Syrian misadventure

Collectively we in the West have been doing a lot hand wringing over Syria.

What I mean by that is we are standing to one side as disaster unfolds wringing our hands in anguish, but not actually doing anything decisive.

If you want a good source of info about what is going on over there follow this blog:- http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/ or read http://www.al-monitor.com which is a good source of news for all the middle east.

Now it seems that President Obama is slowly shifting toward intervention. The trigger being alleged use of Chemical weapons by the Syrian regime of Bashar al Assad against his opponents.

Assad is an old style Arab dictator. Meaning he is something of an endangered species. The Arab monarchies of the Gulf, Jordan and Morocco have survived pretty well, but the secular dictatorships in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya have fallen.

The Yemeni regime totters. As does Assad in Syria.

What form can such intervention take? And how can it end?

What most people who favour intervention seem to want is arming of the rebels. As so often in these situations, people calling for Western intervention keep saying 'no boots on the ground'. This is not a mantra that would necessarily survive an Assad victory.

So, there are problems with intervention. As in all wars, once you take sides it becomes apparent that some of your allies are nearly as unsavoury as your enemies. Sometimes they can be even worse.

Even allying with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany during WWII could be seen as a close call.

In Syria, the regime is close to Iran, brutal and undemocratic. The rebels are allied to al Qaeda, brutal and undemocratic. Tough choice. Weapons given to either side probably will, eventually end up pointed at some ally of the West.

Then there is the issue of who, exactly, to deliver arms to.

How can we keep account of who these guns end up being pointed at?

Finally, Syria is home to a significant Christian population, with some of the oldest monasteries and Christian artefacts in the world. Damascus itself is the world's oldest constantly inhabited city.

Will we accept responsibility for the safety of these people and artefacts? Or like Iraq, will Western intervention be a cultural and sectarian disaster?

It is easy to imagine removing Bashar al Assad. It is just as easy to imagine the people of Syria being even worse off afterward.