Syria Allows Arab League Monitors

Hopefully this is the first step to ending the brutal crackdown against antigovernment protesters. Syria has signed an agreement to allow the Arab League to send monitors into the country this week after earlier refusing some provisions in the deal. The Arab League said it accepted some amendments by Damascus but that the observers would still be “free” to travel but “under the protection of the Syrian government,” and would not be allowed at sensitive military sites. Syria’s opposition said the move was a “ploy” to avoid more serious United Nations Security Council action.