The latest news from Syria is that the Assad forces are conducting a scorched earth policy in areas where there have been anti-government protests. AFP quotes a refugee from the slaughter as saying "They [the Syrian army] torched all the crops, they slaughtered the goats, the cows." Reports also list the number of villagers killed today at six with scores more wounded. Syrian government spokesmen say that the army is trying to root out armed gangs who attacked police and army posts in the area. The refugees say that there was a firefight between soldiers who refused to fire on local farmers and other soldiers who were still carrying out those orders. Over a hundred soldiers will killed in the battle between the two military forces.
Here in the USA, the spokeman for the State Department says that the USA is applying pressure to Syria to stop the killing. What a joke! How can he claim that we are applying pressure to Syria? What is the pressure? Will Hillary or Obama give a speech? I am sure that Assad is quaking in his boots in Damascus. Maybe the US will find other Syrians with no assets in the US and then freeze their non-existent assets in this country.
We also learned last night that we still do not know what portion of the rebels in Libya are part of Al Qaeda. Nevertheless, we continue to aid those folks against Gaddafi.
Look, I understand that there are times when the USA will not use military force to stop killings in a foreign country. That does not mean that we should ignore the slaughter, however. We need the president to condemn the slaughter of civilians in Syria in the strongest possible language. Even if Obama does not think that the lives of civilians in Syria are worth saving, he ought to make clear that the USA does not condone this conduct.
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