Assad continues to butcher his own people: White House

Washington: Calling for an end to violence in Syria, the White House has said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continued to butcher his own people and therefore he is needed to go. “There is no question that Bashar al-Assad continues to butcher his own people, to take brutal actions as he clings onto power. And there is no question that Hezbollah is assisting him in that effort,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters yesterday. [caption id=“attachment_807981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bashar al Assad. Reuters[/caption] “I think that demonstrates the kinds of friends that Bashar al-Assad has in the world. We have made clear our views on that,” he said. Responding to a question on the German assessment that Assad regime is stronger now, Carney without directly referring to the assessment of a foreign government said, the authoritarian Syrian regime is significantly weaker than it was two years ago. “In that time, the opposition has gotten significantly more organised. It has received assistance from a variety of places, including from the United States. Our efforts to assist the opposition, working with our partners and allies, continue,” he said. “Our efforts with the international community to – and with the opposition – towards implementing the Geneva Communique continue, because we believe that ultimately there has to be a political transition, and that the sooner that process begins the better, and that that process has to result in a post-Assad Syria,” he said. Carney said it is definitely a “brutal environment” in Syria and Assad continues to cling onto power. “When we review our options and when the President reviews our options, and he reviews all options, including the question of whether or not to provide lethal assistance to the opposition, we have to look at all the factors, we constantly review that option,” he said. To this point, we have made the policy judgement that is not the right course to take," he added. Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell alleged the Assad regime is “unleashing an immense amount of brutality” on the people and they’re doing so with the direct intervention of Hezbollah and Iran against the Syrian people. “It needs to stop and the violence needs to end,” he said. PTI