Syria's horrors

With more than five thousand Syrians dead at the hands of President Basahr al-Assad's frighteningly efficient butchery, the international community now seems to have a sense of urgency, and willingness to help. But no one can agree on exactly how to do that:

Most countries, the United States included, have rightly ruled out military intervention. Mr. Assad is determined to resist, no matter what the cost. The Syrian Army is far stronger and better armed than that of Libya’s under Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. There is legitimate fear that a foreign intervention would unleash an even bloodier civil war and possibly spread beyond Syria’s borders. The only hope is that the Syrian people are determined to resist and Mr. Assad’s isolation is growing. At a meeting in Tunis on Friday, more than 60 governments and organizations agreed to intensify diplomatic and economic pressure on the Syrian leader and vowed to find ways to support opposition forces trying to depose him.

The situation is hardly as simple as it seems, and the case for intervention at this stage remains unconvincing. But there's still some time yet.