Opinion: Syrians have flown the cage. We must not lose our freedom again
Like a bird that has just flown its cage, Ahmad rides on his motorbike, navigating every small road in Homs. The tears on his face are not only the result of cold wind - but also of joy. For he is not only rejoicing the fall of the authoritarian regime of the Assad family, but also finally enjoying the fresh change of scenery after seven years of what might be fairly described as house arrest.
Like hundreds of thousands of young men who were subject to the compulsory military draft, his movement was confined to an area of less than two sq km around his parental home, where he lives, to avoid being pulled at a security check and sucked into the "service".
The service was, until Bashar al-Assad was toppled, one of the most dreaded fates a Syrian could meet. Under Assad, the connotations of that service meant that young men were set against their own kin; if you were a soldier, the chances were you would be ordered to kill one of your own, anytime the superiors decided to label him or her an enemy.
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