How American inaction is killing Syrians

45,000 Syrians are dead. And all Western leaders do is talk

D.B. Grady

The international community is responsible for a myriad of failures in Syria, with 2012 marking a banner year of incompetence. Bad policy, no follow through, and the feckless leadership of President Obama have contributed greatly to the Syrian crisis, and there is little hope of course correction in 2013.

In January 2012, there was hope — no evidence, but hope — that Bashar al-Assad, the tyrannical president of Syria, might book a one-way flight to Dubai. The White House even began laying the groundwork for a victory lap by President Obama. Jay Carney, the president's spokesman, dismissively said at a press conference that "Assad's fall is inevitable," and punctuated his remarks with a grinning "He will go." (The tens of thousands of Syrians soon to be slaughtered perhaps misread the White House timeline. Carney was possibly referring to basic human mortality. After all, it is a fact that Assad will die eventually.)

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David W. Brown

David W. Brown is coauthor of Deep State (John Wiley & Sons, 2013) and The Command (Wiley, 2012). He is a regular contributor to TheWeek.com, Vox, The Atlantic, and mental_floss. He can be found online here.