The Obama administration is imposing financial sanctions that, for the first time, target Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad personally. The U.S. hopes to increase pressure on his regime, after a bloody crackdown that has killed more than 900 pro-democracy protesters. The economic measures against Assad and six other top officials are mostly symbolic — Assad probably doesn't have many assets in the U.S. to freeze. But the move marks a shift for the administration, which insisted Assad was a reformer, even after the violence began. Now, America has linked the embattled leader to human rights abuses. Will that about face do any good?
No, this is way too little, way too late: Too bad Obama didn't target Assad's wallet two months ago, says The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. Sanctions are almost always symbolic, but this gesture might have had real, positive impact if we had done it "when the demonstrations had momentum and before the regime had consolidated its grip." Now, the moment has passed. "As with sanctions on Iran and the intervention in Libya, Obama seems to have come to the right conclusion only after the moment when American leadership could have done the most good."
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