28-Jul-11: A nightmare called Syria

Life for Syrians under the Assad regime has never been a bed of roses, even when the news media of western countries turned a blind eye to the relentless repression over a period of decades. Currently, with the mis-named "Arab Spring" underway, there's less of a blind eye. But for most news consumers, it remains a remote and fuzzy story. That's a pity because casting a cold, hard eye on what's happening just across Israel's northern border will reveal some horrible truths.

The social activism organization/website Avaaz is going public today with a devastating indictment of what Basher al-Assad and his cronies are doing to the citizens under their heels. The key numbers, according to AP:

• 3,000 Syrians have gone missing since the start of the uprising against Assad four months ago.
• Avaaz estimates that "one person is disappearing in Syria every hour". 
• More than 1,600 have been killed, most of them unarmed protesters.

We would organize a flotilla if our sense of humor were sufficiently morbid.