Context
After the supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad broke into the American embassy in Damascus on Monday, direct criticism of al-Assad was heard for the first time in Washington since he started his violent crackdown on protestors in March. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that al-Assad “is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power.” Embassy staff took shelter in a fortified section of the building as the mob wrecked the embassy’s equipment, wrote offensive phrases on the walls and raised Syria’s flag while Syrian armed forces watched and did nothing.
