Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has brutally cleared the anti-government stronghold of Baba Amr in Homs. From the reports coming out of the city — and because of official Syrian restrictions these claims are difficult to verify — it appears regular army forces have entered the redoubt and, in one incident, killed at least 17 civilians who had stayed there during the month-long siege.
The district in central Homs also appears to have been reduced to rubble after four weeks of artillery bombardment of its residents and their homes. Who knows how many have died during that brutal siege.
European leaders have rightly reacted with horror and revulsion at the regime's brutality — a lesson it appears to have taken from the president's father's copybook in dealing with the restive residents of Hama in the early 1980s. But this time around, there is no hiding, no sheltering behind the veil of state security, no ignoring the videos and reports.
Al Assad has unleashed his military machine on his own people, and the regime has the blood of every dead or injured man, woman and child in Baba Amr on its hands. Europe has recognised the Syrian National Council as the legitimate body to represent the people there. But what next?
The question now is how long will it take for the international community to bring an end to the bloodshed. For all of his brutality and strong-armed tyrannical tactics, the regime has laid claim to the title of illegitimate — in every sense of the word.
The Arab League has been silent ever since the infamous Russia-China veto at the UN Security Council last month. The League has the political and moral duty to exert every effort to pile up pressure on Al Assad to stop the violence, allow aid agencies in, and agree to a political roadmap that should see a new government formed — one that is democratic and responsive to the popular will.
