SYRIA: ~250 dead, almost 1000 wounded in past few hours; Syrian army shelling city of Homs.

[TheWraith]

This is currently developing. Reports out of Syria say 230-300 dead and 800-1000 wounded in an intense shelling and bombing of Homs by Syrian Army forces loyal to Bashar Al Assad.

[enlightenment]

1. A link would be helpful. Thanks. nt

[TheWraith]

4. This is from half an hour ago.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46259594

[enlightenment]

22. Very late reply - but thank you!

Sorry I took so long.

[Cleita]

2. Holy sh*t.

I saw a report on Al Jazeera last nigh about Homs. The city is in ruins and the residents starving. They certainly don't need this on top of their suffering. Too bad that Assad guy didn't learn from what happened in Lybia to Colonel Ghaddafi.

[orpupilofnature57]

3. We're in Kuwait with 15,000 troops

[Zalatix]

14. Are you suggesting we send them to intervene in Syria?

[orpupilofnature57]

21. NO!!!!!!! I 'm Petrified we will.

And the Real reasons why.

[ellisonz]

5. Make no mistake...

...Assad must go.

[joshcryer]

6. Reprisals for Damascus unrest, no doubt. Crush Homs, where the loudest detractors are...

...silence the detractors, the Damascus suburbs will be less inclined to misbehave.

Or so they think.

This is going to cause the exact opposite to happen.

If they were going to crush the dissent they should've done it a year ago, just execute anyone who resists, etc. It's happened before.

[arely staircase]

7. those poor people, i hope we are doing something - not calling for direct military intervention but

surely we can scramble their military's communications.

something

[arely staircase]

8. oh yeah k&r nt

[PDJane]

9. Assad has been torturing children.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/13/syria-torture-evidence?CMP=twt_gu

It's time for this vicious, ignorant man to go. It's long past time. If the US can step in and depose Hussein, who was no threat, why is this man allowed to live?

[joshcryer]

10. Obama isn't a fascist unilateralist like Bush was.

And that's a good thing, even though this is horrific, it does require international support to involve ones self in another country. Bush just ignored such concepts, unilaterally.

[riderinthestorm]

11. Because Russia and China say he will live. So he will. The US won't get involved until Israel

is threatened.

This is an internal civil war and we are wise to stay out of it (for now).

[originalpckelly]

12. And if it were you?

On the other hand, I don't think someone can be sent to do something I wouldn't.

It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't thing.

[riderinthestorm]

17. I'm not sure what you are asking. If I were who? Obama? The UN?

An overweight senior citizen on a message board? A UN diplomat?

"Who" are you referring to exactly?

Right now, this is an internal civil war in a ME region rife with religious, tribal, and geopolitical implications. The US has an epic fail record in gauging action in this region primarily because we are allied with Israel.

Right now we can do nothing. I can do nothing. Nobody can do anything. We watch as Russia blatantly arms Assad and does nothing. Why? Because Syria really is one of those lynchpin states where it's not about oil (like Libya and the answer for NATO and other countries was obvious - snort, witness the daily DU updates). It's about larger issues of religious warfare, and autocracies vs democracies, and what-to-do-about Israel etc. etc.

[Zalatix]

15. We shouldn't have gotten involved in Iraq.

[fascisthunter]

13. you should bomb them all

by yourself

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. horrifying

[FarCenter]

18. It is pretty standard practice for the US to encourage a revolt, and for them to get slaughtered

Shiites in southern Iraq after the first Gulf War for example.

Hmong in Vietnam.

Hungary in '56.

White Russians in '19.

[joshcryer]

20. And of course, the Red Army used that as "proof" that anti-Bolshevik forces were "imperialist."

A common theme even today.

[starroute]

19. There are a lot of demonstrations outside Syrian embassies

One in Washington, DC. Livestream currently at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/occupy-d-c-coverage

I saw something on Twitter saying the Cairo embassy was in flames and people had stormed the London embassy. I don't know if either of those is accurate -- but there's definitely a rising tide of anger.