Has the time come for the U.S. to intervene in Syria?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Syria is teetering on the brink of an all-out civil war as the situation quickly goes from bad to worse.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she's concerned that Russia may be sending attack helicopters to Syria. Something that, if true, can escalate the conflict quite dramatically.
She says the U.S. has confronted Russia about stopping its arms shipments to the assad regime. According to the State Department, Russia insists that the weapons they're sending can't be used against civilians and are only for self-defense. What's not to believe?
Syrian forces are reportedly pummeling their own people with attack helicopters, tanks and mortars. On the other side, the insurgents appear increasingly armed and better organized. Like we said: bad to worse.
Meanwhile the UN is out with a report that the Syrian government has used children as human shields and tortured other children whose parents are suspected dissidents. These child victims describe being beaten, blindfolded, whipped with heavy electrical cables, burnt with cigarettes and in one case, subjected to electrical shock to the genitals.
A UN peacekeeping chief now describes the situation in Syria as a civil war. It's estimated as many as 14,000 Syrians have been killed in the 15 months of bloodshed.
Secretary Clinton says there's no easy solution to the mess in Syria. But it's clear that sanctions and isolating Syria haven't worked so far.
As for Americans, they overwhelmingly say the U.S. does not have a responsibility to step in.
A recent CNN/ORC poll shows 61% oppose any American intervention.
33% say the U.S. should intervene - that's up from 25% in February.
Here’s my question to you: Has the time come for the U.S. to intervene in Syria?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Why haven't we done a better job protecting our kids from pedophiles?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
(CNN) - Periodically we are reminded of the horrible national disgrace of child sexual abuse.
A few years ago, it was the systemic abuse of children by some priests in the Catholic Church.
The sins of the church and these priests were covered up for years as the offending pastors were simply transferred from one parish to another when their deviant behavior was discovered.
Little or no thought was given to the children who were scarred for life by these violations at the hands of people they were taught to trust and respect.
Now the eyes of the country are focused on a place called Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. For a lot of kids, not so much.
It's the home of Penn State University, the late legendary coach Joe Paterno and another far-reaching child sex abuse scandal. This time allegedly at the hands of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The testimony of what happened to his alleged victims is stomach-turning.
Again a large, trusted institution became a breeding ground for this most horrendous behavior, and it was allowed to continue even though a lot of people who should have known better did.
There is also a child sex abuse scandal being uncovered at a prestigious private school in New York, Horace Mann.
The New York Times detailed horror stories about three former teachers - all dead now - who allegedly abused male students decades ago. The report also questions whether the former head of the school knowingly allowed this behavior to continue.
Since the piece came out, additional students - male and female - have come forward with allegations of abuse, some naming teachers not mentioned in the original report.
But it's not just Horace Mann, Penn State or the Catholic Church. This stuff goes on all the time at every level of society.
And because children can't vote, don't have any money and can be easily ignored, not enough is done to prevent it.
Here’s my question to you: Why haven't we done a better job protecting our kids from pedophiles?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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