MESOP TODAY’S RELEVANT VOICES ON SYRIA

“It is time for Mr. Obama to admit that his Syria policy is not working. No one is suggesting sending ground troops. But options range from doing more to arm the moderate opposition, to declaring a no-fly zone. Drones could strike al-Qaeda operatives in Syria; air power could create humanitarian zones near the Turkish and Jordanian borders. The U.S. could also take the lead in referring Mr. Assad and his aides for war crimes prosecution,” writes CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot in the Financial Times.

“The recent attacks on the convoys attempting to deliver humanitarian aid into the besieged city of Homs are a case in point: The lifting of the sieges can’t be left to the warring factions on the ground. An external, international force must be introduced to guarantee the safe passage of food and medicine to starving Syrian civilians,” write Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi in the New York Times.

“It should now be obvious that Geneva is not a process that will end in Assad’s departure: instead, it is designed to formalize the status quo with Assad in power and to normalize dealing with him. The redefinition of objectives in Syria is geared toward that end, affording the White House the ability to walk back the position it staked out in 2011, a position it now regrets,” writes Tony Badran for NOW.