| Syria On Brink After Bombing Kills Top Regime Officials |
| Jul-18-2012 |
| Keywords: syra, bombing, cabinet meeting, defense minister, 3 killed |
Syria's rebels today launched an attack in Damascus, killing three top officials in the regime, including President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law.
The bombing came during a Cabinet meeting of senior officials in Damascus, which has seen four straight days of bloodshed and some 17,000 civilians killed in what the Red Cross is now calling a civil war.
The killings could signal a change in the civil war, a turning point that has seen the violence escalate and grow more chaotic.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the bombing showed that the bloodshed in Syria was "rapidly spinning out of control." Panetta went on to say that it is now time for the international community to apply "maximum pressure" on Assad to step down.
Panetta's remarks came as the Obama administration put financial sanctions on a huge swath of top members in Assad's government, targeting the prime minister and 28 other Cabinet ministers and senior officials.
The bombing may be what was needed to build a cohesive position among international governments.
The U.N. Security Council delayed a vote on a new Syria resolution until Thursday. The bombing could prove to be the catalyst to getting key Western nations and Russia to reach agreement on measures to end the dramatically escalating violence.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who was visiting China, also urged the Security Council to "take collective action, with a sense of unity."
Meanwhile, Russia, a longtime ally of Syria, is accusing the West of inciting the Syrian opposition following the deadly rebel assault.
In Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak summoned his top security and intelligence advisers to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Syria.
Israel has stayed out of the fighting, but is fearful that Syrian weapons could reach anti-Israel militants. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 10:00 AM Email to a friend |
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