By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
Egypt's Islamist president fled his palace by the back door Tuesday as riot police used clubs and tear gas to battle thousands of demonstrators protesting his seizure of broad powers that enabled him to push through a draft constitution.
Syria's prime minister Monday became the latest and highest-ranking official to defect to the opposition, a sign that divisions within the country are hardening further along sectarian lines.
Thaer Abboud volunteered to join the rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad but got a rude rejection because of his religion.
Turkey closed its border with Syria on Wednesday in an attempt to hold back the chaos and lawlessness that has spread along the border, as Syrians flee the intense fighting between rebels and the army of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The U.N. singled out government forces Friday for blame in the latest massacre in Syria, a frenzy of killing that raises new questions about whether diplomacy has any chance to end the crisis more than 16 months into the bloodiest revolt of the Arab Spring.
What happened to the Arab Spring? The uprisings that swept dictators and autocratic regimes from power last year were supposed to have ushered in a new season of democracy. From Tunisia to Yemen, however, things have gone wrong.
Middle East analysts acknowledge that they underestimated Syrian President Bashar Assad, who remains in power and on the offensive a year after protests against his regime erupted.
The Arab Spring set in with the hope that a huge democratic change finally was within reach for the region. Now, 12 months later, that initial euphoria largely has subsided.
Reports of rocket-propelled grenades striking the headquarters of Syria's ruling party early Monday underscore the Syrian rebels' mounting brazenness in President Bashar Assad's 8-month-old crackdown on dissent.
