Al-Assad Forces Defeat Dissidents in Homs

The Syrian army has taken control of the Bab Amr sector of Homs where the dissidents were fighting against great odds to drive back the al-Assad regime’s forces. The capitulation followed several weeks of constant bombardment and two days of street combat.
The UN Security Council has demanded immediate and unrestricted access to the sector in order to ascertain humanitarian needs and to evaluate whether there was a massacre of civilians, as reported by dissidents.
The dissidents themselves have vowed to continue their year-long effort to overthrow the al-Assad government and denounced today “the terrible Arab, Islamic and international silence.” Only Qatar, so far, seems to be considering sending arms to the dissidents to help them in their fight. Other countries and the UN are fearful that doing so would precipitate a general civil war.
The dissident media have said that there is a large operation sweeping through the Baba Amr sector of Homs, making arrests and performing widespread searches.
Meanwhile the Security Council seems to have agreed on a declaration of principles which deplores “the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation” in Homs, Hama, Deraa and Idleb. Russia and China are joining in the declaration, apparently because it now demands that all sides allow humanitarian access for the evacuation of wounded.
Russia has also firmly called on the Syrian regime to meet with the humanitarian aid head of the UN.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is now the Arab League delegate for Syria, and he will be meeting in Cairo next week, and then it is expected that he will travel to Damascus, but no date as been fixed as yet.
So, the world waits, watches, and suffers with the Syrian people, while the international community seems unable to do anything more than adopt declarations and plan meetings in the next week’s timeframe.
Al-Assad will have killed all the dissidents, I fear, before anyone does anything to stop him.