December 21st, 2011: Syria - Genocide or Not?

The protests in Syria appears to be getting worse and worse as the days pass, and hundreds of Syrians continue to perish. The violence is horrendous, but many wonder: is this a genocide? In my opinion, the answer is no. The definition of genocide is: "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group." This conflict is no struggle between ethnicities or religion; this issue is only a political conflict, and the legal definition of genocide excludes political groups. Despite the violence not fitting the definition of genocide, the conflict still isn't a genocide, since the president of Syria isn't trying to exterminate all Syrians or any ethnic or religious group for that matter; this struggle only shows how a president desperate to stay in power can have the guts to kill his own people to keep that power. I feel this conflict is more of a civil war, since Syrians are fighting against their own government.