“Redline and Greenlight”

The Syrian dissident and human rights activist Ammar Abdulhamid entitles his very powerful blog entry today at the Syrian Revolution Digest site “Redline and Greenlight.”

What does he mean?

It’s a bitter truth -- too often, the world has failed to prevent the killing of innocents on a massive scale.  And we are haunted by the atrocities that we did not stop and the lives we did not save.

The President then addressed the situation in Syria:

We see the Syrian people subjected to unspeakable violence, simply for demanding their universal rights.  And we have to do everything we can.  And as we do, we have to remember that despite all the tanks and all the snipers, all the torture and brutality unleashed against them, the Syrian people still brave the streets.  They still demand to be heard.  They still seek their dignity.  The Syrian people have not given up, which is why we cannot give up.

It may be more accurate to say we cannot give up because we have nothing to give up. According to the Washington Post, “Even as the Obama administration hardens its rhetoric on Syria, members of the Syrian opposition say the United States has failed to deliver promised communications and other equipment intended to support those seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.”

It is a sad story, and Ammar Abdulhamid’s anger is justifiable. Syrians have been fighting the vicious and bloody--and anti-American--Assad regime for over a year and a half, and we have not helped them. As I wrote here in May, “An ’Atrocities Prevention Board’ is a nice thing to have; I’m for it. But I’d trade it in an instant for a president determined to prevent atrocities.”