The Arab League backs the protestors against al-Assad

William Hague has chimed in on the situation in Syria, unsurprisingly condemning the horror and bloodshed being perpetrated by al-Assad’s regime. But considerably more significant is the statement that has today been released by the Arab League. Although the text doesn’t mention al-Assad by name, it clearly has the Syrian autocrat in mind when it calls on “Arab regimes and governments to commit to and speed up reforms, [and to] immediately stop using force against demonstrators and spare their citizens bloodshed.” And it goes further, too, in defending the political — and moral — legitimacy of the protests, saying that the unrest blazing across the Middle East heralds “a new Arab era … led by youths seeking a better present and a brighter future.”

Words, even righteous ones, won’t defend the Syrian people from the brutality of al-Assad. Yet these particular words still carry some force. It was, really, only once the Arab League gave