Much to the regret of the international community, hopes for a holiday cease-fire in Syria were dashed from the very beginning. The inability of the two sides to honor the cease-fire lays bare the lack of mutual trust between the belligerent parties in the Middle East country and the difficulty in brokering even temporary peace.

Calm should have reigned in Syria during the four-day Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, which started on Friday and ended on Monday. Last week both the Syrian government and the majority of the opposition armed forces had agreed to the holiday cease-fire proposed by UN-Arab League special representative Lakhdar Brahimi.

However, it seems neither side in the chaos-ridden country intended to keep their word, and about 150 people were reportedly killed on the first day of the supposed cease-fire. As always, the conflicting parties blamed each other.