Inching Into Syria
'I asked a rebel commander named Abu Jarah how he imagined Syria after Assad.
“Maybe Somalia plus Afghanistan,” he replied.
That, I allowed, was a pretty horrifying prospect.
“Not our mistake,” he said. “It’s not what we want. It’s what you gave us, with two years standing and watching.” '
This isn't an entirely coherent piece, the Syrians on the Turkish border seem to think the war might end quite neatly. It does remind me that I suggested to a couple of Friends here last year that even if American help comes very late, it will still make America really quite popular in a post-revolutionary Syria, just as they have been in Iraqi Kurdistan. And he ends with another reminder of the major truth about intervention.
'Nobody, except perhaps our enemies, wants to see American troops in Syria. Our aim should be to make life so miserable for Assad and his friends that he agrees, or his sponsors agree, that it is time to stop the killing, send Assad and his circle into exile, and move from blood bath to diplomacy.'
“Maybe Somalia plus Afghanistan,” he replied.
That, I allowed, was a pretty horrifying prospect.
“Not our mistake,” he said. “It’s not what we want. It’s what you gave us, with two years standing and watching.” '
This isn't an entirely coherent piece, the Syrians on the Turkish border seem to think the war might end quite neatly. It does remind me that I suggested to a couple of Friends here last year that even if American help comes very late, it will still make America really quite popular in a post-revolutionary Syria, just as they have been in Iraqi Kurdistan. And he ends with another reminder of the major truth about intervention.
'Nobody, except perhaps our enemies, wants to see American troops in Syria. Our aim should be to make life so miserable for Assad and his friends that he agrees, or his sponsors agree, that it is time to stop the killing, send Assad and his circle into exile, and move from blood bath to diplomacy.'
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