The United States closed its embassy in Syria today, in response to continuing attacks by security forces in Homs that have escalated the death toll in the uprising. Nothing that the international community has done thus far has led to any pullback in efforts by Bashar al-Assad to use his security forces to crush the uprising.

Hours after a horrific massacre in Homs, China and Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria, one which was already watered down in an attempt to get the support of the Russians.

Russia had one simple demand on the UN draft resolution on Syria: the resolution must not allow for military intervention. In fact, it must ban intervention specifically in the text.

Well, the UN negotiators haven’t gone that far, to my knowledge. But they did drop the demand that Bashar al-Assad step down and hand over control of the country to his deputy.

The Syrian regime, trying to walk a fine line between staying in power and avoiding the ire of the international community, abruptly announced a general amnesty for “crimes” committed during the uprising, which began last March. The fact that this is the fourth such amnesty issued by Bashar al-Assad during the uprising probably blunts the impact, and opposition spokesmen dismissed it.

Anwar Malek, an Algerian member of the monitoring team, told Al Jazeera he resigned because of what he saw, and said that the mission was falling apart.

“What I saw was a humanitarian disaster. The regime is not just committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people,” he said.

Observers from the Arab League have reached Homs, Syria, at the same time as Syrian security forces pulled tanks off the streets. Even then, security forces squeezed off their final shots at the protesters and tanks are still reported waiting just outside the cities.

Ali Abdullah Saleh, the either current or former leader of Yemen, depending on who you talk to, vowed to leave the country for the United States to receive treatment for injuries suffered in an assassination attempt this June. The US has not yet responded to the request to allow Saleh to enter the country, and there are risks if it agrees.

Earlier in the week, Syria agreed to allow Arab League monitors into the country to observe the pullback of security forces from residential areas throughout the country. But they aren’t due to enter the country for a few days. In the meantime, Syrian security forces are wiping out the opposition.

Remember how worked up conservatives used to get over China’s charging the families of executed prisoners (political and otherwise) for the cost of the bullets used to kill them?

Funny how the killing of free speech in America doesn’t seem to bother them at all.

We now have a United Nations special envoy for freedom of expression is making the obvious point that many would rather avoid, that the responses to Occupy Wall Street and other protests go against the universal right of freedom of expression.