Nightmare, indeed

The New York Times has an editorial about Syria:

With thousands of Syrians being slaughtered, jailed, or forced to flee their country, President Obama and other leaders need to find better ways to punish and isolate President Bashar al-Assad and his cronies. Foreign journalists are barred from Syria, but reports of Mr. Assad’s savagery are mounting. In the last two weeks, he has sent tanks and troops into the north and east, forcing about ten thousand Syrians to seek refuge in Turkey. Over three months of protests, more than a thousand people have been killed and ten thousand detained. Still, thousands of Syrians poured into the streets of Damascus and other cities in another courageous show of defiance.
In his Arab Spring speech, President Obama said Mr. Assad should lead a pro-democracy transition “or get out of the way”. The Syrian leader has done neither, and Mr. Obama has done too little to rally international pressure to force him to make that choice.
Mr. Obama should make clear that the Syrian strongman has lost all legitimacy. And he should say that, while there will be no military action, Syria being a far more complex case than Libya, Washington is determined to work with the European Union, Turkey, and the Arab League to force Mr. Assad and his cronies to pay a high price for their abuses.
Washington needs to mount an all-out campaign to pass a tough United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Syria and imposing sanctions. Russia and China have inexcusably blocked a vote for weeks.
American and European sanctions should be expanded to cover more Syrian officials as well as businesses allied with the regime. There is talk in Washington about pushing the top consumers of Syrian oil, including Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands, to stop buying it. Experts say the exports are small enough that a suspension would have little effect on world oil prices, but a big impact on Damascus.
One promising development is the Turkish government’s recent turn against Mr. Assad. Turkey had been one of Syria’s closest allies (along with Iran) and main trading partners. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with President Obama’s encouragement, is now condemning the crackdown, and has given Syrian refugees safe haven and allowed Syrian opposition forces to meet in Turkey.
We applaud Mr. Erdogan for doing the right thing and urge him and the entire international community to keep ratcheting up the pressure. The only way to end Syria’s nightmare is for Bashar al-Assad to go.

Rico asks, where's a nice suicidal assassin when you need one?