Syrian navy fires on demonstrators in Lattakia

Off the coast of the Syrian port city of Lattakia on Sunday, the Syrian navy fired upon demonstrators against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.Let's go to the videotape.I can't ever recall a navy being used to fire upon civilians. But I'd guess it's quite effective. The people doing the firing don't see the victims.

Can Assad be forced out?

Here's an interesting take from Paul Pillar that might explain why the Obama administration has not called for throwing out Bashar al-Assad.Even if regime change is the goal, another requirement to make meaningful any discussion of sanctions—or use of any other policy tool—is some specificity about how the current regime will go. Regime change encompasses a very wide range of scenarios, after

Turkey preparing for war with Syria?

There are several ways one could take this article, but the bottom line is that Turkey believes that it will need troops to handle some sort of confrontation with Syria in the foreseeable future, whether as part of NATO or to protect refugees from Syria, or for some other reason. In anticipation of what is expected to be a massive influx of Syrian refugees, Turkey has taken extraordinary measures

WaPo demands that Obama lead or something

The Washington Post (no, you won't see this from the New York Times) is demanding that the Obama administration step up and lead the charge to get Bashar al-Assad to stop murdering his own people and quit. It is therefore worrying that the international response, though improving, remains inconsistent. Turkey is the leading example: Its prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has condemned Mr.

US slaps sanctions on Syria, Assad laughs

As Bashar al-Assad's army killed 15 more Syrians on Wednesday, the United States sanctioned the Syrian dictator, which probably gave him a good laugh. Syrian forces killed 15 civilians in the city of Homs on Wednesday, an activists' group said, despite international calls for President Bashar Assad to end a bloody crackdown on protests against his rule.The United States said the world was

Syrian defense minister resurrected?

Left for dead on Tuesday, ousted Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib (middle) appeared on Syrian television on Wednesday (Hat Tip: Soccer Dad). Former Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib appeared on Syrian state-owned television Wednesday in order to dispel rumors of his death, which were published by websites affiliated with Syrian opposition groups."My health condition has kept me from