Assad's Massacres Mount

Almost every day, there's a report of a new atrocity committed by the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad on his civilian population. Today's New York Times, reports a yesterday's massacre of some 200 civilians in Tremseh by Assad's forces using tanks and armed helicopters. If the figures are correct, it would be the worst massacre in a series of them over the past few months.

Evidence that the atrocities are affecting Syrian elites is apparent in the defections of military leaders and diplomats in recent months. The keys to toppling Syria's butcher certainly will be his power base crumbling, and also in the actions of his most powerful Muslim neighbor, Turkey, and of the Arab League. So far, the support from these groups has been in delivering small arms (including RPGs), medical supplies and funds, but as the severity of the atrocities increases and the Assad regime grows more desperate, these Muslim neighbors will have to consider direct intervention.

(photo: Tremseh under attack)