THE DEAL UNRAVELS – AT 8:20 A.M. ET:  Earlier this week the Arab League announced with great fanfare that Syria had agreed to stop its crackdown on protesters.  There was the hope that the brutality of the Assad regime would be curtailed. 

Some hope.  Apparently, nothing has actually changed:

(Reuters) - Syrian tank fire killed at least three people in the city of Homs early on Friday as security forces pursued a violent crackdown on protesters despite a government agreement with the Arab League to stop shooting and talk to its opponents.

The latest deaths followed a bloody day in Homs, where activists said at least 22 people were killed as tanks shelled the Bab Amro district and troops and snipers fired elsewhere in the city, a hotbed of protests and an emerging insurgency.

One witness, who asked not to be named, said he had seen dozens of bodies of civilian men with bullet wounds at the city's National Hospital, controlled by the security forces.

COMMENT:  Once again we were asked to believe that a brutal dictator would become less brutal beause of a deal made with a group like the Arab League.  Assad of Syria shows no sign that he is relinquishing any power.  Thus far, the Western nations have not taken any direct action, as they did, effectively, in Libya.

At the same time, we caution that we're not exactly sure who the "opposition" is.  In Libya there are disturbing reports of Al Qaeda flags now flying over the city of Benghazi.  In Egypt, the wonderful guys at the Muslim Brotherhood appear to be gaining power.  And remember that Jimmy ("I'm the best ex-president ever") Carter welcomed the fall of the Shah of Iran and the coming of the Ayatollah Khomeini in the Iranian "revolution" of the late 1970s.

It's the Mideast.  It's not like we're dealing with real people.

November 4, 2011