The Syrian government says it has control over the seven-week uprising in the country where many protesters have been wounded, arrested or killed. Human rights groups say at least 580 people have been killed since March. A Syrian official told the press that President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown was necessary to squelch, what she called, an armed uprising. Correspondent for The New York Times, Anthony Shadid says that the government is positioning the struggle as necessary to protect the Alawites, the minority ruling group. The alternative, according to the government, is chaos.
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