Is Syria descending into civil war?

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Some fear that taking up arms would only give the government an excuse to hit harder. The United Nations Security Council is considering a draft resolution which calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

To discuss these issues Al Jazeera invites: Samir al-Taqi, the head of the Orient research centre and a prominent Syrian academic who formerly advised Bashar al-Assad, but who has now parted ways with the regime; David Mack, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs; and Dimitri Babich, a political analyst for the Russia Profile Magazine.

Watch the video: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/...618333832.html

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This article answers several questions that have been arising at this time including:

How is the international community reacting?
The Syrian regime has been under international pressure to stop the crackdown -- and the U.N., the United States, the European Union and some members of the Arab League have called for President al-Assad to step down.

What did the Arab League monitors achieve in Syria?
One expert says the Arab League mission, which began on December 26, kept the world's attention focused on Syria at a time when attention had been slipping away.

Will the international community intervene like it did in Libya?
Nothing will happen in terms of military intervention in Syria unless Russia changes its current stance, according to Middle East professor Chris Phillips from Queen Mary, University of London.

Is the opposition united against the al-Assad regime?
The longer the fighting goes on in Syria, activists and Western diplomats say, the more radicalized the revolution is becoming.

Follow up video and article relating to the future of Syria is on CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/30/world/...html?hpt=hp_c1