Today, the people of Syria are waiting. Waiting for the world to wake up and take action as their oppressive leader Bashir Al-Assad's regime has killed over 2700 people and continues to jail and torture civilians who only ask for the right to protest their government.

Russia and China have kept the Syrian people waiting for relief from the violence. Yesterday, the two permanent members of the Security Council rejected a resolution (which was watered down to gain their support) that called for an immediate end to violence and demanded that those responsible for perpetuating violence against the unarmed protesters be held accountable. Sanctions or other measures against the Assad regime would only come into affect if Syria failed to meet these demands.

On Wednesday Eric P. Schwartz, the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, addressed a crowded assembly at the United States Institute of Peace.  Schwartz, who took the oath of office on July 8, 2009, is leaving the State Department to take on the position of Dean at the Humphrey School of Foreign Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

He began his speech by mentioning the "elephant in the room," saying it would be impossible to talk about humanitarian aid without speaking of the Horn of Africa right now.  The State Department estimates that right now more than 13.3 million people there are in need of emergency assistance, primarily in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. People in that area are facing the worst drought they have seen in 60 years, on top of conflict and poverty, and therefore now is a crucial time for humanitarian aid. 

This week, it was announced that a United Nations draft resolution on Syria--written by France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal and supported by the U.S.--was backing off from demanding immediate sanctions on the Assad regime.  Instead, it would threaten to impose sanctions only if the Syrian government does not cease its violence toward protesters.  This change apparently comes as the sponsoring nations seek to gain the support of Russia and China, both permanent U.N. Security Council members, who oppose sanctioning Assad's government.  Meanwhile, Russia is floating a resolution of its own which would condemn the violence in Syria but include no sanctions at all.

On the plus side, the France-UK-Germany-Portugal resolution "demands an immediate end to all violence", and states that the Security Council "expresses its determination, in the event that Syria has not complied with this resolution, to adopt targeted measures, including sanctions."

Ten years ago, while driving to work, I watched in horror as smoke and flames billowed from the Pentagon from across the Potomac River. Later, huddled in a basement office, our small staff overcame its fear that this was "the beginning of the end" and got to work.

The message sent that day to our members began, "The world has shifted."  Like the first few moments after an earthquake, we didn't know how bad the damage was, but we knew the world would never be the same again. I wrote then: