TOW #1

Recently, in Syria, people have been rebelling against president Bashar al-Assad, trying to get him to step down from the presidency in order to gain more freedom and end the violence in the country. This rebellion started during 2011, when student protesters were held captive and even tortured for drawing anti-government graffiti. Peaceful protesters gathered to argue for the students' release, and the government responded with violence, shooting and the protesters and killing four. Now, there are two sides: that of the rebels, and that of the current government. In August of 2013, Assad was suspected to have used chemical weapons on his own people, which caused a strong response from the United States. Obama held a speech, demanding that Syria stop the use of these chemical weapons, and that if they continue, it will cross a "red line." I found this cartoon on the internet that describes this red line, and how he seems unsure about it. Recently, because Russia is allied with Syria, delegations have been going on between the two countries that include stopping Syria from using chemical weapons. Because of this, Obama might not need to take any military action regarding Syria, and the red line is starting to fade. Also, because the red line wasn't very clearly defined, this cartoon makes fun of other undefined lines that the red line may or may not be close to touching. I believe that the cartoonist, David Horsey, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, did achieve his purpose in the cartoon, which was to make a joke of Obama's unclearly defined "red line" regarding Syria. I also believe that he is a credible cartoonist.