After five months of uprising in Syria, President Obama issued a statement calling for the troubled nation's president Bashar al-Assad to step down.
Rights groups say the Syrian government has killed thousands of its own people.
In his statement, Obama insisted Assad's "calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing, and slaughtering his own people. The time has come for President Assad to step aside."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed up with a statement of her own: This morning, President Obama called on Assad to step aside and announced the strongest set of sanctions to date targeting the Syrian government...The transition to democracy in Syria has begun, and it's time for Assad to get out of the way.
According to reports, the sanctions will freeze all Syrian government assets under U.S. jurisdiction and bar financial transactions with Syria. Canada, Britain, France and Germany swiftly followed with their own demands that Assad give up power.
Quotes
"His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing, and slaughtering his own people. The time has come for President Assad to step aside." -President Obama.
"The transition to democracy in Syria has begun, and it's time for Assad to get out of the way." -Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Warm Up Questions
1. In what part of the world is Syria located?
2. Why have people across the Middle East been protesting since January?
3. What are the characteristics of a democratic country?
Discussion Questions
1. Who is Bashar al-Assad and why are world leaders calling for him to step down?
2. In the video, a Syrian man says, "The regime of Assad is no less than the Nazis." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? Why is the man comparing Assad's regime to Hitler's regime?
3. What is a sanction? What sanctions will the Syrian government have to face? What effect do these sanctions have on Syria and its government?
Additional Resources
Syrian-American Teen Shares His Opinion on Protests
What's Next for Syria as Global Leaders Isolate Assad?
