As the protests throughout the Arab world increase and Dictators try to hold on to power by any violent means possible it's amazing how people can still maintain hope. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad like many leaders before him may have not actually signed a deal with the Devil but with his actions against his own people resulting in over 6000 deaths he might just as well have. In the long run he will not prevail and history will add him to the long list of Tyrants that have tried to repress the human spirit. The challenge facing the rest of the world is how to intervene without ending up in a Third World War. With an Election Year taking top priority in the United States and a suspicion of U.S motives concerning any action in the Middle East, the actions or inaction of the Arab League and China and Russia strongly opposed to almost anything that they have no say in, the solution to the Syrian situation will most definitely be a messy one. I'm always cautiously optimistic about most things so I have to rely on what little faith I have that things will not continue to escalate until a Third World War breaks out. Even in our darkest hours we sometimes manage to prevent the worst from becoming the apocalyptic. History will tell if my optimism pays off. I HOPE....