Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued a general pardon for all crimes committed before May 31 — the latest attempt to appease anti-government protesters. But opposition leaders say the amnesty is "too little, too late," especially since it followed a military crackdown that human rights groups say has killed more than 1,000 civilians. If anything, public anger has risen in recent days, after security services returned the horribly mutilated body of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib to his family. At this point, can granting a general amnesty — or any other reform — save the Assad regime? (Watch an Al Jazeera report about Assad's pardon.)
Assad has gone too far: "I simply do not know how the brutal torture of children can be surpassed as an example of pure evil," says Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Beast. Assad's cruelty is "morally intolerable, even under the standards of the Middle East." There is little the West can do to help, militarily or economically, but we can express our support for Assad's victims while they fight to get rid of him themselves.
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