His Father's Son

Bashar al-Assad is proving to be somewhat less of a reformer than many of those in the West including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had hoped. Bashar is however showing himself to be the apple of his ruthless and bloodthirsty father Hafez al-Assad's eye, and just like Daddy, Bashar is merrily slaughtering the Syrian people. He has turned tanks on peaceful protesters and the death toll of Bashar's oppression mounts everyday and has passed two thousand. The so-called world powers have reacted with varying degrees of dismay to this bloodletting of the innocent, but so far all the world can muster to protect Syrians is feckless sanctions (and worthless talk). While the world is aghast at the massacre in progress, one safe bet is that if Hafez Assad still drew breath, he would be mighty proud of Bashar.