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| Assad's Lionesses |
Charlie had “Angles,” the late Libyan leader
Moammar Gaddafi “Amazons” and now Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “Lionesses”
(a play on his name, Assad means lion in Arabic).
The new brigade of women is said to be recruited to man checkpoints and carry
out security operations and are part of a new paramilitary force.
The “Lionesses for National Defense” have already been deployed
in Homs, where they have been spotted guarding areas where residents still
largely support Assad’s regime.
“The Amazonian Guard” was the unofficial name to Gaddafi’s all-female elite cadre
of bodyguards also known as “The Revolutionary Nuns,” and “The Green Nuns.”
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| Gaddafi's Amazons |
The
group was formed in the early 1980s, after Gaddafi's official resignation as
Libyan head of state in favor of the title of "Brotherly Leader and Guide
of the First of September Great Revolution of the Great Socialist People's
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya."
In the
1970s, American crime drama television series “Charlie’s Angels,” the
never-seen Charlie recruits three women to work for his private investigation
agency. It was one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally
reserved for men.
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| Charlie's Angels |
“Charlie’s
Angels” was broadcast in the United States on the ABC Television Network from
1976 to 1981 and was one of the most successful series of the 1970s. In 2000, it
was turned into an action comedy film and followed with the 2003 sequel,
“Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.”
But back
to Assad’s Lionesses, I wonder how they reacted when they heard or read that rape was a
significant feature of their government’s war on its own citizens.
What
will the Lionesses do when they see elderly Syrians and Syrian women and
children being killed?
What
will the Lionesses do when they witness warplanes dropping barrel and cluster bombs
on their compatriots’ homes and bread lines?
Will the
Lionesses’ security duties be to kill more Syrians?
Back to
you Lionesses -- we are watching.
