Bloodshed in Syria as Forces Increase Brutality

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops surrounded the Damascus suburb of Harasta in an effort to maintain the ongoing crackdown on urban centers that have been the cite for daily protests.   According to residents, Harasta’s entrances have been sealed off and troops are wearing “combat fatigues, helmets, ammunition belts and carrying assault rifles.”  In addition, the water, electricity and telephone lines have been cut.  Since Monday, at least 20 people have been killed including, seven funeral mourners. Walid Muallem, the Syrian foreign minister, advised French and U.S. ambassadors against traveling outside Damascus.

Elliot Abrams argues that the United States must make a clear choice in “denouncing” Assad’s regime or not.  He argues that “U.S. policy needs only to show consistency and moral clarity.”  Rather than calling for “peaceful cooperation,” Abrams writes that the U.S. needs to take a harsher stand against the regime for it’s brutality.

Andrew Tabler writes in Foreign Policy, that the protests in Syria have “hit the economy and currency hard,” which will ultimately decrease tax receipts.  Tabler argues that it is important for Washington and the international community to increase pressure on Syria through six steps by ultimately enforcing targeted sanctions against Syria’s oil industry.  For example, Tabler recommends the Obama administration to discourage chief buyers to stop buying the regime’s oil and that Washington and the EU should implement an act that will ban any ships that carry Syrian oil from conducting business in the U.S. and E.U.  In addition, Tabler argues that EU should enforce sanctions against the Commercial Bank of Syria, which would ultimately prohibit the regime from turning oil money into cash.