Obama: Syria violence unacceptable

[FarCenter]

DAMASCUS/ WASHINGTON: Obama condemned as “unacceptable” Tuesday Syria’s continuing crackdown on protesters and repeated his call for President Bashar Assad’s government to leave power.

“We’re continuing to see unacceptable levels of violence inside that country, and so we will continue to consult very closely with Jordan to create the kind of international pressure and environment that encourages the current Syrian regime to step aside,” Obama said after White House talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

Meanwhile, Syria said Tuesday it would not object to extending an Arab League mission to monitor its compliance with a peace plan, but ruled out any deployment of Arab troops as proposed by Qatar to halt 10 months of deadly unrest.

...


In more violence Tuesday, at least 14 civilians were killed, including eight who died as a blast hit a minibus in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A senior military official in Israel, meanwhile, said his country had serious concerns about what will happen to “huge stockpiles” of chemical and biological weapons if the Assad regime collapsed.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Jan-18/160258-obama-syria-violence-unacceptable.ashx

A dozen to a couple dozen dead per day seems to be roughly similar to the daily death toll in Iraq over several years of occupation, so I don't see why it is all of a sudden "unacceptable".

Further, it is not really approaching civil war proportions. Syria has 23.5 million people, and about 5000 have been killed. The US during the Civil War had 31 million people and 625,000 dead. So the Syrian death rate is at least an order of magnitude less.

[rhett o rick]

1. Syria violence is unacceptable but violence against protestors in your own country is acceptable. nm

[tabatha]

2. No violence is acceptable.

But 6,000 protesters have not died in the US.

[rhett o rick]

3. So people will have to die before we get the president's attention?

I wonder how many.

[downwardly_mobile]

4. Whoa. Are you by any chance one of these guys?

(Hint: they're moving the goalposts.)

[tabatha]

5. Boy, you do obfuscate.

The people who were violent to protesters at UC Davis have been disciplined.

[rhett o rick]

7. The point is that our president didnt even bother to comment as the police brutalized

peaceful protestors. Now is the time you remind me that we have no other choice and I should be happy because it could be worse.

As far as I can tell two police officers were placed on paid leave while the incident at UC Davis is being investigated. If you have later info i would appreciate it.

Have you read about the brutality that occurred away from the cameras. Those locked on buses with no water or sanitation and with tight wrist bands? This is not acceptable to me and i wanted my president to at least speak out.

But I agree with you, it will take deaths, like Kent State, to get the attention of the current administration.

[tabatha]

8. I never said that.

"But I agree with you, it will take deaths, like Kent State, to get the attention of the current administration."

No, I had not heard about the other abominations.

After the election, hopefully there can be some reform.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Here some links

http://www.newser.com/story/133019/arrested-occupiers-forced-to-defecate-in-bus.html

http://october2011.org/blogs/kevin-zeese/lapd-abuse-occupiers-after-they-are-arresteds

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/8370

And that is tip of the virtual iceberg.

[rhett o rick]

10. You didnt say that and I appologize. nm

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. It ia a civil war, just a low grade civil war

there are gradations.

And I am shocked I tell you about that concern on WMD's... really shocked... like incredibly shocked.