Syria Crackdown Kills 35 More

The Wall Street Journal reports:

BEIRUT—Syria's government escalated its crackdown on protesters Monday, sending tanks and armored vehicles into the southern city of Deraa, and raiding homes and deploying snipers in suburbs surrounding the capital and other hot spots, according to witness and activist accounts posted online.

The latest military assault killed at least 35 people, many of them in Deraa where the uprising has been most intense, and in the northwestern town of Jableh.

The government also deployed members of an elite unit headed by President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher—the army's fourth division—and parts of the country were cut off from electricity and telephone service.

Late Monday night, the U.S. State Department ordered nonessential embassy personnel and family members of embassy employees to leave Syria and urged American citizens in the country to depart as well.

The Assad government's decision to crack down harder after a weekend that saw more than 80 protesters killed puts more pressure on the international community to respond strongly, despite concerns many countries have about pushing the regime to the breaking point.

"Things now are taking a very dangerous turn," said an Arab diplomat who is following the situation closely.

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