Tens of thousands of Syrians gathered at public squares in the nation’s major cities on Tuesday in support of President Bashar al-Assad. It’s the latest government move to counteract the uprising that is threatening Assad’s rule. The pro-government rallies came a day after Assad offered a national dialogue with the opposition, but many of his critics have dismissed the move as too little, too late. More than 1,400 people have been killed and more than 10,000 detained, according to activists, in a brutal crackdown of the revolt that began in mid-March.
