Lee Smith has already noted at the Weekly Standard’s site the irony of the Obama administration creating the Atrocities Prevention Board at the very moment the administration is choosing to do nothing substantive to stop the atrocities being perpetrated in Syria.
There is another layer of irony, as noted by Michael Dobbs at Foreign Policy, namely that the driving force behind the Atrocities Prevention Board, NSC staffer Samantha Power, the author of an important history of American responses to genocide, had noted the propensity of U.S. officials to oppose “genocide in the abstract while simultaneously opposing American involvement in the moment.” It is hard to better that as a description of the U.S. response, or lack thereof, to the massacres occurring in Syria.
The U.S. has responded with empty calls for Bashar al-Assad’s resignation and tough sanctions which have done much damage to the Syrian economy but have not stopped the killing or shaken the regime, which continues to be supported by Iran, Russia, and other unsavory actors. The latest attempt to save the Syrian people has come courtesy of the UN, which is introducing monitors to Syria. Not surprisingly, the Syrian regime has not been cowed by the presence of these unarmed observers; Syrian security forces have cracked down hard in cities such as Homs where the people have dared to protest the regime during the fleeting visits of the UN observers.
This is not a serious policy; it is in fact the absence of a policy. As Elie Wiesel said at the Holocaust Museum, in introducing President Obama to give a speech on how he would prevent atrocities, “How is it that Assad is still in power?…Have we not learned? We must know that evil has power. It is almost too late.” (Wiesel also demanded to know how it is that Ahamedinejad remains in power in Iran and how it is that Iran is on the cusp of acquiring nuclear weapons.)
That situation does not appear likely to change anytime soon. Barring greater action led by the U.S., Assad will remain in power. And I fear that the U.S. may not do anything serious until after the November presidential election. Unfortunately, the way things are going, the killing will still be in full swing then.
Political repression–even violent political repression, as in Syria, is not genocide. n nThere are few vital US interests at stake. Granted it's foolish to engage in lachrymose posturing about things we (rightly) will do little or nothing about, we should let the locals handle this mess, and keep our powder dry.
grump, you missed the point of the article. Samantha Power is THE recognized authority on the "responsibility to protect." she's a little loony on the subject, and has written extensively about how we have a MORAL duty to intervene. she has even advocated for the US to help the Palestinians against Israel (still an ally last time I looked). n nso the irony is that now that there are real people really dying, and we could really do something about it, the Obama regime stands mute, just as it did in Iran in 2009.
In my view, if we do not have a vital national interest at stake, we should refrain from intervening in the internecine quarrels of foreign nations, especially ones so unlike us that we do not understand them well. n nWhen true genocides, such as Cambodia and Rwanda, came around, we were nowhere to be seen. When we have intervened, the cure has turned out to be worse than the disease. Our resources are limited. National sovereignty is an important principle. n nAssad is terrible. So is Mugabe. So is Chinese rule in Tibet. Life sucks sometimes, but our writ does not run to these countries, and the costs and risks are very high.
” In my view, if we do not have a vital national interest at stake, we should refrain from intervening in the internecine quarrels of foreign nations, “r nr nSo what was VNI in Libya that R2P was invoked?
When Arabs kill Arabs sell both sides bullets and get out of the way! n nNiether the USA, Israel or the Jewish People have any dog in this fight. Whoever wins will be an enemy. If Assad remains in power the Iranians will have a weakened ally. If he is overthrown the Sunni extremists will take power and Syria will return to the same old Israel confrontation policy it adopted in 1948 under the Sunni leadership of that era. n nSunni, Shia, Alawi, (Syrian) Druze or Christian–an Arab is an Arab. There may be civilized individuals but the bulk are savages. Let them kill each other–civilization has no dog in this fight.