"Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city; And it will be a ruinous heap.

ISAIAH 17
1 The burden against Damascus.

"Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city;
And it will be a ruinous heap. NKJV

"Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city.
And will become a fallen ruin." NASB

"See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins." NIV

"Look, Damascus will disappear! It will become a heap of ruins." NLT

2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken;
They will be for flocks which lie down,
and no one will make them afraid.

3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,"
Says the Lord of hosts.

With each passing day, it seems that this prophecy from the book of Isaiah is quickly coming to its final destination. Hard line president Assad seems to be ruthless when it comes to his grip of power. Thousands have died in the streets and continue to do so daily. Reported today, Basil Sayed was shot in the head by a sniper. His crime, being a citizen journalists. Watch the story above.

The 'fire' that has started in the Middle East nearly a year ago, shows no signs of being quenched. According to  a Dec 7 interview on ABC where Assad broke his silence, he sated that he refuses to accept the responsibility for the violence. Abdul Nour, a former friend of Assad's from college, says of Assad, that "he lives in a cocoon"  and "He wants to deal with things with a cool mind."

Robert Danin of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, who met Al Assad in 2003 and 2004, said that in both those meetings the president "displayed uncanny patience when confronted with allegations of his regime's utter brutality."

"Most people would push back strongly to charges of murder, torture and state-sponsored terrorism, but Al Assad's responses were calm, deliberate and mild, as if he had just been asked why he doesn't pay his parking tickets," Danin said.

Abdul Nour recalled an incident in 2000, shortly after Al Assad succeeded his father as president, involving a child who had been painfully injured and needed medical attention.

Abdul Nour, who ended his friendship with Al Assad in 2004, said he told the Syrian leader that the sight of the child in pain had made him want to cry.

"He got angry" Abdul Nour said. "It was forbidden to talk about anything emotional while with him. He said he was the president and can't take decisions based on emotions and has to be cold, calculated and detached."