Sharif Abdel Kouddous writes:
Emad Khareeta says he had no choice but to defect. The 23-year-old
member of the Free Syrian Army stands outside his family home in a
deserted section of town. Shards of concrete and glass litter the
ground, the result of nearby shelling. The street is dark and quiet,
Emad’s face only discernible in the glow of his cigarette. He tells his
story slowly.
In April 2010, Emad was called up for his mandatory army service.
When the revolution broke out in March 2011, he was deployed to various
parts of the country—but it was his time in Homs, where he was sent on
December 31, 2011, that compelled him to leave his unit. Sometimes
called the ‘capital of the revolution,’ the restive city in western
Syria had been under siege by the regime of Bashar al-Assad since May
and was the site of some of its bloodiest crackdowns. Emad describes
indiscriminate killing and widespread looting by fellow soldiers, as
well as an incident that deeply affected him, when an unarmed truck
driver shot in the arm and legs was left to bleed to death in front of
him. Ordered to fire on protesters at demonstrations, he says he aimed
away.
