Al Arabiya
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Where's the outrage of the West? Where's the outrage of my fellow progressives?
It would appear that the Obama administration has given Assad the same "free pass" that they gave Ahmadinejad. They tell Mubarak and Gaddafi to leave their office but can't even bring themselves to sanction Assad. Only his brother and a few others.
It would appear that the way to get such a free pass is to be as anti-US and as violent as possible. Iran and Syria fill that bill to the max. Mubarak wasn't violent enough and was pro-US. Gaddafi has been cutting deals with the West for years.
There's a word to describe this sort of behavior towards those sworn to destroy you. The word is "appeasement."
I have not heard one explanation of this "favored nation" status granted to Syria and Iran. Why did Obama let the Green revolution be wiped out by Iranian thugs? Why is he letting Assad butcher so many civilians?
What is the point of "engagement" with regimes such as these? Why do we set the bar so low for them?
Can you imagine what would have happened if Mubarak had done what Assad is doing?