Syria Violence Puts Obama in Diplomatic, Political Tough Spot

[tekisui]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

For Obama, the situation in Syria comes as the war in Afghanistan slogs along, the US tries to disengage from Iraq while escalating its military action in Libya, and the American public is weary of foreign entanglements with no apparent connection to national security.

(snip)

For too long, critics say, the United States – and Obama in particular – has treated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as if he were a genuine reformer, when in reality he was following in his father’s footsteps as an authoritarian despot quite willing to attack his own people if they pushed for greater political freedoms.

Friday was the worse day yet in some two months of protest, with at least 75 people killed by government forces, bringing the total to more than 200 – a number that could rise since many of the wounded have been prevented from reaching hospitals.

Saturday began with funeral mourners attacked as well, the number of those killed initially reported as a half dozen with the number rising throughout the day. There were also reports that children caught writing anti-Assad graffiti had been tortured.

more: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2011/0423/Syria-violence-puts-Obama-in-diplomatic-political-tough-spot

[PurityOfEssence]

1. Remember how we used to be enraged at the Republicans' insistance that they could make up reality?

For those who don't remember, this is from a Ron Suskind article in the New York Times that was widely--and justifiably--reviled for being supremely arrogant, typical and completely idiotic in its misunderstanding of life itself: things are open to conjecture, but not to outright dismissal of big, active obvious facts.

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

The killings and attacks on unarmed protesters are MUCH bigger than anything that occurred in Libya, and the threat is truly there in light of Hafez al-Assad's Hama Massacre in 1982: somewhere between 17K and 40K people were killed for revolting against the regime.

Qaddafi's never done ANYTHING like that. The thing people keep citing is the prison riot at Abu-Salim, where something like 1200 Islamists were killed after they revolted and took guards hostages.

Then again, Libya has more than eighteen times as much oil as Syria...

[golfguru]

2. End the freaking 3 wars now!

Afghan war is now the longest war of century. What is the gain to this country from spilling blood and treasure in these 3 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan & Libya??????

Is there a conspiracy to make us slaves of China since we have to borrow money from them and pay interest every year for ever?