SYRIAN OUTRAGES CONTINUE – AT 10:28 A.M. ET:  The Syrian regime, which our own government was recently calling "reformist," continues its outrages today.  From Reuters:

A witness reports that Syrian security forces killed at least six people when they opened fire on thousands at funeral processions Saturday.

Two witnesses say forces fired at crowds heading to the southern village of Izraa, killing two. Another witness says forces killed four people outside the capital of Damascus.

The crackdown comes one day after security forces killed at least 75 people in the deadliest day of monthlong protests against authoritarian President Bashar Assad.

The witness accounts could not be independently verified and they spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

In Washington, President Barack Obama condemned Friday’s use of force by Syria against anti-government demonstrators and said the regime's "outrageous" use of violence against the protesters must "end now."

COMMENT:  The brutality goes on.  The Western left, of course, remains silent.  It is amazing to see the level to which the left, and, especially, "anti-war" groups, have sunk. Well, not really amazing.  Routine, actually.

But we have in Syria, to be fair, the same problem we have elsewhere in the erupting Middle East.  We don't know exactly who the protesters are, and what they stand for.  Remember, the people of these countries have been subjected to decades of press propaganda and the 10th-century rantings of religious leaders.  These things had to have their effect.  We note that Iran, a relatively sophisticated, rather Westernized country, fell under the spell of the Islamists when the shah was ousted with American help in the late 1970s.  We don't want a repeat performance.

April 23,  2011