For the third friday in a row, casualty numbers have declined in ongoing Syrian protests. It would appear that the large scale preemptive arrests carried out by the government over the previous days have been successful in keeping protest numbers down.
Reports also indicate that the international Red Cross/Red Crescent has been given access to Dera’a, although it seems that Syrian forces remain in the area and maintain control of the city.
The international community continues to behave rather foolishly. US Secretary of State Clinton suggested today that significant reforms were still “possible” despite ongoing violent repression at the hands of the regime. I’m all for engagement, but that’s a bit of a stretch. The EU isn’t blameless either, as “tough” sanctions were agreed upon today which target 13 members of the regime with asset freezes and travel restrictions; however, somehow President Assad didn’t make the list.
And, of course, the Huffington Post and Al Jazeera are OUTRAGED!!!
I’ll pass on this interesting read from Ammar Abdulhamid, one of the more prominent opposition leaders. I thought it was appropriate for mother’s day.