Very respectfully the evidence doesn t support that Syria a loose aglomeration of rebels a militia has been fighting to overthrow their government In Lybia a loose agglomeration of rebels a militia overthrew their government In Egypt civil disobedience has led to violence a militia type action rejecting their government Certainly the so called militia movement in the United States has come to the forefront of media thought in the last 20 to 30 years but the existence of militias has existed throughout the history of the United States and before without much fanfare Citizens colonizing the west formed militia quite regularly to repel indian invasions outlaws from taking over their towns etc It s quite common it s just that nobody writes a story everytime a group of citizens gets together to form a militia that doesn t mean they weren t there