The Assads send the tanks in, in effort to crush the rebellion against them

The storming of the town of Da’ra by the Syrian regime is a further escalation of its attempt to put down protests against it. The details of what have happened are sketchy, the regime cut the town’s communications links before moving in, but the use of full military force does suggest, as the New York Times reports, that the Assad dynasty have chosen to put these revolts down through purely military means. It is not Hama 1982 yet, but it—worryingly—appears to be heading that way.

It has long been hoped by many in the West that Bashar Assad was a moderniser and could be peeled away from Iran and to the peace table with Israel. But that goal seems further away than ever at the moment with the regime trying to blame America, Israel and Saudi Arabia for this rebellion.