Cleaning Up the Syrian Mess: Whose Job Is It?

This week, the U.N. officially declared the situation in Syria a civil war. Which I guess means the Syrian opposition is doing a better job of fighting back against the government that has been murdering civilians with a mechanized army and using militias to slaughter children.

Except maybe it constitutes another excuse for the free world to stand back and let the slaughter continue. Some countries have contented themselves with supplying weapons to the Free Syrian Army and other opposition factions. The United States has limited its support to night-vision and communications equipment.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Russia to stop supplying the Syrian government with attack helicopters. What color is the pot calling the kettle? Like the United States has never supplied weapons to its allies in the past, right?

In this space a few months and about 4,000 fatalities ago, I suggested the U.S. could send a message to the Assad regime by knocking out one tank or one piece of heavy artillery used by the Syrian army to shell civilian populations – something that says, “We don’t want a war with you, but it’s time to knock it off.” Of course, for every such suggestion, there are 20 analysts who explain why it’s not a good idea.

One expert I heard the other day said that the Obama administration has resisted getting involved militarily because the President doesn’t want to risk a possible foreign policy stumble, which would blemish what many consider his stellar record in this area before November.

There are many who want the Assad regime to remain, only out of fear about what may replace it. But now we have an official civil war. Unlike the one we had here in the 1860s, this will have multiple sides before it's over. Almost everyone agrees there is no scenario under which the Assad family can remain in power – perhaps even remain alive, unless they get out of Dodge. Those standing on the sidelines have resisted involvement for fear of making a mess, but the mess is being made anyway. How has non-involvement helped?

The bottom line is that the rest of the world is going to have to be involved at some level. Unlike Iraq, Syria is said to have real biological and chemical weapon stockpiles. Who’s going to be in charge of those when the current structure collapses?

The U.S. and other Western powers may not have made the Syrian mess, but at some point it will be time to clean it up, and we’re all going to have to get our hands dirty.