With world leaders gathered in Jerusalem for the funeral of Shimon Peres, a unique opportunity presents itself for decisive action by the West to intervene in the Syrian bloodbath.  First, it's simply false that nothing can be done. In her 2002 book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, current American U.N. ambassador Samantha Power makes this point over and over again.  In reviewing the history of the genocides in Armenia, European Jewry, Bosnia, Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Kosovo, Power makes the case that in all but one of those instances, the United States and the other major powers knew what was going on and did nothing. In each case, the West went through three phases: warning, recognition, and response. Only in Kosovo did America and the EU act decisively – after widespread publicity and public outcry. Well, we certainly have that now.  And, after Mr. Kerry's latest pratfall, it's time to...(Read Full Post)