When the Assad regime is finally swept from power, and those who survive its overthrow are brought to trial for crimes against humanity, the world will once again wring its hands and ask itself how it could have permitted such savagery to continue, without finding a united voice to stop it.

If the opposition reports of the massacre of at least 250 people in Darayya are confirmed, then the Syrian regime will have reached a new low. State TV said only that its security forces had cleansed the area of “terrorists”.

Looking at the bodies of dead children uncovered in a mass grave, it is hard to give any credit to such a claim. Since when could a mere child inspire terror in anyone?

What appears to have happened in reality is that after the Syrian army and air force had bombarded the town for days, the military went in and took on what opposition fighters remained in the area. They were followed by the Shabiha militias, to whom the word pity is unknown. The job they had been given by the regime was to slaughter anyone they find in the area.

If they were young men, such as those gunned down in a line at the local mosque, then they were automatically deemed to be terrorists. But truth be told, such is the blood-lust of these butchers, they did not care who they would find, even if they protest that they were not involved in any opposition activity; they killed them anyway.

As far as Bashar Al-Assad is concerned, the function of the Shabiha is to spread such terror, that all Syrian citizens will be beside themselves with fear should opposition fighters appear in their community.

It is small wonder then that, almost two million people have fled areas of conflict to other parts of the country, while at least 200,000 have de-camped across the borders into neighboring states.

They have learnt that this is a conflict in which they are deemed to be traitors and therefore liable to summary execution, simply because they are unfortunate enough to happen to be in an area where any fighting breaks out.

This is Bosnia all over again, and once again it is the Russians who are trying to block international action. Is there no shame in Moscow? In Syria, we have already seen a dozen Srebrenicas. Every time Assad’s forces re-occupy a disputed area, there is carnage.

He prattles about a “Western conspiracy” to destroy his regime. There is no such conspiracy, but rather utter revulsion by the outside world, that a dictator can be prepared to mow down as many of his people as seems necessary, to restore their obedience to his diktat.

It is high time that Moscow and Beijing reviewed their refusal to allow Syria to be called properly to account in the UN Security Council, for the crimes its leadership is perpetrating. Their defense of the indefensible Assad regime is engendering worldwide disgust.

If they are concerned about another Washington-led intervention, then let them intervene themselves, in the name of common humanity. Somebody has to stop this savagery, and soon.