keeps Golan borders quiet. It tricks USA & the west with promises (all lies) but in the same time it supports & encourages hizbollah and they have strong alliance with Iran. Even though Israel enjoys some peace on the glan borders for the time being, but on the long term, if Assad stays in power, Israel will have a very hard job to protect its borders

The Zionnistforever's comment cannot be applied in Syria nor in any other country. The arab world is still living in the 18th century. Their main slogan is: "Kill your rival first, then negotiate with him"!!!