secretary of awesome

Hillary Clinton Has ‘Absolutely Nothing Invested’ in Syrian President Assad [Update]

After months of protests in Syria and a reported 1,700 killed anti-regime protesters, about 300 pro-regime activists infiltrated the U.S. embassy in Damascus, allegedly responding to a recent meeting between Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, and residents of a largely anti-regime town. President Bashar al-Assad blamed the embassy attacks on “a foreign conspiracy,” prompting Hillary Clinton, who has previously expressed hope that Assad would be “a reformer,” to take her rings off:

Well then. Tell him how you really feel.

The BBC’s Kim Ghattas noted that Clinton’s statement was designed to “convince more Syrians to give up on Mr Assad, while not requiring any action by Washington” and avoiding “the Libya scenario.”

The Syrian protesters wrote anti-American graffiti on the embassy, breaking windows and security cameras. The French embassy was also attacked. Elsewhere in Syrian, mass protests against the regime continued, with an estimated 300,000 people gathering in Hama. The city, which has been largely abandoned by the Assad regime, was the site of a massacre nearly 30 years ago in which up to 25,000 people were killed by government forces.

Clinton Says Assad Lost Legitimacy After Mob Attacks Embassy [Bloomberg]

Syria: Assad no longer legitimate, says Clinton [BBC]

Syrians show resolve in what’s called largest demonstration yet [Detroit Free Press / AP]

Hillary Clinton Has ‘Absolutely Nothing Invested’ in Syrian President Assad [Update]