The events in Houla have brought Syria back to the fore and there has been much talk about this incident being a "tipping point".

What happened in Houla? A very short version:
Friday's massacre of 108 people - including 49 children and 34 women - in the Houla area of Homs province. Witnesses have told the UN the vast majority of killings were committed by pro-government shabiha militiamen.
The militia allegedly coming from adjacent Alawite villages.

Link for summary:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18260992 and link for more details:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18233934

The UN's efforts aside, with the Arab League, appear to be worthless and R2P is having a battering - as listened to on a BBC radio programme this week.

The comments on a "tipping point" obscure the fact that such points are rarely recognised at the time.

William Shawcross in 'Deliver us from Evil, a history of UN peacekeeping' wrote:
Reconciliation is much favoured in today’s peacekeeping efforts, but sometimes the desire for it is unrealistic...Today we demand instant reconciliation. The examples of Bosnia, Rwanda and Kosovo show that often that just cannot happen.
Cited in a long comment:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-in-sight.html

Finally methinks the thread's title needs changing - Civil War has arrived or is close?