Is the UN Security Council competing with the do-nothing U.S. Congress for world’s laziest democratic governing body?
It took the UN Security Council four months and about 1,700 civilian deaths to finally get around to condemning genocidal dictator Bashir al-Assad’s murderous crackdown on Syrian civilians who demand the regime resign and the country embrace democratic reforms.
The UN acted after Assad ordered hundreds of tanks and dozens of snipers into Hama and Deir el-Zour since last weekend, wiping out about 150 civilians.
The U.S. and European members of the UN Security Council have been pushing for some kind of statement, but the usual suspects Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa have stood in the way. Lebanon, acting as a satellite state, distanced itself from the UN statement.
The death toll is set by humanitarian workers since western journalists are rarely allowed into Syria these days, and those reporters who are in the country are not able to roam freely. Journalists are escorted by Syrian authorities and most of the people they interview are scared pro-Assad Syrians.
Libya, Syria and Yemen are now the frontline of the pro-democracy uprising known as the Arab Spring.
Read more from Kenneth R. Bazinet at The Baz File