Clinton: U.S. to 'expose' Assad supporters

Washington will "expose" those backing the Assad government in Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as the regime ramped up its brutal crackdown. "We will work to expose those who are still funding the regime and sending it weapons that are used against defenseless Syrians, including women and children," Clinton told reporters in Sophia, Bulgaria. "And we will work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition's peaceful, political plans for change." Her comments came a day after a U.N. Security Council measure condemning President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protesters, and calling for him to be replaced by a unity government, was vetoed by Russia and China. Clinton called the quashing of the resolution a "travesty" that would "actually increase the chances for a brutal civil war." "Many Syrians, under attack from their own government, are moving to defend themselves, which is to be expected," she said. China's Communist Party People's Daily newspaper defended the veto Monday, saying Western military campaigns in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq had proved forced regime change does not work. It called the decade-long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq "a humanitarian disaster." The newspaper added that Beijing's veto did "not mean we are giving free rein to letting this heart-rending state of affairs continue." Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to succeed President Hu Jintao as China's leader next winter, is due to visit Washington next week, meeting at the White House Feb. 14. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to raise the Syrian crisis and China's veto during meetings with Chinese officials this week, ahead of Xi's Washington visit, a top Canadian official told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Sunday. In Cairo, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby said the league's peace proposal, which was the basis of the rejected U.N. plan, could still be resuscitated in some form. The veto "does not negate that there is clear international support for the resolutions of the Arab League," al-Araby said in a statement. The Security Council measure was supported by 13 of 15 members. Al-Araby expressed hope the regime "heeds the demands of its people and ends the violence and the bloodshed." But the Assad regime hailed the collapse of diplomatic efforts Sunday as a rejection of intervention in Syria's internal conflict. And the Syrian military intensified its crackdown in the Damascus suburbs and the north, opposition activists said. At least 31 people died in violence Sunday, the activists said. The violence included attacks in the restive city of Hom, where Syrian troops were reported to have killed more than 230 people Saturday, shortly before the U.N. draft resolution was put to a vote. The Saturday killings, which U.S. President Barack Obama denounced as an "unspeakable assault," took place on the 30th anniversary of a 1982 massacre in the Syrian city of Hama, The so-called scorched earth campaign killed an estimated minimum 10,000 Sunni Muslims protesting the regime of Assad's father, Hafez Assad.