Arab League monitors have been in Syria for more than a week, yet violence continues throughout the country. Activists claim about 400 people have been killed in clashes between protestors in the military in the past week alone. On Tuesday, an advisory body to the League said the observers should be withdrawn because they are providing cover to the Syrian government as it continues to treat its citizens inhumanely. But Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi said Syria’s release of political prisoners and its withdrawal of military artillery from residential areas demonstrates that progress is being made. Steven A. Cook, senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, talks about whether he thinks the monitors should be pulled out of Syria.
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