Should the U.S. assassinate Syria's Assad?

Bashar al-Assad's efforts to crush the opposition are getting bloodier by the day, fueling chatter that extreme measures are needed to stop the killing

The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has killed thousands in its crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising that began nearly two years ago.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Last month, President Obama vetoed a proposal by France and Saudi Arabia to wipe out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle with a massive airstrike on Syria's presidential palace, the Israeli intelligence site Debka File recently reported. While leaving military intervention on the table, Obama reportedly said that targeting Assad would only "increase the carnage." But the United Nations says thousands of Syrians have been killed since Assad's military began trying to forcefully put down a pro-democracy uprising last year, and now observers say government forces are attacking opposition strongholds using helicopter gun ships. Is a surgical strike against Assad and Co. needed to end the violence?

Taking out Assad is the least bad option: In the last 15 months, Assad's forces have killed more 13,000 people who were merely trying to stand up for their rights, says Melissa Stusinski at The Inquisitr. Assad will never respect the ceasefire he signed: His enforcers have massacred civilians at Homs and Houla, used innocent people as human shields, fired on U.N. observers, and now they're unleashing flying gun ships? Enough. It may sound "harsh," but assassination is the "best way" to end the killing.

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