US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has penned an op-ed for London-based Arabic-language daily newspaper
Asharq Al-Awsat to promote her view on Syrian democracy.
The article, titled "
There is No Going Back in Syria," was translated on Clinton's official website for the US State Department.
RELATED:Despite crackdown, protests erupt across Syria; 19 deadAnalysis: Will Syrian issue warm Israeli-Turkish ties?"It is increasingly clear that President Assad has made his choice," writes Clinton. "But while continued brutality may allow him to delay the change that is underway in Syria, it will not reverse it."
The Secretary of State used the op-ed to lay out the three tenets of her
stance on the conflict in Syria. First, she writes, the protests are
undoubtedly being carried out by Syrian citizens, desperate for regime
change, not foreign infiltrators as Assad has claimed. Second, Assad is aligning himself more and more with Iran and the regime
tactics of Ahmadinejad through his bloody crackdown and repression of
the press.
She explains, "If President Assad believes he can act with
impunity because the international community hopes for his cooperation
on other issues, he is wrong about this as well. He and his regime are
certainly not indispensable."
Finally, Clinton writes, the revolution has reached a point of no
return. From this moment on, she says, the only option is the creation
of "a new political order" in Syria.