Assad must go and the Syrians need international support. It has been a bad couple of years for dictators and the time is up for Syria's president. As thousands of citizens are murdered by their own government's military, Turkey steps up support, but why hasn't NATO made it a priority yet?
No surprise China and Russia veto a UN Security Council resolution on February 4th. Were they ever helpful in ousting terrible dictators? Bashar Assad tries to appeal to the Arab League as the unified group pleas for international support.
Obama tiptoes around the topic and presses mild sanctions on Iran instead. The turmoil in the Middle East cannot be ignored. "It is time for a transition. It is time for Assad to go. It is time for the Syrian people to stop being killed," said President Obama today. Words need to followed up with action. As each day goes by, families are massacred.
This conflict is difficult to aid many experts like those in the Economist and Senator John McCain because they believe air power would be ineffective. And what American public press wants to avoid is another invasion. But would arming the rebels be enough? No, of course not. They need manpower and trained soldiers to fight a country's military.
It is not a question of will Assad go, but when and how many will die first, praying for democracy and for an international community to give a shit. When Americans pulled out of the embassy in Damascus, we knew this was for real. As the U.S. government works to sadly downsize our military, we could be helping the Syrians instead. And NATO, how many bodies need to stack up before you realize this is unchecked genocide?
