It is easy to lose sight of it amid the breathless, National Enquirer-style reporting on David Petraeus, John Allen, and their communications with various women, but there are other important things happening in the world. Among those events is France’s decision to recognize the new Syrian opposition council, National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as the country’s rightful government. This is an important step marking the first time that another state has extended official recognition to the Syrian rebels who have just organized, under much external prodding, this new coalition led by Sheik Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, the widely respected former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. France has also said it would consider providing arms to the rebel forces.
Once again, as in Libya last year, this places France—this time under President Francois Hollande, rather than Nicolas Sarkozy—at the forefront of important events in the Middle East. President Obama and the U.S. continue to lag behind in trying to influence events in another important country, in spite of the major role played by American diplomats in helping to organize the Syrian National Coalition. That is a major problem, because there is only so much France—or other states such as Qatar and Turkey, which are eager to topple Bashar Assad—can do.
Only the U.S. can organize a coalition to impose a no-fly zone and thus hasten the end of the barbarous Assad regime. If we fail to act, the humanitarian and strategic costs of the war will continue to grow—as witness recent incidents of Syrian forces directing fire near to, and sometimes over, the borders with Israel and Turkey.
Max, isn't one Libya enough for you? Srsly.
I didn't know France even had any weapons anymore let alone a surplus to give away. n nDid you hear about the new French tank? It only drives in reverse!
Hello Max n nI am wondering: why do we need to look into or be motivated what French are doing? If they want to be entangled into the Syrian civil war, they can have our blessing. May be their memory needs to be refreshed what happened with them in Vietnam (before we showed up) and Algeria. Why we need to be motivated by Turks, Bahrainis or other nations? It is their region, so let them have it. Saying that, I realize that civil war is brutal, inhumane, and a lot of innocent people get killed. But do we have any historic precedent, when intervention into the civil was by another nation being successful? However, I can start with failures: Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. And list will go on… It is clinical definition of insanity – to do the same thing over and over again and expect different result. Can we just stay out of it and provide them with wise advises. n