“The year-long effort to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and his government has failed. Two or three months ago, it seemed to come close to succeeding, as insurgents took over enclaves in cities such as Homs and Deir el-Zour. There was talk of no-fly zones and foreign military intervention. Severe economic sanctions were slapped on Syria’s already faltering economy. Every day brought news of fresh pressure on Assad and the momentum seemed to build inexorably for a change of rule in Damascus. It has not happened. Syria will not be like Libya. The latest international action has been an EU ban on Assad’s wife, Asma, and his mother travelling to EU countries (though, as a UK citizen, Asma can still travel to Britain). As damp squibs go, this is of the dampest. …………. “

They sanctioned his mother? The widow of Hafiz al-Assad and the mother of Bashar? The widow of the man all Western and Arab leaders were courting and kissing up to for thirty years?
Cockburn is absolutely right here: they can’t figure out what else to do about him. This is scraping the bottom of the ‘moral’ barrel. What next? The wife of the king of Bahrain? Mrs. Ahmadinejad? How about Sarah Netanyahu? Or a favorite concubine of the king of….…
Cheers
mhg


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