President Obama, Prove You Are not a Fool or a Monster - Save Syria Now

On Wednesday, Syrian anti-Assad activists accused the government of carrying out a toxic gas attack in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, killing as many as 1,300 people, including children. The claims coincided with a visit by a UN chemical weapons team to three previous sites of alleged attacks, who demanded access to the site. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government rejected the accusations, and US officials said they were seeking details of what happened. For the United States, the death toll and painful images again put a spotlight on President Barack Obama's "redline" pledge almost exactly a year ago, on 20 August 2012, to respond forcefully to any chemical weapons use by the al-Assad government. Since then, the Obama administration has said it has confirmed that Syrian forces have committed such attacks and has ordered a lethal aid package of small arms to be sent to some rebel groups, though it's unclear if any weapons have been delivered. Yet up to now, Obama has refused all options of direct US military intervention in a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced at least 2 million. Compare this international inaction with the horrific images from Damascus showing lifeless children - wrapped in white shrouds, deathly faces unmarked by any wound - lined up shoulder to shoulder in a vivid demonstration of a chemical attack. AP reported that there was little evidence of blood or conventional injuries and most appeared to have suffocated. Survivors of the purported attack, some twitching uncontrollably, lay on gurneys with oxygen masks covering their faces. For a year, the rebels, the United States, Britain and France have accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in its campaign to try to stop the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad that began in March 2011. The regime and its ally, Russia, have denied the allegations, blaming on the rebels. In June, the US said it had conclusive evidence that al-Assad's regime had used chemical weapons against opposition forces. Cynically, Russia called Wednesday's reports "alarmist." Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich denounced an "aggressive information campaign" laying full blame on the Syrian government as a provocation aimed at undermining efforts to convene peace talks between the two sides. George Sabra, a senior member of the rebel Coalition, blamed the regime, as well as "the weakness of the UN and American hesitation" for the deaths. "The silence of our friends is killing us," he said, adding that Wednesday's attack effectively eliminated any chance for peace negotiations with the regime. A researcher who specializes in chemical and biological weapons and disarmament, said that in videos of the victims, the hue of their faces appeared to show many suffered from asphyxiation. However, he said the symptoms they exhibited were not consistent with mustard gas or the nerve agents VX or sarin. Mustard gas would cause blistering of the skin and discoloration, while the nerve agents would produce severe convulsions in the victims and also affect the paramedics treating them - neither of which was evident from the videos or reports. "I'm deliberately not using the term chemical weapons here," he said. "There's plenty of other nasty stuff that was used in the past as a chemical warfare agent, so many industrial toxicants could be used too." A pharmacist who identified himself as Abu Ahmad told the AP that he attended to dozens of wounded people in a field hospital after the shelling on Zamalka and Ein Tarma early Wednesday. He said many had their eye pupils constricted, and those who were brought in while still alive could not draw their breaths and died subsequently....The skin around their eyes and noses was grayish." Mohammed Saeed, an activist in the area, told the AP via Skype that hundreds of dead and injured people were rushed to six makeshift hospitals in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. On Thursday, al-Assad forces are reportedly bombing the area where the chemical attack occurred, possibly in an effort to obliterate evidence. And rockets were launched from Lebanon into Israel - in what observers say may be a related test of their ability to attack Israel with chemicals. ~~~~~ Dear readers, there are moments in history when mankind comes face to face with evil and world leaders must oppose the evil or be forever blackened by it. We are at such a moment. President Obama may prefer to avoid new action in the Middle East. He may prefer to turn a blind eye to the ongoing 'holocaust' in Syria. He may even be naive enough to believe that a radical-islamist hegemony in the region could be tolerated and useful - I sincerely trust that Mr. Obama does not actually prefer such an outcome. But, whatever his personal fears or preferences, President Obama must act now to end the Syrian civil war or be remembered forever as the Chamberlain-like fool and monster who actually believed that evil can be managed and admitted into civilization. Mr. President, Americans are neither monsters nor fools. Assume your responsibilities as their leader or be damned by history.