Cranking Up Pressure on Syria as Government Forces Smash Heads, Literally - Warning, Graphic Video!

"The Syrian president must leave power" - French President Nicolas Sarkozy

Sarkozy and Assad: friends one moment, dreaded enemies the next, a pattern of the west when it comes to military aggression.

(SALEM) - Syria's President Bashar Assad is being called onto the carpet over massacres in his country, the problems have escalated to the point that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who contends that the Syrian regime is committing massacres, is calling on Assad to leave power.

Sarkozy's forces at the same time, are said to be guilty of war crimes connected to the mass bombings in Libya to establish western power. The French President's harsh words toward Assad came during a New Year's address at the Lanveoc-Poulmic Navy airbase in France.

According to Sarkozy, "massacres being committed by the Syrian regime" are eliciting disgust from people the world over, most believe that Assad should allow Syrians to decide their own future. Activists claimed that at least 390 civilians were killed in the first week of the observer’s mission in Syria.

A statement posted on the Facebook page for the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, confirmed the allegations of "hundreds" killed in Syria during the past few weeks.

"The killing at the hands of Syrian security forces of hundreds of civilians during the past weeks is appalling and the United States and many other countries and organizations have vigorously condemned it," U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford's statement read. "Each of these killings is a tragedy and a crime."

Many believe the western nations guilty of bloody pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, are the last powers that should judge Syria, and that the moves against this country benefit few, however Israel would be at the top of the list of governments that would like to see Syria face increasing difficulty.

Of course Israel kills unarmed Palestinian protestors frequently, but those international crimes are not taken seriously the way Syria's are, as Israel is an ally of the U.S., and of course France.

Either way, civilians are dying and Syrian activists are trying to get the word out. One hope may come from a band of Syrian military deserters who, according to the Syrian observatory for human rights, comprise Syria’s ‘Free Army’ - which is under the command of Colonel Riad al-Assad.

He expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Arab League observers, and the colonel is giving them one week at this point to pull it together and bring a level of effectiveness.

However judging by the way the Arab countries have let Palestine go to the dogs, it is not surprising that their performance now is being graded as lackluster at best.

However it is the voice of the Syrian people that reduces the government's level of comfort, and in recent days Syrian security forces, who chose to ignore the presence of Arab League observers, killed at least 12 protesters during protests involving hundreds of thousands, speaking out against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists said.

From one of the highly disturbing video clips below

It was reported within the last 24 hours, that The death toll of civilians who were killed today in Rif Dimashq rose to 5. Four people were killed during raids by Syrian security forces in the village of Al-Shefoneyya, near the city of Douma, while looking for people wanted by security authorities. And one person in the city of Darayya died from gunfire by ‘Shabeeha’ according to the local residents.

The extremely disturbing videos below of Syrian men with their heads crushed speaks to the violent nature of this deadly revolution. Regardless of western failures, the government of Syria is lashing out at its own people with deadly force, none of this is acceptable.

It was suggested by one of our readers who is dialed in to this issue, that someone needs to make a move and send in an Islamic joint task force or arm the Syrian people to defend themselves or arm the Mujaheddin to go in and do the job that should have been done months ago.

The terribly disturbing video clips below tell a story that no words can offer, of brutality being doled out with absolute and total indifference.

References:

U.S. envoy to Syria appalled by violence - UPI

Syrian forces fire 'nail bombs' as masses protest - Telegraph UK

Syrian Free Army threatens to escalate campaign - EuroNews

Babylon & Beyond - LA Times

France: President Assad is guilty of Syria massacres and 'must leave power' - MSNBC

Video Shows Monitors at Syrian Protests - The New York Times

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Tim King, summer 2008, covering the Iraq War

Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim is a former U.S. Marine.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

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