Obama's "Red-Line" was nothing but a Green Light for Assad's Slaughter of 70,000

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Remember when he made these bold statements?

We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.
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We have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region that that’s a red line for us and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons. That would change my calculations significantly.

Hours after Barack Obama showed up in the White House Press Briefing on August 19, 2012 to make his "red-line" warning, I said that Obama was also telling Assad he would not intervene in the Syrian civil war as long a Assad continued the slaughter his people with every other means at his disposal. I said that Barack Obama's "red-line" was, in effect, a green light to Assad's continued slaughter.

About 25,000 Syrians had been killed to that point, 70,000 Syrians have died in this carnage since. Over a thousand where just slaughtered between May 2 -6 in Banias where Assad has been carrying out ethnic cleansing. Most were women and children, many were slaughtered with knives.

A short video about the massacre in Banias

غياب الله Absence of God from abou naddara on Vimeo.

It now appears that there never was any real upside to Obama's "red-line" statement, only the unspoken green light aspects had any real substance. True to his word, Obama didn't intervene as Assad carried out an air war against his own people. Obama didn't intervene as he dropped cluster bombs, barrel bombs and incendiaries on civilian neighborhoods. Obama didn't intervene as he continued to use his artillery to pound some of the oldest cities on Earth into dust. He didn't intervene when HRW reported that rape was being widely used by the regime as a weapon of war. He didn't intervene as Assad sent helicopter gunships to murder people queuing up in bread-lines. He didn't intervene as he sent his shabiha thugs into community after community to commit mass murder. He didn't intervene as Assad proceeded to destroy his own country and as 5,000 Syrians a day began fleeing across the borders to escape the carnage.

For the past seven months, it is only the "green light" aspects of Obama's proclamation that has rang true. Now that Assad is using chemical weapons, it has been revealed that his "red-line" warning was never anything but a bluff.

The truth has been revealed by the facts on the ground: Obama's "red-line" was never anything but a green light to Assad's continued slaughter.

In spite of the fact that UN investigator Carla Del Ponte rushed to Assad's aid with her unsupported accusation that Assad's opposition had used sarin gas, a mountain of evidence is saying the it is the Assad regime that has been using chemical weapons to kill Syrians.

There are two of Assad defected generals that have testified they were ordered to use chemical weapons. There is the testimony of victims and medical personnel with regards to at least five attacks. There are soil samples smuggled out of Syria by Britain's MI6 that tested positive for sarin. And now the PM of Turkey is saying they have proof that Assad has made chemical attacks on his opposition:

From France 24 we have this report:

Turkish PM says Syria used chemical weapons 10 May 2013 - 13H52

AFP - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told an American television channel he believes Syria has used chemical weapons, crossing a "red line" set out by US President Barack Obama.

"It is clear the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles," Erdogan told NBC News on Thursday, without providing details on when or where they were used.

"It has been passed (a) long time ago," Erdogan said of Obama's "red line," calling for stronger US action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"We want the United States to assume more responsibilities and take further steps. And what sort of steps they will take, we are going to talk about this," said Erdogan, who will meet Obama on May 16.

Erdogan said Syrian patients showing signs of chemical attacks had been brought to hospitals across the border in Turkey, and that "remainders of missiles" that he believes were used in such attacks have been found. More...

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