Chomsky on Syria: Very good

 I think he's wrong about this:

 "We all want to force Assad to the negotiating table and from there, to resign, but the question is how to achieve this? The first way to do this is to supply the opposition with arms. This step would most likely produce an escalation of the military conflict and open the door to further military upgrading and expansion on the part of the regime, leading to increased destruction and the regime staying in place for longer. The second approach is to go to Geneva with the cooperation of the major powers, including Russia, and force the regime to accept a truce. These are the options we have."

 There isn't any further escalation that Russian armaments would help with. Rather than the Russians becoming more stubborn the more active the West is, the reverse seems to be the case over Syria, as can be seen by their agreement to the deployment of UN inspectors now that military action is threatened. It is more that there has been a dance, each threat of action by the Russians has been an excuse for the West to back off. Negotiations with Assad inevitably mean leaving his régime in power, and probably him, there really isn't a need for a Geneva conference for him to go. Does get a lot of things spot on, though.

 "Let us not forget that the regime might be using chemical weapons. There is still a lot of uncertainty over this right now, but it’s a possibility that will inevitably come true in the future."