Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad’s acceptance of Kofi Anan’s cease-fire plan has few believers following a year of fighting, more than 9,000 deaths, and a string of broken promises. Opposition groups reported more than fifty more were killed after Al-Asad’s acceptance of the proposal. Al-Asad himself took a surprise victory lap in the devastated Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs which was the scene of 26 non-stop days of shelling by his artillery units and the deaths of hundreds of civilians. The filmed and edited report of the Baba Amr visit included scenes of well-wishers applauding the president prompting a skeptical response from many who surmised that given the death-toll and evacuation rate, those cheering Al-Asad must have been extras shipped in for the filming. The cautious response by the international community to the acceptance of the Anan plan reinforces the widespread belief that Al-Asad will survive the year of carnage with his reign in-tact much the way his father did after killing as many as 50,000 in Hama in 1982. In Lebanon, there are conflicting reports of pitched battles between Syrian army troops and opposition Free Syrian Army forces along the border. Reports center on the border town of Joura, a known escape route for refugees fleeing the violence in Syria. The Syrian army has apparently fired into Lebanon prompting Lebanese President Michel Sleiman to warn that violations of sovereign Lebanese territory will not be tolerated.